Announcing the Gathering 2026 Curatorship

As a programmer, dramaturg and producer, Ruth has been building creative partnerships and championing new work across performance disciplines since 2009. An advocate for joy, disruption and making space for culture in the city, she has supported hundreds of artists to bring their work from the page to the stage.

Ruth is Literary & New Work Director at the Abbey Theatre, working with playwrights and theatre makers to generate future work for both stages of Ireland’s National Theatre. Ruth previously worked as Artistic Director & CEO of Dublin Fringe Festival from 2018 – 2023. Under her leadership, the festival commissioned an exciting body of contemporary performance work, seeded major collaborations between Irish and international artists, and devised vital targeted support schemes to remove barriers to access to the industry for artists and projects that defy the mainstream.

Alice Malseed is a theatre-maker, writer, dramaturg, and producer based in Belfast. She has created and produced theatre shows across the UK and Ireland. She has recently produced the Front and Centre Creative Symposium at Brian Friel Theatre, and is currently working with The Belfast Ensemble.

In 2025, Alice was part of Six in the Attic, the Acorns Project with An Grianan and Mavens at Theatre at the Mill Dundrum. She is also working on her debut novel Double Sunset.