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Where We Bury the Bones

A Dumbworld & Kilkenny Arts Festival co-production. Created by multi-award-winners John McIlduff and Brian Irvine, Where We Bury the Bones is an intimate and challenging work of contemporary music theatre. It begins with the discovery of a single bone, unearthed during the archaeological excavations that preceded the redevelopment of the Abbey Quarter in Kilkenny. From there …

How We Stand… How We Breathe

The world is shifting, and with it, a new kind of world order is emerging. Amidst the tumult of change and the overwhelming sense of “wrongness,” people continue to gather, forming collectives in unexpected spaces – industrial estates, old churches, community halls, and more. These microsocieties, united by a shared love of creation and expression, …

NI Film Scoring School

Dumbworld presents NI FILM SCORING SCHOOL In partnership with the Regional Cultural Centre and Ulster University. Specifically designed for early-career musicians and composers looking to develop their music composition and technology skills in writing music for screen (film, games, TV, etc). The week consists of workshops, talks, and tutorials that focus on the professional tools …

It’s All Going the Same Way

On the 13th of December, Meliton Shishkin had a thought, a bold, life-altering thought: I want to feel better. Not just better in the fleeting, shallow sense, but truly better. He wanted to know who he was and to understand his place in this violent, unstable world of ours. The Pipe by Anton Checkov is …

The Scorched Earth Trilogy

“short, sharp, sardonic commentaries on the climate crisis… anarchic and funny ” – The Times Nominee Ivor Novello Classical Award [2023] Brian Irvine for Best Stage Work  The Scorched Earth Trilogy is a trio of satirical films inspired by environmental disaster and the lack of serious climate action. The short works tackle some of our most pressing …

A Children’s Guide to Anarchy

Winner Ivor Novello Classical Award [2024] Brian Irvine for Best Community and Participation Composition (ABRSM)   Inspired by the 1931 publication ‘La Anarquia Explicada a Los Niños’, an instructional manual for children published during the Spanish Civil War that explained the ideas and practises of anarchy – composer Brian Irvine and director John McIlduff in …

A New Topography of Love

Imagine Super Mario Brothers meets Mario Lanza, Mickey Mouse, whales, bats, birds and Jeff Bezos all battling it out for the future of our very own planet earth. A New Topography of Love tells the tale of the earth – ravaged by waste and excess and almost too late to save – but the animals …