What's On
Welcome to the tenth Scripts: Ireland’s Playwriting Festival, a celebration of contemporary Irish theatre in Birr, County Offaly.
This vibrant event transforms the historic Birr Theatre & Arts Centre into a creative hub, featuring staged readings, full productions, and engaging workshops led by talented Irish artists. Scripts is dedicated to showcasing the finest new plays and fostering fresh voices in Irish theatre.
This year, selected writers Dee Roycroft, Conor Montague, and Áine Ryan will work with mentor Eugene O’Brien to develop their plays, which will be performed as rehearsed readings with professional actors at Nurtured New Works on Sunday, 14 July, where a winner will be announced.
The theme of this year’s festival is TIME, reflecting our era's rapid change, uncertainty, and reflection. Through historical events, dystopian futures, and fleeting human experiences, the plays explore how TIME shapes and is shaped by our world, offering poignant reflections for today’s audiences.
11-14 July
Birr, Co. Offaly
Box Office
(057) 91 22911
Theatre
The 3:30 At Cheltenham
Written by Kenneth Hudson
July 12, 2025 at 7:00:00 PM
Birr Theatre & Arts Centre
a fast-paced thrill ride into the life and gambling addiction of Andy Williams. Andy faces his past in an electric re-telling of when chasing the impossible win put much more at stake than just the horses. When the fun stops, can Andy stop?
Counting Swans
Written by Conor Montague
July 11, 2025 at 7:00:00 PM
Birr Theatre & Arts Centre
A tragi-comic dialogue from award-winning playwright, Conor Montague, which interrogates societal attitudes towards care for the terminally ill though the personal trauma of two lifelong friends. ‘Life isn’t a game of hurling.’
In Plain Sight
Written & Performed by Noelle Brown
July 12, 2025 at 2:00:00 PM
Roscrea
a moving new work that explores the legacy of the construction of Mother and Baby homes on the inhabitants, wider communities and the buildings themselves, in a delicate and compassionate exploration, through story and song.
Workshops
The Play Express
led by Conor Montague
July 12, 2025 at 12:00:00 PM
Birr -Emmett Square
In this high-energy, practice-based workshop, you’ll generate a brand new play from the ground up—no ideas required! Through rapid-fire writing exercises, feedback, and creative provocation, we’ll explore ways to ignite character, setting, and story in real time.
Writing Your Voice
with Rían Smith
July 11, 2025 at 1:00:00 PM
Birr LOETB
Figuring out your perspective and translating it into meaningful drama with Rían Smith. Rían is a dramaturg and writer, currently working at The Abbey Theatre as Literary and New Work Associate.
This workshop is FREE to attend but we only have limited places so booking is essential
THE BLANK PAGE: How to Start …
with Dee Roycroft
July 12, 2025 at 11:30:00 AM
Birr Library
Explore some useful ways to generate ideas for the stage, giving you the tools you need to start your play and finish it. We’ll also dip a toe into the essentials of character, stage direction, dialogue and structure; the pitfalls and possibilities.
No experience needed. All you have to bring is a blank page, something to write with and your imagination!