As We Begin Week 2
Week 2 of the festival is here, bringing with it a rich mix of events that continue to explore connection, creativity, and care through art.
This week includes Therapy Sessions taking place in Árainn Mhór, Limerick, and Kerry, alongside participatory and reflective experiences like Ar Ais Arís and Soul Paint in Smock Alley. Our film programme continues with screenings of The Low Road and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You at the IFI, while live and discussion-based events such as He Dies in the End, Antidote 2, and Wired Our Own Way invite audiences into thoughtful, challenging, and deeply human conversations.
We’d love you to join us for what promises to be a meaningful and engaging week ahead.
Have a look at some of this week's highlights below.
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Antidote 2
We Are Griot
ANTIDOTE II is a vibrant spoken word and live music show commissioned by First Fortnight and the Arts Council of Ireland, created by WeAreGriot - a collective of four performance poets whose work speaks directly to First Fortnight’s mission of challenging stigma around mental health. Described as “a dose, a herb, a flat 7-Up for your mind,” the show is rooted in love, joy, play, and connection. Collaboration is at the heart of the night, with WeAreGriot joined on stage by the sweet synths of Dublin band Neubri, the ever-charismatic host Jimbo, and Cork musician Kaiser Kestine.
Fri 16th Jan | 8pm
Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin
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The Low Road
Stephen Mulhearn
After the suicide of her best friend, a guilt-ridden and heartbroken young woman hikes Scotland’s West Highland Way to find salvation. Unprepared and overwhelmed she embarks on a journey from the streets of Glasgow to the breath-taking scenery of the Scottish Highlands. As our heroine heals, she finds the courage to speak out against the everyday misogyny she encounters, and about her deeply personal struggles with self-harm. The end of her pilgrimage takes her to her lost friend's family home on the Isle of Skye. There, in the arms of his mother, her grief is transformed. She returns home released from her past and able to speak publicly about her trauma. Her brave public exposé of the mental health crisis facing young people sparks positive change and her new life begins.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Stephen Mulhearn
Sat 17th Jan | 3:30pm
Irish Film Institue, Dublin
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He Dies in the End
Liam McCarthy
Winner of the Dublin Fringe Festival First Fortnight Award, this bold new play by Liam McCarthy comes to First Fortnight in partnership with Dublin Fringe Festival. In the end we all become stories…
Matty is dead - though he’s keen to tell you it’s really not such a big deal. What follows is a series of retellings of his final day, each version slightly - and sometimes wildly - contradicting the last. Funny, raw, and full of heart, this time-bending production explores love, loss, and the deep human need to make meaning before the final curtain falls.
Thurs 15th Jan - Saturday 17th
Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin
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Therapy Session Kerry
Stephen James Smith
First Fortnight is delighted to bring Therapy Sessions to Listowel this year, presented in association with Poetry Ireland. Taking place in the atmospheric surroundings of St John’s Theatre - a converted 19th-century Gothic church in the heart of the town - the evening will be MCed by the ever-brilliant Stephen James Smith. Visiting from Canada, poet, storyteller and musician Melissa Shaginoff (of Ahtna and Paiute descent) will share work rooted in story, song and heritage, alongside West Kerry accordionist and singer Méabh Ní Bheaglaoich, whose luminous music and dance bring deep warmth to the stage. Intimate, uplifting and full of heart, this promises to be a memorable night of shared music, poetry and connection.
Thurs 15th Jan | 7:30pm
St John's Theatre, Listowel
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Therapy Session Aráinn Mhór
Stephen James Smith
First Fortnight are delighted that an edition of Therapy Sessions will take place on Arranmore Island in Co Donegal. Early's Bar is a family-run pub known for music, craic and is the perfect setting for an evening of poetry, storytelling and song.
Hosted by poet Stephen James Smith and with community at its core this collaborative event promises to be a night to cherish.
Monday 12th Jan | 7:30pm
Early's Bar, Aráinn Mhór
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Soul Paint
Sarah Ticho
Soul Paint is a multi-award winning virtual reality experience by Sarah Ticho & Niki Smit, backed by behavioural scientists and researchers. Narrated by Rosario Dawson, this experience asks you the question: ‘Where are you feeling?’
By combining 3D drawing, playful embodied interaction and personal introspection, you create an expressive virtual reality artwork about your own emotions and embodied sensations. You are invited to reveal your own unique inner reality and then observe the creations of others.
"…embracing the nuances and often messy complexities of human emotion. It is a testament to Soul Paint’s innovation that technology, rather than serving as a barrier, can be harnessed to encourage honest emotional expression. Soul Paint, ultimately, produces a space where art, humanity, technology, and emotion converge into one body, a body which is free to feel.”
Thurs Jan 15th to Sat 17th Jan | 11am-4pm
Smock Alley, Dublin
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If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
Mary Bronstein
Rose Byrne gives a performance of blistering intensity as Linda, a psychoanalyst caring for her critically ill daughter who must relocate to a dingy hotel when a burst pipe causes her apartment ceiling to cave in.
Her husband (Christian Slater, appearing only as a nagging voice on her phone) is away, and she must single-handedly juggle hospital visits with treating her clients, while monitoring repairs to the gaping hole in the roof. Her own therapist (a baleful Conan O’Brien) offers little support, and, leaning into drugs and alcohol, Linda careens towards a point of crisis.
Thurs Jan 15th | 6:15pm
Irish Film Institute, Dublin
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We are so happy to be welcoming you to First Fortnight Festival 2026, we hope to see you at an event soon.
Until then,
The First Fortnight Team
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