THIS Saturday 18 April, returning for its third year following the huge success of the previous festivals, Incubate Festival 2026 is a dynamic one-day showcase of bold new theatre in development. Each Incubate artist presents a 30-minute extract of an original work in progress. The work is raw, ambitious and ready to be tested in front of a live audience.
These artists are the cutting edge of new theatre-making in Belfast and are presenting ideas which respond to our modern world; exploring contemporary and unique social issues with curiosity, comedy and creativity.
The artists presenting work include Clinton Kirkpatrick, Rosie Mullin, Gerard Headley, Wilson McDowell, Katie Bridget Murphy, Grace Cunningham, Niamh Murphy, Heather Martin, Isaac Quinn and Denise McCready.
The festival is produced by Tinderbox Theatre Company, who have been working with these ten cutting edge theatre-makers for the past six months as part of the Engine Programme.
As well as the ten performances, Tinderbox will present a symposium for the creative community in Belfast.
Patrick J O’Reilly, Artistic Director for Tinderbox Theatre Company, said: “New theatre performances is the lifeblood of the arts. It is incredibly important to provide spaces for artists of all disciplines to test out their new ideas and get audience feedback so they can continue to refine their work and their process whilst also strengthening our arts ecology by inviting new stories on to our stages.”
Julie Stewart, Creative Programmes Manager, said: “Incubate Festival is a crucial part of how we nurture new talent at the MAC. Supporting artists to develop their ideas and, importantly, to see their work realised on stage on Saturday 18 April is at the heart of what we do. Our partnership with Tinderbox Theatre Company is key to this – bringing expertise, collaboration, and a shared commitment to giving emerging artists the opportunity to be heard and experienced live, and I can’t wait to see what the artists have come up with.”
What you will see on the day:
Blind Man's Boat By Clinton Kirkpatrick:
Blind Man is alone and in the middle of the ocean. Why are they there? How? We journey on Blind Man’s Boat, but is it memory, imagination or delusion?
Good Boy/Good Man by Isaac Quinn:
Two polar opposite transgender men studying music are forced to write a song together. A new rock musical about performative males, queer desire, and what it means to be seen.
Oscar + Henri by Heather Martin:
Exploring the largely untold friendship between Irish-writer Oscar Wilde and French-painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar + Henri investigates the line between history and memory, and who has the right to tell it.
God Love Her, by Rosie Mullin:
Woven through monologue and movement, a woman draws on the farcical rituals hidden within rural Ireland’s domestic life. In a search for what is sacred she awakens what has been suppressed.
Anna and The Prick, by Denise McCready:
Anna has a comfortable life until she turns 55. Two sons have come out between weeks of each other, the menopause has hit badly and don’t get her started on that man……what a prick!! Anna and the Prick takes a look into internalised patriarchy in women and misogyny in the medical profession.
Unexpected, by Katie Bridget Murphy:
Unexpected is a one-woman play exploring motherhood, memory, and inheritance, using live performance and personal archive to examine how becoming a mother forces a reckoning with childhood, expectation, and care.
PAN, by Wilson McDowell
A giggle at a funeral. Gen Z absurdity meets ancient tragedy as Pan predicts the end of everything. A twisted, tragicomic, multimedia reboot of the Greek God's death.
l Why is Harry Styles ruining my life? by Grace Cunningham:
Ambitious journalist, Cara, discovers that her Harry styles teenage fan-fiction has gone viral and she now must write an article about it! Nostalgic and empowering, Harry Styles wants you to come.
Satanic Panic, by Niamh Murphy:
When her husband is tasked with staging satanic ritual sites, Linda becomes convinced that she’s living with the devil. Satanic Panic explores the impact of psychological warfare on ordinary people.
Last Orders, by Gerard Headley:
As society collapses, faith curdles and the earth becomes barren; a faded show queen grapples with their place in the end and prepares for their final curtain call.
The Incubate project is funded by Arts Council of Northern Ireland, The Esme Mitchell Trust and Belfast City Council. Delivered in association with the MAC, Belfast.
Incubate Festival runs at the MAC on 18 April 2026. Tickets available at themaclive.com.
