We are thrilled to announce that Catarina Araújo, Maria Cunningham, Caoimhe O’Farrell and Darren Yorke have been selected for the Baboró Festival Mentoring programme 2026.
During our annual festival in October, a small group of participants will be led through a curated programme of festival shows and industry events including discussions, presentations, workshops and networking events. The group will navigate the programme with mentoring from two highly experienced individuals from the sector: Phil Kingston, Community and Education Manager at the Abbey Theatre and Maria Fleming, CEO of First Fortnight.
Festival Mentoring is funded by The Arts Council.
Catarina Araújo
Catarina Araújo is a Cork-based Portuguese visual artist working across sculpture, installation, early years and collaborative practices. Her work creates sensory-rich environments that foster curiosity, play and collective imagination, exploring how art can transform everyday spaces and how children’s experiences shape artistic processes. She holds an MA in Art and Process from MTU and a Certificate in Psychology from Maynooth University. She is an Associate Artist with Graffiti Theatre’s BEAG early years arts programme and a Play Leader with Let’s Play Cork. Her recent awards include: Artist Care Exchange, Cork City Creative Communities Grant Scheme, Project Realisation Award, Agility Award.
Maria Cunningham
Maria Cunningham is a performer and multidisciplinary theatre maker based in Dublin City and her hometown Galway. Since graduating from the Gaiety School in 2023, Maria has worked as an actor, comedian and playwright, appearing in Chris O’Dowd’s ‘Small Town, Big Story’ for Sky TV and the upcoming ‘Tall Tales & Murder’ directed by Chris Addison for RTÉ. Her recent play ‘Dole Bots’ sold out an extended run at Scene + Heard festival. She is the recipient of the Axis Assemble Award 2025 and the Galway Creative practitioners bursary award 2024. Building on her background in clowning, puppetry and physical theatre Maria now hopes to develop accessible interactive theatre for young audiences.
Caoimhe O’Farrell
Caoimhe O’Farrell is a Kildare-based theatremaker exploring audience agency through interactive, immersive and sensory performance. A 2024 Drama and Theatre Studies graduate of Trinity College Dublin, she is Co-Founder/Co-Director of LEGROOM Collective and a Young Curator for glór’s 2026 Lasta Festival. Recent work includes All My Friends Are in Australia (Backstage ACTIVATE Residency 2025, Galway Theatre Festival & Cork Fringe 2026). She is currently developing The Shakey-Makey, supported by Siamsa Tíre Roots and CoisCéim ITI Offsite residencies and received a Culture Moves Europe grant to research audience interaction with Gob Squad in Berlin.
Darren Yorke
Darren Yorke is an award-winning theatre-maker, performer and facilitator specializing in improvisation and participatory plays for young audiences. He founded Grand Stretch in 2017 as Ireland's leading International TheatreSports™ Institute member and recently established Tally Ho collective. His commissioned work includes Boss Rob (Judges' Choice Award, Dublin Fringe 2024) and Fancy Dan. He frequently collaborates with The Abbey, The Ark, and Youth Theatre Ireland. An Arts Council YPCE Artist in Residence at Marino Institute (2022–2025), he is currently on the Irish Theatre Institute's Six in the Attic programme and has been appointed Artistic Director of Aisling Children's Arts Festival (2027).
