NEWS
SUPPORT THE EMMA O’KANE BURSARY
Project Arts Centre presents
Willfredd Theatre's film of JOCKEY. Directed by Sophie Motley, co-created by and featuring Emma O’Kane
4 December 2025
Reception 7.30pm. Screening 8pm, followed by panel discussion
Tickets - Pay What You Can* €20, €30, €100, €250, €1000 with all proceeds* going to the bursary
*Proceeds = income after standard credit card fees and €2 per ticket booking fees.
Booking - projectartscentre.ie, box office number +353 1 881 9613
Horse Racing is in the blood. As Emma O’Kane discovered.
Join the team behind Willfredd Theatre's extraordinary JOCKEY collaboration for a special benefit event for the Emma O'Kane Bursary at Project Arts Centre on 4th December. Come and see a film of the performance work, followed by a panel discussion with key creative voices - Sophie Motley & Sarah Jane Shiels of WillFredd Theatre, Jack Cawley and Kilian Waters. Moderated by Shane O'Reilly, the conversation will explore the development process of a work that saw Emma delve deep into the history of her grandfather, and learn to ride a racehorse.
ABOUT JOCKEY
Willfredd Theatre's JOCKEY, co-created with Emma O'Kane for the 2015 Dublin Dance Festival, was borne from a year long collaboration between the company, lead artist and the Irish Racing Community. Emma's grandfather, Phillip de Burgh O’Brien, was a bloodstock agent and a racing journalist from the 1940s–70s. He died before she was born but through his writings and her own experience of learning to ride a racehorse, JOCKEY explored the physical relationship between dancer, jockey and Irish thoroughbred horse. Featuring original racing footage and commentary, the project also included a weekly blog by Emma for the Irish Racing Post.
Photo Credit: Dublin Dance Festival, Emma O’Kane in JOCKEY. Photo by Leon Farrell for Photocall Ireland.