A phone call early on New Year’s Day morning has prompted me to put together this list of theatre venues and contacts for touring theatre in Kilkenny.
I’ve spent the best part of the last 20 years making theatre in Kilkenny with Devious Theatre, but with local knowledge, it’s often easy to overlook the difficulties or nuances involved in contacting or arranging venues for theatre productions. And if you’re not involved in touring theatre, but instead are hoping to catch some live theatre in Kilkenny in 2025, now you’ve got a few venues to look up for shows.
Kilkenny City centre theatre venues
There are three Kilkenny city theatre venues of note that you could consider if you’re looking for a theatre space in the conventional sense – the Watergate Theatre, Cleere’s Theatre and The Home Rule Club. Set Theatre, operated by Langton’s, caters for a lot of touring music and standup shows but has been used for traditional theatre performances on occasion. Similarly, one of the city’s smallest venues, The Hole In The Wall, has been used for much smaller site-specific type performances, but wouldn’t be a theatre space in the traditional sense.
The one thing Kilkenny doesn’t have, but has been long hoped for, is a dedicated black box space that would facilitate 120-150 seats as a comfortable middle ground for touring productions.
Watergate Theatre
The Watergate Theatre is very much ‘the theatre’ for Kilkenny city and county. Having opened its doors in 1993 on the site of the old Savoy cinema, the Watergate caters for theatre performances and productions of all shapes and sizes – from community group performances to touring international opera and more. It’s the most technically-equipped venue in the county, part of the Strollers touring network and has a busy enough programme across the year between live theatre, music and film screenings.
The venue seats approximately 324 patrons, 75 of those in a balcony setting that’s typically only opened for capacity shows. Six dedicated wheelchair seating spaces are also reserved downstairs. Sound and lighting can be run from downstairs in the rear left of the venue, or from the control box upstairs at the rear of the balcony.
As a commercial venue, hire charges apply per performance day, and while a certain amount of technical time is covered as a standard, additional technical time or get-in days may incur extra costs. The theatre is also available for rent for events, conferences, work gatherings and other non-arts-specific events. A €1.50 fee is levied per seat on bookings, passed on to patrons at the booking stage.
Your first port of call should be to email the theatre’s director, Joanna Cunningham, at director@watergatetheatre.com or by contacting the box office during office hours on 056 7761674. You can find out more here too.
Cleere’s Bar & Theatre
The spiritual home of Devious Theatre, if the walls of Cleere’s could talk, they would likely reveal more about the Irish theatre scene from the 90s to the present day than most people are aware of.
Visually, there’s not a whole lot you can do any more to the venue from a performance point – the old black curtains are long gone with the stone walls revealed. The doorway through to the back stage area can function, though it leads to the bottle store with a small loft space that can be used for dressing/changing. I’m also pretty sure at this stage that the faux floral fixtures introduced post-Covid times are a permanent fixture (as show above in Devious Theatre’s Development Hell in 2021).
However, in Cleere’s you’ve got one of the cosiest, most intimate venues for theatre, with the audience right under your foot. The stage area is raised and can take a 4-6 hander show with ease, better again if you’re travelling with a set that can fit in a car or van. Lighting is limited but functional, with a number of LED pars on bars and an in-house projector. There is a house sound setup though you’re welcome to provide your own. The venue’s emergency exit opens out on to the beer garden of the adjoining pub (Brewery Corner), just something to be aware of from a noise perspective.
Access for get-in, for the most-part, is through the main bar. On the plus side, if there’s nothing happening in the space, access for tech and dress time gets easier. Shows typically go up at 8pm, ticket prices for theatre productions varying anywhere from €10 to €20 with sales available through Cleere’s or from your own sources (Eventbrite etc.).
Capacity-wise you’re looking at 60-70 seated, the latter being pretty tight, the former a bit more comfortable. Best bet? Talk to John Holden or Paul McCabe (who own and operate the bar and venue) by calling 056 7762573 or check cleeres.com to see current listings, talk bookings, rates etc.
The Home Rule Club
Another venue that’s returned to the world of theatre and comedy in recent years is the upstairs space at The Home Rule Club on John’s Quay in Kilkenny city centre. It might not be the first venue that pops to mind when you think of theatre in Kilkenny, but having seen Kilkenny’s professional children’s theatre company Barnstorm Theatre move into the building in recent years, the list of productions in the space has grown.
Like Cleere’s, you’re looking at a 60-ish seater space, albeit it’s located up two flights of stairs meaning accessibility may be an issue. Barnstorm Theatre, Lake Productions (a Kilkenny community theatre) and the Kilkenny Comedy Club are among the regular performers at the venue, between children’s theatre, lunchtime theatre and monthly standup nights.
Anja is the general manager for Barnstorm and can be contacted by phone 056 7751266 or through visiting barnstorm.ie.
Set Theatre
Very much a live music venue at heart, Set has previously played host to a number of theatre productions including Devious Theatre’s season of Dario Fo works – Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! in 2009 and 2010 respectively. There have been some panto-type productions and other theatre productions in there over the past few years, but you won’t find too much theatre on their annual programme.
That said, if you’re chasing a venue with in-house light and sound, the facility to extend the stage outwards by 1-2m, and a venue that can be set up in a cabaret style, to fully seated (250-odd capacity) to a mix of seating and standing (380-odd), you’re in luck. Plus, in the style stakes, there are few venues in the country that look as good as Set when you’re standing at the back of the room.
Back stage access is very limited, get in is primarily through the courtyard and John Street entrance, though there is a back entrance to the venue through the adjoining Langton’s hotel. Your first port of call for venue hire is to call Langton’s directly on 056 7765133.
The Hole In The Wall
Suited for more site-specific work, smaller single-set or minimalist set pieces, works in progress, The Hole In The Wall is a venue like no other in Kilkenny city or county.
The intrigue and the history of the venue here can be as much of a draw as the performance itself. Located up an alleyway off High Street, the inner house dates back to the late 16th century, a building that pre-dates Trinity College Dublin in its construction. Under the ownership of Michael Conway, the Archer Room, house and bar have been restored and play host to regular gatherings, talks, intimate gigs and some theatre performances. It’s also been used as a Kilkenny Arts Festival venue in the past.
You can contact The Hole In The Wall by email – holeinthewall1582@gmail.com – or check out holeinthewall.ie for more details.
Rural / county venues
If city-centre performing isn’t you’re thing, or you’re looking for a more rural venue or drama circuit venue, then you may find a welcome in the likes of Castlecomer, Thomastown, Gowran, Graiguenamanagh or Goresbridge. The latter is home to the Ionad Dara Centre, a venue familiar to those on the one-act circuit. The other venues are big enough to stage a panto, yet comfortable enough to
Castlecomer
The community hall in Castlecomer will certainly be familiar to those who attend the Deenside Panto group’s annual show.
Staging at one end of the hall is elevated (similar in design to Thomastown, Gowran and the Graignamanagh below), with multiple rooms available in the hall itself for dress / tech / rehearsal.
Addtional venue and contact information can be found here.
Thomastown (Concert Hall)
The Concert Hall in Thomastown has gone under some serious restoration and renovation in recent years and now regularly hosts live music and theatre productions across the year. Kilkenny’s Lake Productions have made it a home away from home with performances of Hugh Leonard’s Da and Jimmy Murphy’s Kings Of The Kilburn High Road to the stage in recent years, while the facility has lead to the formation of the Thomastown Panto Society, with successful stagings in Novemnber 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Ground floor seating is on the flat, the stage elevated, with capacity in the region of 170. Additional seating is available upstairs. Some in-house facilities exist for sound and lighting though there’s no spec available at the time of writing.
Located on Marshes’ Street, you can find more information here on Facebook.
Gowran (Parish Hall)
Gowran Hall, the original school building in Gowran, will at least host productions by Gowran Panto and Gowran Little Theatre across the year. Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa was the most recent production there (2024) with Rapunzel the pantomime choice for February 2025.
For information on availability, I’d recommend contacting either Gowran Panto or one of the committee members of Gowran Little Theatre.
Graignamangh (Abbey Hall)
The Abbey Hall in Graignamanagh is no stranger to hosting theatre productions. Duiske Players returned to life in recent years while another local company, Spark Productions, was active in the venue 2013-2015. Dusike Players’ 2024 production was Steel Magnolias, running September of last year.
Some options are available on in-house lighting and sound, the venue capable of hosting 150-200 patrons seated.
For information on technicals, hire costs and availability you can phone 085 801 1781 or email graigabbeyhall@gmail.com.
Goresbridge (Ionad Dara)
Home of the Goresbridge Drama Festival on the one-act circuit, the Ionad Dara was opened in 2008 and has been home for everything from badminton to yoga, to touring theatre and live music in the years since.
The centre can be contacted via Facebook here, or another source for help may be the Kilcumney Players who host the one-act festival in October.
Promoting your show – who do I talk to?
When it comes to promoting your show, in particular for touring productions, your first port of call should be to local media outlets. KCLR, the commercial radio station for Kilkenny and Carlow, provides arts coverage across a number of programmes including The Saturday Show with Edward Hayden, The KCLR Daily (weekday mornings) and The Home Run (weekday afternoon / early evening). At the time of writing, Edward is also the chair of the DLI so very much ‘gets’ theatre.
Other outlets to contact include The Kilkenny People and Kilkenny Observer newspapers (who publish on Wednesdays and Fridays respectively) along with Community Radio Kilkenny City.
If you’re a Facebook user, consider dropping a note into the Kilkenny Theatre Forum Facebook group, an active group whose membership includes representatives from a number of local theatre companies and groups.
Need to follow up on the content of this post? Drop an email to ken@devioustheatre.com and if I can help, I will, or at least I’ll try point you in the right direction! And if you’re a venue operator in Kilkenny that’s open to theatre productions, and you’re not on the list, shout.
