The Act of Existing by Croí Glan

A performance shaped by others.

In this provocative new duet by Philip Connaughton for Croí Glan, performers navigate a world of shifting rules, unexpected choices and uncertain outcomes. Blurring the boundaries between observation and participation, the work invites audiences into a live encounter where influence is never straightforward and responsibility is never neutral.

Playful, unsettling and revealing, this striking new work explores what it means to simply be ourselves in relation to others. As expectations, choices and boundaries shift, The Act of Existing asks whether the simple act of being can become something profound.

Audience note: Some people might find this production confrontational. The piece contains strong and potentially upsetting language. Contains brief nudity.

Choreographer Philip Connaughton
Co-Artistic Directors Tara Brandel, Bobbi Byrne
Dancers Bobbi Byrne, Ben Sullivan (This work has been created in collaboration with the dancers)
Producer / LD / PM Gearóid O'hAllmhurain
Designer Emily Ní Bhroin
Composer Luca Truffarelli, Federico Ortica

Supported by The Arts Council, Dance Cork Firkin Crane and Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre.

Croí Glan is Ireland's leading Integrated Dance Company, working with professional contemporary dancers with and without physical disabilities to produce bold, engaging high calibre productions for national and international touring and associated participatory work. Based in West Cork, CG is EDI Company in Residence at Uillinn; West Cork Arts Centre 2022-25. Nominated Best Performance Ensemble Dublin Fringe 2012 and 2016. Recent works include Tilt, an outdoor aerial dance theatre work celebrated for its approach to EDI; Armour Off a multi award winning film; and In Place presented at IMMA in 2021.

Philip Connaughton is a celebrated Dublin-based choreographer whose work fuses creativity, collaboration, and innovation. He is currently an associate artist at Project Arts Centre and a company artist with THISISPOPBABY.

Philip founded his company in 2014 with the award-winning large-scale piece Tardigrade. Since then, he has developed projects such as TROJANS (2023) and Party Scene (2022), which toured Dublin, Edinburgh Fringe, and Pumpenhaus Germany, along with Carousel: A Concert at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. His recent work includes No Control for Carlow Arts Festival, choreographing THISISPOPBABY’s arena show WAKE, and creating Love Songs for Project Arts Centre and Cork Opera House. Earlier, his company presented Mamafesta Memorialising (2019) and he developed acclaimed pieces like ASSISTED SOLO (2018), Extraterrestrial Events (2017), and Whack!! (2015) with Compagnie Kashyl.