May sees the return of the annual Bealtaine festival, a month-long national celebration of the arts and creativity as a life-long journey, from Age & Opportunity. The festival turns 23 this year but shows no signs of slowing down, with its most ambitious programme of events yet showcasing the very best of Ireland’s older artists in theatre, literature, visual arts, dance, and music.
This year, there’s a very special exploration of intimacy, sex and sexuality in and by older age groups with Everybody Sings (Smock Alley, May 15 and 16), a new Bealtaine commission from Shaun Dunne, the actor and playwright behind the 2017 hit show about living with HIV, Rapids. The piece draws from a series of interviews and workshops Dunne did with men and women ranging in age from 50 to 82.