Cork Midsummer Festival: Beach opera and Shandon St foam event among the highlights

Cork Midsummer Festival (June 14 to 25) will take place at numerous venues and locations around the city

Thu, 04 May, 2023 - 10:00

Marjorie Brennan

Foam is where the art is at this year’s Cork Midsummer Festival when — in a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle — a sea of multicoloured suds will submerge one of the city’s most iconic streets.

The Island of Foam is just one of the eye-catching elements of another impressive and varied programme from the city’s eagerly-anticipated annual summer arts festival, which will be launched at the River Lee hotel on Thursday evening.

In the spectacular Island of Foam live installation by German artist Stephanie Lüning, oceans of foam will tumble down John Redmond St in the historic Shandon area.

'Ode To Joy' with Amanda Coogan, the Cork Deaf Community Choir, and Dublin Theatre of the Deaf. Picture: Cork Midsummer Festival

“It is a moment lots of people will be able to enjoy and I think they will never forget it,” said festival director Lorraine Maye.

"At the end of the street, once you have taken a photo of it, you can actually jump in the foam as well. That is when the fun will really start."

The Cork Midsummer Festival programme is divided into several strands:

Brand New, covering performance, visual arts and special events;
On the Streets, featuring circus, spectacle and streets arts;
Be Part, showcasing pieces created by Cork communities;
Future-Proof, highlighting work from emerging artists.

“It is a bright, joyful festival, there is a lot of wonder in it," Ms Maye said.

"There is also that focus on communities, enabling people to tell their own stories. One of the things we really want to create is this sense of belonging.

That is reflected in the response to Sun & Sea, an opera performance viewed from above, which will be performed on an indoor beach at the Millennium Hall at City Hall. Maye said there has been a big response to the call-out for people to get involved in the production.

'Sun & Sea' will be performed on an indoor beach at Cork Midsummer Festival.

“It has travelled the world and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale,” she said.

"It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of this in Cork."

The theatrical programme is particularly strong, with a number of world premieres, including Freefalling from Rough Magic, making their debut at the festival, and a site-specific performance from Cork writer and actress Gina Moxley in the Crawford Art Gallery. I Fall Down: A Restoration Comedy is described as a ‘last fling’ before the gallery is transformed in a new building project.

Candy Warhol's 'Wind That Shakes The Wig' at this year's Cork Midsummer Festival.

“The festival is really responding to what is happening in the city. It is in constant conversation with the buildings, the people, the spaces and bringing them to life is a real priority for us every year,” said Maye.

In this vein, the warehouse at the Marina Market will be used again this year for two world premiere dance performances, Ritual, by Junk Ensemble and Trojan, by Company Philip Connaughton.

This will be the first year that the festival will be without the talents of Corcadorca, the famous Cork theatre company which called it a day last year. It is a loss that is keenly felt, said Maye.

Andrea Williams at Cork Midsummer Festival 2023.

“The relationship between the festival and Corcadorca has really been extraordinary," she said.

We have thought about how to take that legacy and honour it, to celebrate everything they have created in the city. For us, that is to ensure that some of the major artists that have come through the company still have a platform, and that we continue to give audiences an opportunity to see large-scale work in the city.”

The festival will also be without the literary event Crosstown Drift this year.

Orla Barry's 'Spin Spin Scheherazade' at Cork Midsummer Festival, 2023.

According to Maye, the festival is working to develop a new literature offering for 2024.

One of the musical highlights will be ‘Ode to Joy’, a collaboration between artist Amanda Coogan, the Cork Deaf Community Choir, and Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, in which they will perform Beethoven’s famous work in Irish sign language.

Maye says the varied programme allows audiences to broaden their cultural horizons.

“Midsummer festival audiences are really adventurous," she said. "We know from lots of audience research that the opportunity to discover new things is one of the main reasons that people attend. It is about taking a leap and going for it."