Unscripted and Unchoreographed

This week, we’re joined by Holly Hughes — a writer, poet, actor, and multidisciplinary artist — to talk about her sharp, hilarious, and thought-provoking debut show:
I Want To Speak To Your Manager (How I Was Radicalised And Became...Karen).

Originally from West Cork and now based in Limerick, Holly’s work spans poetry, spoken word, creative nonfiction, and performance. She’s been published widely in Irish magazines and newspapers since 2019, and served as The Gloss Magazine’s eco-columnist from 2020 to 2025.

Her one-woman show premiered to a sold-out crowd at Scene + Heard 2025, and now she’s bringing it to the Dublin Fringe Festival. This year, she’ll also represent Ireland at the International Slam Poetry World Cup in Paris. A 2024 All-Ireland Poetry Slam runner-up and 2023 Australian Poetry Slam state finalist, Holly’s work walks the tightrope between outrage and absurdity — taking on patriarchy, ecocide, inequality, and dating culture with razor-sharp wit and compassion.

In this episode, Holly shares how she — once mild-mannered and people-pleasing — slowly transformed into someone who demands to speak to the manager. But as she asks: with billionaires wrecking the planet and systems failing us, is being a Karen really the worst thing you can be?

We chat about female rage, complaint emails as performance art, the politics of accountability, and how sometimes, being difficult is just standing your ground.

🎭 Catch Holly’s Show at the Dublin Fringe Festival
Venue: The Pearse Centre
Dates & Times:
📅 5 Sept – 18:30 (Preview)
📅 6–8 Sept – 20:30
📅 13 Sept – 13:30
📅 13–14 Sept – 20:30

🎟 €16 (Full) | €14 (Concession) | €12 (Preview)
⏱ Duration: 45 mins

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On this week's episode we chat to Vithoria Escobar. Vithoria is a Brazilian multidisciplinary dance artist based in Dublin, Ireland. Deeply rooted in community and collaboration, she actively contributes to the growth and diversification of the Irish dance scene. Her movement vocabulary is a fusion of diasporic street dance styles, including Dancehall, Afrodance, and Brazilian Funk. Vithoria's versatility has allowed her to gain experience as a researcher, artistic director, choreographer, performer, teacher, and battle dancer on both national and international stages.

Today we’re joined by Julie Lockett, a dance artist originally from Essex, England, now living and working in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Tipperary. We discuss how Julie’s work is deeply influenced by nature and the land around her, and how living in an ecovillage shapes her creative practice.

Julie shares her experience of raising children while working as a freelance artist, offering honest insights into the challenges and rewards of balancing motherhood and a creative career. She also gives thoughtful advice for other artists navigating similar journeys.

Julie is an independent dance artist and Artist-in-Residence at Instant Dissidence’s Eco Dance Space, where she works between the studio and the land. Her recent solo work, Her-acre—funded by The Arts Council and supported by Dance Ireland and Instant Dissidence—was presented both nationally and internationally as part of the Eadrainn/Between Us Residency (Dance Ireland & Dance Base, Edinburgh), and was performed at Spring Moves Dance Festival 2025 in Wexford.

Julie trained at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork and holds a BA (Hons) in Dance Performance from Middlesex University, UK, as well as a BA in Modern Languages & International Relations.

This episode offers a rich exploration of art, ecology, community, and the lived experience of a working artist and mother.

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On this week's episode we speak to Ciara Carroll, who is a rising Irish actor and multidisciplinary artist with a firm belief that art is for everyone. A 2021 graduate of TU Dublin's Conservatoire of Music and Drama, Ciara has already worked alongside some of Ireland's most celebrated talents, including Michael Fassbender, Robert Sheehan, Brendan Grace, and Pascal Scott. Most recently, she starred in Blindboy Boatclub's acclaimed short film 'Did You Read About Erskine Fogarty', which aired on RTÉ 2. Driven by curiosity and joy in the creative process, Ciara lives by the motto: "Do it for the craic and you will regret nothing!"

This week on the podcast, we speak with Ayesha Mailey and Kelly Quigley, ensemble members of Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company.
Following up on our previous episode with Echo Echo’s Artistic Director, Steve Batts, we dive deeper into the challenges currently facing the company and its members as the future of Echo Echo remains uncertain.

Ayesha and Kelly share their personal journeys—beginning in the company’s youth dance programme and growing into their roles as professional dancers and artists. They reflect on the impact Echo Echo has had on their lives and the wider artistic community, and what’s at stake in this critical moment.

Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company is based in Derry, Northern Ireland, with its home studios located in Waterloo House on the city’s historic Walls.Founded in Amsterdam in 1991 by Ursula Laeubli and Steve Batts, the company toured extensively throughout Europe before relocating to Derry in 1997. Since then, Echo Echo has become a cornerstone of the region’s cultural life.Echo Echo operates as an ensemble, favouring collaborative and co-operative working methods. Its core group of artists is committed to long-term collaboration and mutual support.The company creates touring performances, site-specific and event-based productions, a festival of dance and movement, a vibrant programme of artistic residencies, performances by visiting artists and companies, and a wide variety of participatory projects.Echo Echo’s work defies rigid stylistic categorisation. Rather than adhering to a single aesthetic, the company approaches dance as the art of poetic movement—similar to how poetry relates to everyday speech. This broad, inclusive approach enables meaningful participation across a wide spectrum of communities and experience levels.Echo Echo is deeply committed to high-quality artistic practice and to making dance accessible. The company rejects a rigid distinction between “professional” and “participatory” work, instead fostering numerous ways for people to engage with the art form.Echo Echo works with diverse groups including pre-school children and parents, schools and youth organisations, people with learning or physical disabilities, older adults, professional dancers, and multidisciplinary artists.Connect with us:⁠Instagram:⁠   / confession_boxcollective  ⁠Website⁠⁠: https://confessionboxcollective.com/⁠Facebook⁠: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...⁠LinkedIn:   / confession-box-collective  Book a podcast recording with us: https://calendly.com/confessionboxcol...

In this week’s episode, we speak with Steve Batts, Artistic Director of Echo Echo Dance Theatre, about the latest—and deeply concerning—news that the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Echo Echo’s primary funder, has withdrawn 100% of its funding for the company after 20 years of support.

This devastating news has shocked the arts community not just in Derry and Northern Ireland, but across the entire island.

Steve shares his perspective on how this decision will affect Echo Echo, the wider arts sector, and what it means for the future of cultural life in the region.

Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company is based in Derry, Northern Ireland, with its home studios located in Waterloo House on the city’s historic Walls.

Founded in Amsterdam in 1991 by Ursula Laeubli and Steve Batts, the company toured extensively throughout Europe before relocating to Derry in 1997. Since then, Echo Echo has become a cornerstone of the region’s cultural life.

Echo Echo operates as an ensemble, favouring collaborative and co-operative working methods. Its core group of artists is committed to long-term collaboration and mutual support.

The company creates touring performances, site-specific and event-based productions, a festival of dance and movement, a vibrant programme of artistic residencies, performances by visiting artists and companies, and a wide variety of participatory projects.

Echo Echo’s work defies rigid stylistic categorisation. Rather than adhering to a single aesthetic, the company approaches dance as the art of poetic movement—similar to how poetry relates to everyday speech. This broad, inclusive approach enables meaningful participation across a wide spectrum of communities and experience levels.

Echo Echo is deeply committed to high-quality artistic practice and to making dance accessible. The company rejects a rigid distinction between “professional” and “participatory” work, instead fostering numerous ways for people to engage with the art form.

Echo Echo works with diverse groups including pre-school children and parents, schools and youth organisations, people with learning or physical disabilities, older adults, professional dancers, and multidisciplinary artists.

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On this week's episode we chat to Ali Clarke is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural producer. Artistically her passion lies in creating immersive and interactive performances that explore the interplay between the audience and performers. Her work is grounded in the physical practices of contemporary dance, however, she has further expanded her exploration beyond disciplinary boundaries, gaining extensive experience in contemporary circus, theatre, poetry and performance art. With a desire to reimagine the role of contemporary dance in society, Ali has received numerous accolades, including a Next Generation Award from the Arts Council of Ireland, three Arts and Disability Research Awards, the Chasse Theater and Podium Bloos Culture Award, and the Cafe Theatre Festival Jury Award. Ali is currently engaged with the Dublin City Council Arts Office as Creative Community Engagement Officer overseeing the Creative Ireland program in the city. With a strong passion for equality, diversity and inclusion in cultural policy and practice she is currently undertaking a MSc in Equality Studies at UCD.

On this week’s episode, we chat with Saorla Rodgers, an actor and comedian.
Saorla completed her training at the College of Dance and the Gaiety School of Acting.

We discuss the importance of including the arts—such as drama and dance—as Leaving Certificate subjects in schools.

We also delve into the behind-the-scenes of her show Porno, which was performed at the Scene + Heard Festival 2025.

Saorla will be performing in Who’s the Clown at the Pearse Centre on June 19th.

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On this week's episode we spoke to Anatolii Liaskalo, born in Dnipro, Ukraine, and began dancing at the age of four at a local folk dance school. As a folk dancer, he performed regularly and, at 18, began studying jazz techniques. At 23, he joined the Theatre and School of Contemporary Dance POTOKI, led by Elena Budnitskaia, where he danced for three years. A graduate of Oles Honchar Dnipro National University in psychology, Anatolii’s interest in the connection between body, movement, and mind led him to complete programs in Dance and Body-Oriented Psychotherapy.

Since 2010, he has worked as a freelance dancer and teacher across numerous Dnipro dance schools. In the 2012–2013 season, he performed with Borodystky Dennis Dance Company and participated in Contact Improvisation festivals in Finland, Spain, Italy, and Kyiv. He also performed in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia (2010, 2014), and in 2015 worked with Dubai TV in Lebanon.

Anatolii has choreographed and performed original works including Chasing the Rainbow, The 6th Day, Purgatorium, the short film Nagini, and Empathy (Ukraine, 2018–2021).

After relocating to Ireland in 2022, he held a residency at Dance Ireland and participated in D2C Lab 2023. He also appeared in Fiona Quilligan’s film for the Crystal Cloud project and performed in Crystal Cloud in Dublin in November 2024.

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In this week's episode, we chat with the incredible Johely Guilarte — a passionate salsa dancer and choreographer originally from Venezuela and now based in Dublin, Ireland. Johely shares her inspiring journey, from discovering her love for dance at a young age, to competing and performing around the world, and the challenges she faced when moving to a new country.

With over 20 years of experience in Latin and urban dance styles, Johely has mentored and taught thousands across America, Africa, and Europe. She's a decorated performer, with accolades including South American Salsa Champion, 1st place at the Limburg Salsa Congress, and her recent wins at the 2024 Summit Championship.

We also explore her role as a cultural ambassador, the story behind founding Real Dance Studio, her JG Active Wear brand, and how she continues to build community and empower women through the art of dance.

Don’t miss this vibrant conversation filled with rhythm, resilience, and inspiration.

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