Someone Else
By David McGovern
Someone Else was a live art project by writer and director David McGovern which featured a performance at The Bank, an off-site space in Dublin 8, as well as a series of talks, workshops and activations around the themes of the work running over the course of one week in May 2026. Taking their prompt from the show - that perhaps what is needed to combat our increasingly unmoored ways of living is ‘a stubborn refusal to go quietly’ - these events showcased people from our community who are taking matters into their own hands and forging ahead with little acts of civic resistance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. They included a workshop on how to make seed bombs led by interdisciplinary artist Madeline Schmidt, which invited participants to activate unused or derelict spaces on their way home, and a talk on the ethics of skip-diving and reclaiming discarded objects by filmmaker Jack Quinn
Alongside these live events and performances, the show text was published with a series of essays responding to the work by writers Francesca Bratton and Holly Friend.
Someone Else was designed and made with principles of sustainability at its core, using found, second hand and reclaimed objects in its production and costume design
About the performance
Someone Else challenges the unfettered drive towards progress and the erosion of human value by asking what’s lost, and what cannot be replaced. An experimental play performed by Liam Bixby, Lise-Ann McLaughlin, Venus Patel and Lórcan Strain, Someone Else is a show that attests to the importance of mischief and play
To the backdrop of overconsumption, disposability and impermanence, Someone Else offers audiences a moment of mooring. It can feel that human value is diminishing by the day, that those holding the cards are doing everything they can to stop us looking each other in the eye. We offer a sliver of hope amidst this weight; proposing that an antidote to disposability might just be a stubborn refusal to go quietly.
Someone Else was funded by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon
Credits:
Written and Directed by David McGovern
Produced by Aisling Ormonde
Production & Costume Design by Em Kelleher
Composition & Sound Design by Paul James Prior
Lighting Design by Colin Doran
Movement Direction by Anderson De Souza
Production Management by Bradley Whelan
Stage Management by Méabh Crowe
Performed by Liam Bixby, Lise-Ann McLaughlin, Lórcan Strain & Venus Patel
Photography: Patricio Cassinoni, Graphic Design: Jamie P. Smail
Audience Response
“A David McGovern show so you know things are about to get weird and/or horny”
“A singular creative voice“
“I LOVED IT”
“Superb”
“Creepy, clever, brilliant”