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comedy · Friday 10 July 2026 · Various 
MDR - Death from Laughter (Los Galindos)
At Old Courthouse · Lifford, Co. Donegal
At Old Courthouse · Lifford, Co. Donegal
If you have ever wondered what it looks like when three clowns put a friend on trial for an improbable crime, MDR - Death from Laughter is ready to answer that question. This outdoor show from award-winning Catalan company Los Galindos arrives in Lifford as part of the 2026 Earagail Arts Festival, and it delivers something genuinely difficult to categorise - part circus, part courtroom farce, part philosophical provocation, all performed without a microphone or sound system in a historic courthouse yard. It suits adults and teenagers with a taste for comedy that has an edge to it; the company’s tagline that it “may even provoke a desire to die of laughter” gives you a fair sense of the register.
Three clowns - Rossinyol, Mardi and Melon - find themselves caught up in an unexpected conflict. Friendship curdles into something more troubling, a crime is committed (or allegedly committed), a trial follows, and an absurd punishment is handed down. The storytelling is physical and visual rather than verbal, which means the humour crosses language barriers easily. Los Galindos have been making this kind of work since 1991 and have won the Spanish National Prize of Culture (2016) and the 2021 Criticism Award for Best Circus Show at the International Festival of Theatre and Street Art in Valladolid. The running time is around 60 minutes and the show is recommended for ages 12 and over. Audience capacity is limited to 150, so booking ahead is advised. The setting - the outdoor space at Lifford Old Courthouse - suits the street-theatre format well, and the company prefer to perform as dusk comes in.
Lifford sits on the River Foyle at the eastern edge of Donegal, directly across from Strabane in Co. Tyrone. By car from Letterkenny it is around 20 minutes on the N14; from Derry/Londonderry it is a short cross-border run of about 20 minutes via the A5. The town is on the Bus Eireann Donegal corridor and Translink serves the Strabane side of the bridge. Street parking is available around the courthouse square and on the surrounding roads, and the venue is a short walk from the main street.
The Old Courthouse itself is worth a look beyond the festival - it dates to 1746 and still runs jail tours and escape rooms in the historic cells. There is more to see in Lifford and across Co. Donegal.
Heading to Old Courthouse in Lifford? Donegal has plenty more to see. Read the Lifford area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.