This year's programme is heavily international in its emphasis, with the Abbey/Lyric production of Hamlet and, at the O'Reilly Theatre, The Bull, new from Giselle creator Michael Keegan-Dolan as the sole - but strong - Irish representatives.

From the world stage, Bloody Sunday (Tricycle Theatre, London) at the Abbey, Pinter 75 at the Gate, Romeo & Juliet at the Gaiety, the sophisticated puppetry of Battle of Stalingrad at the Samuel Beckett and Some Girls are Bigger Than Others, a musical narrative based on the songs of The Smiths, are the most likely candidates for hit status.