10/08/2026
🪶🎭 THE BARD IN THE QUARTER — Opens this Friday! 🎭🪶
Over 60 local creatives. Three days. One very special weekend.
Something rather special is happening this weekend in Carrick-on-Suir’s Cultural Quarter, the creative beating heart of the town, stretching from theatre stages to galleries to castle walls...
From Friday 14th to Sunday 16th August, local performers, musicians, writers, artists, makers, historians, theatre-makers, photographers and volunteers come together to weave a tapestry of Shakespeare reimagined for everyone. ❤️
And this really is local creative people making it happen.
“We wanted to create an Arts weekend that celebrated and showcased the talent in the Cultural Quarter, something creative, collaborative, a little bit unexpected and, most importantly, something that everyone could feel part of.”
And Shakespeare? “Shakespeare belongs to everyone. We’re simply taking his work, putting our own local stamp on it and having a bit of fun along the way.”
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
🎭 THE CITIZEN’S COMEDY — Friday @ 8:15pm - Christy's Bar - the Strand Theatre, A fast-paced, lively 60-minute journey through Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing and The Comedy of Errors.
🖤 THE HUMAN CONDITION — Saturday @8:00pm - Brewery Lane Theatre - Shakespeare’s darker side, a 60-minute tragedy trilogy with extracts from Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and Othello.
🎤 SHAKESPEARE SURPRISES — Saturday @11:30am -Ormond Castle with Margaret O'Brien. A lively interactive workshop, exploring why the Bard still speaks to us centuries later. (BOOKED-OUT)
⏳ A TIME TRAVELLER’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE'S THEATRE — Saturday @3:00pm, Ormond Castle with Dr. John Flood.
Step back to 1600 to explore the gritty, unrecognisable reality of original staging. Dr John Flood hosts a fascinating public lecture revealing the chaotic secrets behind how Shakespeare's plays were actually performed. (BOOKED OUT).
🧵 THE EMPTY TUNIC: ECHOES ACROSS WATERS - Sunday @ 12:00pm, Long Gallery, Ormond Castle. Guided by a druid narrator, this deeply moving, intimate piece is structured as a fully immersive live standing experience. It beautifully weaves together visual art, live music, and spoken word to link William Shakespeare’s grief for his young son, Hamnet, to the legendary Irish tragedy of the Children of Lir, anchoring these universal experiences in selected poems by the late Michael Coady. (BOOKED OUT).
✨ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM — Sunday @6:30pm
Our grand finale, an outdoor, folklore-inspired adaptation beneath the historic walls of Ormond Castle. (BOOKED OUT).
And there’s another story running through the whole weekend:
STORYTELLING FIRST. 🌱
No lavish touring productions. No huge sets travelling across the country. Instead, local people, local spaces, reused and handmade elements, imagination and creativity.
“We’re not starting from scratch. We’re using the creativity, skills, spaces and resources that already exist around us in the Cultural Quarter and the town of Carrick-on-Suir and turning them into something new.”
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BARD
“This has been made possible because people said yes. Actors said yes. Directors said yes. Writers and Mentors said yes. Musicians, artists, crafters, makers, costume designers, volunteers, venues and creative people said yes.
“People have given their time, their ideas, their energy and enthusiasm. That is what we really want people to see this weekend, not just Shakespeare, but what a community can create when it comes together.”
A VERY BIG THANK YOU
Our heartfelt thanks go to every performer, director, writer, mentor, musician, artist, crafter, maker, costume designer, photographer, historian, storyteller, volunteer and behind-the-scenes helper who has played a part in bringing this weekend to life.
Thank you also to Ormond Castle, Brewery Lane Theatre, The Strand Theatre, Carrick on Suir Musical Society and Tipperary County Council, and to everyone across the Cultural Quarter and the town of Carrick-on-Suir who has opened their doors, shared their skills, loaned us props and costumes and supported the project.
And finally, thank you to everyone who has supported us by booking tickets and coming along to the events. So many of our events have already sold out, and that support means more than we can say.
What started as an idea has become a weekend created by a community.
THE BARD IN THE QUARTER
Friday 14 – Sunday 16 August 2026
Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary.
This Cultúr 2026 programme, supported by Tipperary Arts Office is funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and Culture Ireland
🎟️ To Book Events:
https://www.ticketsource.com/tudor-artisan-hub
https://www.ticketsource.com/brewery-lane-theatre
or call Linda at the Tudor Artisan Hub 086 2560609
Our people. Our places. Our creativity. Our Shakespeare. 🪶🎭❤️
Photo: Pete Smith
