Watergate Theatre

11/09/2026

Check out these Kilkenny Animated events on Saturday, here at the Watergate!

The Making of a Zine with Aoife Dooley & Guests | 3.30pm

A Silent Voice | 5.30pm

Dylan Moran | 9pm

Visit kilkennyanimated.com for tickets!

10/09/2026

Kilkenny Animated Festival events at the Watergate kick-start tomorrow!

Drawing the Stories Out | 6.30pm

What happens when a master storyteller with a fiddle, four artists and a giant blank sheet of paper share a stage?

Drawing the Stories Out is a one-of-a-kind live performance where stories leap off the tongue and onto paper. Storyteller and musician Aindrias de Staic spins vivid, funny, moving and unexpected tales, accompanied by the rich sounds of his fiddle. As he performs, illustrator and writer, Aoife Dooley, comedian and artist, Dylan Moran, animation artists Will Wivell and Tais Val Penna draw their responses live before your eyes.

Projected onto a screen, every line, sketch and splash of colour becomes part of an evolving visual world. The artists move around the table, swap materials, layer images and riff off one another’s ideas.Part storytelling session, part live drawing jam, part creative experiment. Drawing the Stories Out is a playful, imaginative celebration of what can happen when words, music and art meet in the moment.Come for the stories. Stay for the surprises.

Visit kilkennyanimated.com for tickets!

Late Night Horror Screening: Perfect Blue | 10pm

Join us at 10pm for a special late-night screening of Perfect Blue, the groundbreaking anime psychological horror that continues to haunt audiences nearly three decades after its release. Widely regarded as a masterpiece of the genre, this 1997 film blurs the line between reality and illusion in a chilling tale of fame, obsession and identity.The story follows a pop idol who leaves her music career behind to pursue acting, only to find herself stalked by an obsessive fan as her grip on reality begins to unravel. Stylish, unsettling and deeply influential, Perfect Blue remains one of the most acclaimed psychological thrillers ever committed to screen.

Introduced by Cartoon Saloon’s Tomm Moore, this is a perfect event for horror lovers, anime fans and anyone who enjoys cinema that lingers long after the credits roll.A late-night descent into paranoia, obsession and one of the most unforgettable animated films ever made.

Please note: this screening is rated 18+ and contains mature themes

07/09/2026

🎬 It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
📆 Wednesday 9 Sept | 🕣 7.30pm
🎟 €7

It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg (Deliver Us From Evil, West of Memphis), covers the life of the rising young star with an otherworldly voice and boundary-pushing artistry, who left the ’90s music world reeling when he died suddenly, at age 30, after the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Grace.

Told through never-before-seen footage from Buckley’s archives and intimate accounts from his mother Mary Guibert, former partners Rebecca Moore and Joan Wasser, Jeff’s former bandmates, including Michael Tighe and Parker Kindred, and luminaries like Ben Harper and Aimee Mann, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley illuminates one of modern music’s most influential and enigmatic figures.

03/09/2026

Join us for the opening of 'Eco Art to Heal Your Heart', an exhibition of visual art by Frances Micklem on Friday 4 September, from 5 - 7pm.

29/08/2026

Once Off Productions present To Hell in a Handbag - The Secret Lives of Canon Chasuble and Miss Prism

By Helen Norton and Jonathan White

Saturday 26 September | €20/€18

This subversively funny take on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest returns for a 10th anniversary tour, having sold out previous runs in Ireland & the UK.

This is the play behind the play: a tale of blackmail, embezzlement and false identity.

Visit watergatetheatre.com for tickets!

25/08/2026

Ivan Yates brings “The Game of Life” to Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny, an evening exploring what it actually takes to win in your career and in life.

Hosted by Chris Donoghue.

📅 Friday 16th October, 8pm
📍 Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny
🎟️ Tickets €32 + booking fee, available now at watergatetheatre.com

Don’t miss it!

22/08/2026

Seán Ronayne - Untold Sounds
Thursday 3rd September | 7pm | €25

Fresh off the back of a sell-out 2025 Irish tour, Seán Ronayne returns with a fresh new talk – where he’ll delve into never-before-told-stories of Irish wildlife sound, as experienced by Seán on his never-ending ear-driven journeys through the wildest corners of our lands, and beyond.

Seán’s wildlife sound collection has surpassed 28,000 recordings, and covers birds, mammals, insects, whales, fish, plants, and just about everything you can (and can’t) imagine. In this talk, Seán will bring some of the most beautiful and unusual sounds from his archives, and weave them into his passion-fuelled story-telling.

Bring your sharpest ears, and expect to leave with another view of the world around you.

21/08/2026

Tickets on sale now from https://www.watergatetheatre.com/whats-on/events/robert-grace

19/08/2026

The Watergate Theatre extends its deepest sympathies to Don, Carole, Nick, Steven, David, Kate and all the O’Connor family on the extremely sad passing of their beloved, Méabh.

Méabh will be fondly remembered for her infectious smile by all who had the pleasure of sharing the stage with her in Watergate pantomimes over the years.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all her family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.

May her gentle soul rest in peace. 🕊️

https://rip.ie/death-notice/meabh-oconnor-kilkenny-kilkenny-city-639364?fbclid=IwVERFWATyWfJwZG9mAWZkaWQWUMxBOvNK53nETAvkxxByAVInr6XzN2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7Dn4Y3hhJEDUdccdTvprRi1isnchSonVgsiOoWk39XvPckvBbF2MvTD4X0Zw_aem_C7pS-wJAPfL6fIr_r6zIUQ

The death has occurred of Méabh O’CONNOR of Kilkenny City, Kilkenny Ireland, on 15/08/2026. You can view the full death notice and add your condolences here.

18/08/2026

National Theatre Live Screening

The Pl***oy of the Western World by John Millington Synge

5th September | 7.30pm | €15/€12

Directed by Caitríona McLaughlin

Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery.

Pegeen Flaherty’s life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that he’s killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene…

Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitríona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.

Visit watergatetheatre.com!