The Company was founded in 1988 and, since 1990, has been dedicated to the discovery, development and production of new work for the Irish stage. Formerly known as Pigsback, the Company was renamed Fishamble in 1997. The name is inspired by Dublin’s Fishamble Street and in particular, its playhouse which, in 1784, became the first Irish theatre to pursue a policy of producing new Irish work. Fishamble: The New Play Company has produced many plays by first-time and established playwrights in Dublin and throughout Ireland.
International Touring 
With crucial financial support from Culture Ireland, promoting the best of Irish arts and culture abroad, Fishamble has been proud to present its work at venues and festivals in the US, England, Scotland, Canada, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, France and Germany.
In September – October 2009, Sebastian Barry’s The Pride of Parnell Street is being presented in New York for a five-week run as part of the 1st Irish Festival. Forgotten, by Pat Kinevane, has also toured internationally this year, having been showcased at the APAP Conference in New York in January. Forgotten also toured to Reykjavik, Iceland, this September for two performances at the Lókal International Theatre Festival. Noah and the Tower Flower by Sean McLoughlin was revived for tour dates in Bulgaria and Romania in May / June.
In 2008, Fishamble toured The Pride of Parnell Street by Sebastian Barry (which opened in London in 2007) to the Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris), Neue Stucke Aus Europa (Wiesbaden) and Festival of Arts & Ideas (New Haven), as well as touring Forgotten by Pat Kinevane to the Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris), Kostel Na Pradle (Prague) and Aurora Nova (Edinburgh). Rank, by Robert Massey, which was premiered at the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival at the Helix, played an extended run at the Tricycle Theatre, London, in October 2008.
Awards
The Company’s work has won a number of awards including The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, BBC/Stewart Parker Trust Awards, Dublin City Council Awards and In Dublin Theatre Awards. It has also been nominated or shortlisted for The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, International Radio Festival Awards, Entertainment & Media Awards, PQ07, The Irish Times Living Dublin Awards, ZeBBie Awards and Allianz Business to Arts Awards. Recent awards include The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards for Whereabouts (2006 Special Judges’ Award) and for Noah and the Tower Flower (2007 Best New Play Award) as well as nominations in 2007 for Forgotten and The Pride of Parnell Street.
Fishamble Firsts
The Fishamble Firsts scheme focuses on producing first plays by new writers. This includes recent productions such as Noah and the Tower Flower by Sean McLoughlin (2007), The Gist of It by Rodney Lee (2006) which was staged in New York by Origin/Fishamble, and Monged by Gary Duggan (2005) which won the Stewart Parker Trust Award, toured to Liverpool and was also staged in New York by Origin/Fishamble.
