New performance celebrates Cork's LGBTQI+ community

24 Jul 2026

• Cork's LGBTQI+ community, with a focus on trans+, gender non-conforming, and gender-creative experience, to be celebrated in a new performance.
• The Queer Appear, Here! is led by Professor Yvon Bonenfant.

A new collaborative performance exploring the lived experiences of Cork City's trans+, gender non-conforming and gender creative community will premiere at Circus Factory this July.

The Queer Appear, Here! is the latest work in the wider Hear the Queer Appear project, a series of ten artistic works exploring LGBTQI+ voices through sound, light, participation, public art and performance.

Developed through residencies at Circus Factory and University College Cork (UCC), the live performance celebrates the voices and experiences of six members of Cork's LGBTQI+ community. The project is led by Professor Yvon Bonenfant, UCC Professor of Theatre and Director of the Future Humanities Institute (FHI), performance-maker, art-maker and researcher. 

As part of the show’s development, participants were asked the question: What would you like the wider public to know about your experience or identity as LGBTQI+ that you feel is misunderstood? 

Their responses form the foundation of the performance, inspiring an interdisciplinary work that combines movement, dance, circus techniques, pole work, sound, and integrated captions. Rather than portraying participants directly, the performers respond to their words and perspectives, creating a space where lived experiences can be shared through movement, acrobatic work, sound and text.  

Professor Yvon Bonenfant, UCC School of Film, Music and Theatre and the Future Humanities Institute, said: "It is an honour and a joy to work with this group of daring artists to pay tribute to what our gender non-conforming and trans community members might want to say, in all their diversity. Each statement and each voice is unique. We work to capture and represent that unique quality."

The performance has been designed to be accessible to a wide audience and will include Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpretation and audio description.

Hear the Queer Appear is supported by the Arts Council, Circus Factory, Gay Project and University College Cork, and is funded through the Arts Council Participatory Arts Project Award.

Through The Queer Appear, Here!, Circus Factory continues its commitment to supporting creativity, representation and accessibility in the arts while creating safe and welcoming spaces for LGBTQI+ artists and participants.

Tickets for The Queer Appear, Here!, premiering on Thursday, 30 July, can be booked online.