The Mindfield area at Electric Picnic is always one of the festival's highlights, bringing an eclectic array of spoken word, theatre and more to the festival.
The line-up for this year's Mindfield is as varied as always, with everyone from Sharon Horgan to Al Porter to Blindboy Boatclub from Rubberbandits taking part in the various shows, discussion panels and public interviews. This year's programme is in partnership with the Ireland 2016 Centenary programme.
There's also an excellent theatre programme as well as a debate show hosted by David McWilliams, the Irish language stage An Puball Gaeilge, the Spoken Word stage and the return of the Science Gallery.
See below for the full details to date:
LEVIATHAN: POLITICAL CABARET
- Waterford Whispers News
- Soundings: Podcast, hosted by award-winning comedy writer, Sharon Horgan and Dylan Haskins with Aisling Bea and special guests.
- The Twenty One Sixteen Parliament chaired by Ceann Comhairle Blindboy Boatclub of the Rubberbandits, with speakers including Prof Luke O’Neill of TCD, Dr. Rhona Mahony, Master of the National Maternity Hospital and Rosaleen McDonagh, a playwright from the Traveller community.
- Blindboy Boatclub will also present What the F**k is Culture Anyway? with a panel of “gasc*ntists” who will try to get a handle on what culture means to Irish people and what Irish culture means to the world.
- Miriam and Al’s Sunday Brunch – a chat show with RTÉ’s Miriam O’Callaghan and comedy’s fastest-rising star, Al Porter plus special guests.
- History Ireland Hedge School discusses the Battle of the Somme and explores festivals from the Feast of Uisneach to Electric Picnic
- The 3Debates hosted by David McWilliams
- The Experts Bite Back, a new show which fact checks claims by politicians and the media on recent controversial issues and gets to the truth of the matter
- Amnesty Hour hosted by Audrey Carville, who will talk to Syrian refugees and Ghias Aljundi and Rhazan Ibraheem about their stories, together with Amnesty Ireland’s Colm O’Gorman.
- Political cabaret from the Avant Gardaí and Paddy Cullivan; Nick Kelly’s SEE: HEAR and Salon du Chat.
THE THEATRE STAGE (in partnership with Dublin Theatre Festival):
- Bewley’s Cafe Theatre and the Delmaine String Quartet’s Love and War: Words and Music from the Western Front, with Michael James Ford, Susannah De Wrixon, Elliot Moriarty and the Delmaine String Quartet.
- Always Alone Together is a thrilling feat of solo storytelling in which writer-performer Cathal McGuire draws these disparate threads together into a sweeping, cinematic narrative of friendship, betrayal and the search for belonging.
- From Eden is a new play by Stephen Jones, directed by Karl Shiels and starring Stephen Jones and Seána Kerslake
- Rebel Rebel by Robbie O’Connor and Aisling O’Mara is presented in association with ANU Productions.
- 16 and Rising presented Super Paua with the support of the Arts Council.
THE WORD: POETRY AND SLAM
Mik Artistik, Mary Coughlan, Backroad Smokers Club, Brownbread Mixtape, Candlelit Tales, Gary Dunne, Fallen Lights, Kalle Ryan, Graham Sweeney, John Conneely, New Valley Wolves, The Resurrection, Stone and Jezreel, John Cummins and Mademoiselle K - all hosted by the inimitable Marty Mulligan from Mullingar.
SCIENCE GALLERY
Current exhibition SEEING
AN PUBALL GAEILGE
- Tara Mooney - Seamstress and songstress from Contae An Chláir
- Na Gaibairí– Irish rappers
- The Word up Collective present Mc Mupéid - Connemara Native; Anti One; Tebi Rex; Tura Arutura; Rua; Niamh de Barra; Carrie Harding; Imbolc –Ted Talks as Gaeilge; Google Gaeilge Karaoke – 80s pop songs transgooglelated to Irish with backing tracks and video and all accompanied by the live karaoke quartet: Caiberét Craicealta – Caberét of Bands singers and performers who sing as Gaeilge hosted by one R na G’s and Éire’s most energetic presenter’s Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí.
