The opening night of the Dublin Fringe Festival got underway last Monday when the creators of some of its highlights mingled with delightful Dublin lowlifes in the magical mirrored Spiegeltent.
The tent was the surprise hit of the festival last year and this year it is located on a platform in George's Dock in the heart of the IFSC in the Docklands area. It will play host to an "insane" programme for the three-week festival, according to festival director Vallejo Gantner, who admitted to being "well past insanity and into the psychotic realm" on opening night.
The festival line-up includes neo-burlesque circus The Tassel Club, independent Irish musical acts Nina Hynes and The Jimmy Cake, and yoga and tango lessons.
Those who attended the official opening night were treated to a cabaret of delights, which included Dublin rap duo Man and the Machine, aerial acrobatics from Fidget Feet and African/ Irish band Adun Oyin. The stars of the show were Cork hip-hop fusion band The Republic of Loose, who gave a stadium performance to a mix of late-night revellers and strung-out performers in the mirrored tent.
Peacock director and former Fringe director Ali Curran enjoyed the 10th opening night of the Fringe. Despite a bout of nostalgia she was delighted to see how her "baby" was coming along.
"It's spectacular. It has turned into the spoilt, petulant teenager I expected it to be," she mused.
John-Paul Hussey took a well-deserved break from lining up 120 light and sound cues for his show, SPACEMUNKI, at T36, to enjoy the night's shenanigans. Also in attendance were Breandán de Gallai, a former lead dancer with Riverdance and now director of a new dance show in the making, Balor, and former Virgin Prune Daniel Figgis, who is hard at work on Tamper, his site-specific show in Tamplins House, Marlay Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin.