Kafka's Doll

Theatre Lovett brings Kafka’s Doll to Theatre Royal Waterford on Friday, 28 August 2026, at 7pm. The production is built around a story often told about the final year of Franz Kafka’s life, when he is said to have comforted a child he found crying in a Berlin park over a lost doll, then spent weeks writing her letters in the doll’s voice, claiming she was travelling rather than gone. Tickets range from €13 to €48 depending on seat.

What to expect

Theatre Lovett is known for visually driven, object based theatre that works for both adult and family audiences, and Kafka’s Doll continues that approach, built around a park bench, a missing toy and an act of imaginative kindness from a writer more often associated with bleak, difficult fiction. The company frames the story as Kafka’s final gift of hope in an uncertain world, using it to show a different, gentler side of a writer whose own life was far from joyful. The show is staged for audiences of all ages rather than pitched as a straightforward children’s show, and the Theatre Royal listing places it in the venue’s family friendly programming. Expect a short, image rich piece rather than a long conventional play, in keeping with Theatre Lovett’s usual running times.

Getting there

Theatre Royal Waterford is on the Mall in the city centre, within the Viking Triangle and close to the Bishop’s Palace and Medieval Museum. The theatre is a short walk from Plunkett rail station, and the box office can be reached by phone for group bookings.

While you’re in Waterford

The Mall sits at the edge of Waterford’s museum quarter, so an evening at the theatre can be combined with a daytime visit to the Bishop’s Palace or Medieval Museum nearby. There is more to see in Waterford and across Co. Waterford.

Good to know

• Date: Friday, 28 August 2026
• Time: 7:00pm
• Venue: Theatre Royal, The Mall, Waterford
• Price: from €13 to €48 depending on seat
• Company: Theatre Lovett
• Box office: 00353 51 874402