Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Oona Doherty presents the UK premiere of Specky Clark at Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Oona Doherty presents the UK premiere of a new dance theatre production Specky Clark at Sadler’s Wells Theatre on Friday 9 – Saturday 10 May. The Sadler’s Wells co-commission had its world premiere last November at Pavillon Noir, Aix-en-Provence in France and is currently on a European tour.

Specky Clark delves into Doherty’s family history, which follows the story of her Great Great Grandfather Specky Clark and his arrival in Belfast. The piece unravels as a part-biographical, part-fictional series of theatrical images, and is brought to life by an international cast of nine dancers, with parts gender-swapped in Doherty’s distinct and impactful style.

On Doherty’s father's side there is a history of working on the docks and in Belfast's abattoir, as well as owning pigs in the back garden tracing back to the 1940s. Her mother’s family owned a butcher's shop in Belfast. Set on Samhain (Halloween) when the veil between worlds is thin, Specky Clark uses the surreal aspects of Irish mythology and folk lore to create a story. About the vulnerability of sanity.

Following Doherty’s move from Ireland to France in the tradition of Irish authors writing of home from afar, the production is inspired by her ancestry, as well as art including Animal Farm, The Blind Boy Podcast and the paintings of Francis Bacon.

The production features music from Mercury Prize-nominated Irish band Lankum. Maxime Jerry Fraisse is sound designer, acclaimed Irish playwright Enda Walsh is dramaturg, Sabine Dargent is scenographer, and long-time collaborator John Gunning is lighting designer.

Oona Doherty, said, “This will be the first time Specky will play to an English Speaking Audience. So, I am super excited and curious to see how it lands here in London.”

Sir Alistair Spalding CBE, Sadler’s Wells Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive, said, “We are delighted to welcome back Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Oona Doherty for the UK premiere of Specky Clark, and bring this deeply personal piece of dance that showcases her unique choreographic style to our audiences.”

Doherty was born in 1986 in London and moved to Belfast when she was ten. In recent years she has risen in the world of contemporary choreography, being awarded the Venice Biennale Silver Lion in 2021 and becoming a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist in 2024.

Doherty created her first solo works Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus in 2016. In 2017 she created Hard to be Soft - A Belfast Prayer, collaborating with seminal DJ and composer David Holmes, which was voted "No. 1 British dance performance of 2019" by the Guardian. In 2022 she created Navy Blue in which she collaborated with DJ Jamie XX.

Doherty started her own company OD Works in 2020 based in Marseille. She was the Guest Artistic Director of the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) run by Sadler’s Wells for the 2023/24 cohort last year for which she created the brand new work Wall that toured England last year.

Doherty shares more on working with NYDC and her career as a choreographer in the latest episode of Choreographer Conversations from Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage here: Choreographer Conversations: Oona Doherty - Sadler's Wells Digital Stage