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Benjamin Reilly and Isolde Fenton in Mortal Sin. Image, Daniel Byrne **** Straitjacketed by a choking Irish Catholicism, life loving friends, Colm and Peggy, live lives of quiet desperation. Like the restrictiveness of Peggy’s buttoned up cardigan, they can barely breathe in holy Catholic Ireland. Colm’s a ‘fairy’ and Peggy defiant in a place where fear thrives when good people do nothing, and family do worse. Usually in the name of goodness. In Benjamin Reilly’s darling Mortal Sins times are a changin’ even as the song resists to remain the same. Revolving around a student protest for a day off school in 1963 following the death of John F. Kennedy, two teenage outsiders in a rural Catholic community give humorous voice to assertive women and their men friends who like men. Peggy’s protest a thin thread on which to hang reflections on where we are, where we were, and the journey that took us here. Mortal Sin speaking to the civil and cultural unrest of Ireland’s liberating Sixties that looked backward when it came to moving forward. Even though many went on to achieve the impossible dream, often it came at a price. Benjamin Reilly and Isolde Fenton in Mortal Sin. Image, Daniel Byrne Structurally, Reilly’s storytelling hybrid of monologues and dialogue sets up a contrast between show and tell that leans heavily into novel territory. Yet if showing proves stronger than telling, often it's not by much. Aside from a contextually heavy first half whose expositional monologues sets the scene with nothing much happening. Mortal Sin much more satisfying when characters show themselves in sparkling dialogue. The hilariously touching shifting scene, or the revealing sin dunes scene both superbly thoughtful and tender. Reilly's cross pollination of the final, bittersweet monologues showing superb technical innovation as the future finally arrives. Even so, Mortal Sin is far more successful as character studies, and a study of the Irish character of the time, than a story. Showing touches of Edna O’Brien and Maeve Binchy, rarely has a play compressed so much history into so little time and done it so brilliantly. Monologue versus dialogue, the holy past versus the secularised future creating tensions director Lee Coffey navigates beautifully. Crafting two nuanced performances that shift seamlessly between the script’s competing demands. Reilly and Isolde Fenton, as the gentle, mental Colm and the girl power Peggy, seducing irrevocably with endearingly engaging performances. Benjamin Reilly and Isolde Fenton in Mortal Sin. Image, Daniel Byrne Visually, it takes a moment to appreciate Jenny Whyte’s supremely clever design. Bewley’s black box walls painted in summer azure with dark, tumbling clouds dominates a floor strewn with charity shop memorabilia. As if Whyte had delivered the props, painted the wall but lazily opted not to build the set. But Whyte proves immeasurably smarter than that. The expansive, blue skied vista with turbulent foreboding indicates the troubled future. Meanwhile, in the basement of history, littered with the bric a brac of the collapsing past, the cloying mustiness of the not so good old days clings, coated in dusty nostalgia. All the while Eoin Byrne’s hard working lights deliver superb atmospheric ambience whilst unevenly navigating the demands of lighting individual characters and their joint scenes, the latter proving far more successful. Benjamin Reilly and Isolde Fenton in Mortal Sin. Image, Daniel Byrne Like the playful love child of Eugene O’Brien’s Eden and Karl Geary’s Juno Loves Legs, Mortal Sin proves telling and irresistible. True, it’s not theatrical fine dining. Rather, it’s afternoon tea. A simple treat made from simple, fresh ingredients whose presentation is as deceptively delicious as its delicate pastries. Never battering you with superfluous detail, nor insulting your intelligence by spelling out the obvious, such as why Colm’s future became what it was, Mortal Sin is smart and engaging and assumes its audience is too. Confirming Coffey as a director growing from strength to strength and Reilly as a serious talent to watch out for, Mortal Sin is a heartfelt delight. Deserving to run and run, Mortal Sin proves deeply satisfying and deeply enjoyable. As mortal sins often are.  Mortal Sin by Benjamin Reilly, runs at Bewley’s Café Theatre until September 6. For more information visit Bewley’s Café Theatre .

Brendan Gleeson in Conor McPherson’s The Weir. Image, Rich Gilligan ***** You wonder sometimes. Especially when so many theatre lovers say they no longer see the point. Even if Covid hadn't decimated audiences, ticket prices, the cost of parking, of a coffee, never mind eating out, of the nightmare of public transport and the worst nightmare of driving to a show; it compels you to ask is going to the theatre worth your time and money? Especially as theatre often force feeds its audience proselytising lectures on how people should behave, blunting their points with dialogue incompatible with how people speak or think. Passed off as plays in which ideas about people are substituted for people themselves, delivered like judges passing sentence. Or else there’s the numberless, ready-made plays. Homogenised, one person monologues with madcap characters and maybe a musical moment or two on the journey towards personal growth. So prevalent it seems many playwrights are all writing the same play. No wonder it makes you stop and wonder. Till you see the award winning The Weir by Conor McPherson , first produced in 1997. An hour and forty minutes in which five people talk nonsense and tell ghost stories in a twilit pub. A play that reminds you why you love theatre. For nights such as this. Kate Phillips, Brendan Gleeson and Owen McDonnell in Conor McPherson’s The Weir. Image, Rich Gilligan No beautiful, self-aware people here looking to be their best, artspeak selves, no high seriousness, no overt propaganda. Just a ragtag mess of common humanity gravitating to an unnamed pub in an unnamed rural location in the not too distant past. Owen McDonnell’s barman Brendan, watching the world from behind the fortress of his bar, chats and drinks with elderly bachelor boys wiling away their days before the German tourists arrive. Seán McGinley’s doddery Jim grabbing some me-time from caring for his mother. Brendan Gleeson's rueful Jack, the group’s natural leader, the fulcrum around which all else revolves. Their reveries interrupted as Tom Vaughan-Lawlor’s hilarious Finbar enters like a rural Del Boy. Introducing into this sacred male space, immortalised in plays like Jimmy Murphy’s Kings of the Kilburn High Road and Tom Murphy’s Conversations on a Homecoming , the first step towards a progressive future: a woman. Kate Phillips’ Valerie stepping into the all male cauldron with wonderful, understated assurance. Delivering the fifth of five masterclass performances. Brendan Gleeson, Owen McDonnell and Kate Phillips, in Conor McPherson’s The Weir. Image, Rich Gilligan Relocating from Dublin, Valerie isn't just a woman, she's a different class, a different place, a different way of being in the world. McPherson’s tensions between the needs of the future and the lost treasures of the past echoed in tensions between the scientific and the supernatural, between self-determination and the ravages of life. Jim’s gambling method versus Jack’s hunches. The concrete world of bar stools and the other world of ghosts. Life as it is and life as it might have been. As each tells a ghost story, each reveals a personal vulnerability, with Valerie’s the most poignant. Revealing, in the telling, that there’s no real difference between us after all. Age, sex, class all dissolving as the night moves through personal vanities towards the tender glory of human connectedness.  Kate Phillips, in Conor McPherson’s The Weir. Image, Rich Gilligan Throughout, the pub is the real star of the show. A liminal space characters inhabit like living ghosts. Getting drunk a perk. The pub serving as the cradle of care for a community. A place to talk, brag, joke, argue, reflect, confess, escape to, all the while achieving acceptance and a kind of healing in its communal embrace. Compassion found in buying rounds and in the tender refusal of a bought round, in the embrace of friendship and the offer of a lift home, in the ‘have one yourself’ and communal cigarettes. Rae Smith’s angled set a depository of exquisite detail which, like Mark Henderson’s superlative lights, warms with the texture of belonging. Capturing not the idea of a pub but its very soul. Where blood pumps through the veins of people you never knew yet in whose joys, hurts and irresistible humour you recognise as friends. McPherson’s direction weaving it all into something magical. Tom Vaughn-Lalwor, Seán McGinley and Brendan Gleeson in Conor McPherson’s The Weir. Image, Rich Gilligan Some plays date. Others, like The Weir, enriched with age like a fine whiskey, become classics. A whiff of nostalgia for a fading time might grace the palette occasionally, but it’s a burnish on the play’s gentle afterglow. Like the sage picking up what gets lost along the way, The Weir fuses times past with times present. Reopening fresh wounds in the process. The lock in, the generous pour, the decent priced pint and the occasional ‘one on the house’ might still be found in some rural communities, but in places like Dublin it's mostly the stuff of bittersweet memories. As are many of the communities that gravitated around such places of care, with many such pubs now gone. Where five people talking in a bar reveal the heart and soul of the universe. Utterly and effortlessly brilliant, The Weir is not to be missed. The Weir by Conor McPherson, presented by Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions in association with 3Olympia Theatre, runs at 3Olympia Theatre until September 6. Transferring to The Harold Pinter Theatre, London from  September 12 to December 6. For more information visit TheWeirPlay.

Fionn Foley, Emma Dargan-Reid and Caoimhe O'Malley in The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4. Image, Rich Davenport. *** They say the greatest trick the devil ever played was making you believe he doesn’t exist. The greatest con corporate culture ever pulled was tricking its staff into believing they mattered. Values like inclusivity, wellness and social responsibility demanding a personal buy in for the greatest good. Values, like staff, made redundant once the good times are deemed to be over. Perhaps all you can do is laugh. Caitríona Daly’s office farce The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4 certainly tries to. Maniacal employees trying to figure out how to spend a surplus Social Responsibility Budget during their lunch hour making some big comedic promises. Yet, like its corporate inspiration, Daly’s slice of office life doesn’t deliver when it really matters. The whole redeemed by some fine direction and a superlative cast.  Emma Dargan-Reid and Helen Norton in The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4. Image, Rich Davenport. The problem lies with Daly’s weak and contrived script. Like the elderly uncle who reminisces about all the dull things he got up to that would make for a bestseller, scenarios prove far less entertaining than they might think they are. Situationally, there’s precious little meat on Daly’s comic bones as an elongated argument behind a locked conference room door leaves a HR exec trying to break in. A one trick pony never properly exploited, varied or resolved. Comedically there’s little set up and even less sense of timing, with staged arguments looking like punchlines in search of a joke. Dialogue flatlining between comedic outbursts that appear like unsuspected eruptions from a generally inactive geezer, its mostly underground rumblings subsiding into silence. Having reached a turning point and asking what’s really going on, the script reveals it has no idea and bails without a parachute. Free falling into a lengthy, clichéd monologue about pregnancy in the workplace and hoping you won’t notice. Before crash landing into a musical song and dance routine to finish with a meta-theatrical cop out. Which, ironically, proves to be the best thing about The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4. Caoimhe O'Malley in The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4. Image, Rich Davenport. Yet laughter arrives on account of director Raymond Keane. Keane squeezing every ounce of engagement from Daly’s forced and often juvenile script by mashing it into pulp to squeeze out more; injecting physical finesse into its middle management fiasco without tipping over into pantomime extravaganza. Loading the physical comedy dice given there’s too little of textual wit worth betting on. Useful when seriousness gets injected like an annoying volunteer lecturing you on saving the volunteers. The separation of seriousness and comedy frequently reinforced by Dara Hoban’s self conscious light changes. Ronán Duffy’s smarter than it seems set, and Saileóg O’Halloran’s stereotypical costumes doing what’s needed. Fionn Foley and Caoimhe O'Malley in The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4. Image, Rich Davenport. Casting wisely, Keane further conceals a multitude of sins. Like a modern day Donald O'Connor, Fionn Foley effortlessly sings, acts and dances his way into your affections whilst cornering the market in tetchy beta males with inflated egos. Foley’s uber Dad Daniel, a GAA outcast with a penchant for Offaly, sees Foley flamboyantly on fire. Igniting a chemical blaze with a superb Caoimhe O’Malley as the corporate bitch queen Clodagh, who sold her soul for an executive assistant position and a tongue sharper than her cheekbones. The underused Emma Dargan-Reid as Phd receptionist, Jess, essentially straight person to Foley and O’Malley, shines terrifically when given the chance. As does Helen Norton as Lady Susan, a HR exec resembling a yellow pack, Dame Edna Everage. Each best when playing the skit rather than the play, given the skit usually has more of substance. But not by much. Caoimhe O'Malley, Emma Dargan-Reid and Fionn Foley in The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4. Image, Rich Davenport. From The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin to both versions of The Office , corporate office culture has provided much comic fodder. The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4 falls considerably short by comparison. Had it been brave enough to follow its The Naked Gun meta inclinations, revealed momentarily at the end, it might have succeeded better. As it stands, it risks being another day at the office when you’d rather be working from home. Offering intermittent relief in moments of hilarity. The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4 by Caitríona Daly runs at The Peacock Stage of the Abbey Theatre until September 6. For more information visit The Abbey Theatre

Jacqueline Brunton in Little Shop of Horrors. Image uncredited. **** Despite global popularity, the musical is an underdeveloped genre in Ireland. Understandable as there's huge financial risk involved. Especially when works of scale have to compete with West End touring companies and there’s no way to guarantee a sure fire hit. Which is why Bord Gáis Energy Theatre are to be applauded for producing their first in-house production. The 1982 cult classic Little Shop of Horrors with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken. A production full of wild, relentless energy, lots of homegrown talent, and one or two teething pains. David O'Reilly in Little Shop of Horrors. Image uncredited. Inspired by a 1960’s B-movie staring Jack Nicholson, and immortalised by the 1986 musical film staring Rick Moranis, Little Shop of Horrors sees Day of the Triffids meet the retro charms of Grease . A sci-fi horror about a cannibal, bloodsucking Venus fly trap set against a 50’s styled soundtrack. The musical theatre equivalent of Psychobilly, we follow lovelorn geek Seymour as he pines for ditzy blonde Audrey, both working in Mr Mushnik's failing florist shop on Skid Row. Until Seymour discovers a curious plant that attracts public attention. Only to discover it can talk and needs blood to live. Discovering also Audrey’s motorcycle dentist and abusive boyfriend, Orin, a sudden propulsion into the limelight, and an unexpected desire for world domination. Johnny Ward and James Deegan in Little Shop of Horrors. Image uncredited. A veteran director of Christmas pantomimes, director Claire Tighe leans into her comfort zone with a chaotically furious, pantomime energy. Yet pace is often sacrificed to haste, which, along with microphone issues makes several lines heard to hear. A situation compounded by singers often struggling to compete with overpowering music, the score used here from the movie musical. Precious Abimbola, Aoife Dunne and Ghaliah Conroy as a three urchins girl group sing harmonies strongest when not competing with the orchestra. Similarly David O'Reilly's delightful Seymour. If O'Reilly's timbre and tone prove exquisite in softer ballads, he lacks power higher up the scale. That skill belonging to Jacqueline Brunton whose "Nu Yak" Audrey is the unquestioned vocal star of the show, impeccably riding the scales during her duet of Suddenly Seymour with the sensitive O’Reilly. Garry Mountaine as Mr Mushnik also having a moment of power. Johnny Ward as dentist Orin channels his inner Elvis whilst impersonating the Fonz to comic effect, even as he lacks the prerequisite menace. But Kenneth O'Regan's bass toned Audrey II resolves the situation in no time. John Gallagher’s lighting, Maree Kearn’s street life set, Kevin Hynes costumes and Chris Corroon’s puppetry rounding out a thoroughly impressive visual spectacle. Jacqueline Brunton in Little Shop of Horrors. Image uncredited. Opening night audiences are notoriously filled with family, friends, invited guests and well wishers cheerleading the show to be a screaming success. You can usually tell; they're the ones laughing and cheering when no one else is. They also tend to be quite forgiving. While there are certainly teething pains, Little Shop of Horrors has few enough sins that need forgiving. When it gets it right it gets it brilliantly right. The only way homegrown talent grows is in learning by doing. With Little Shop of Horrors Bord Gáis Energy Theatre has given homegrown talents a rare opportunity, which they've grasped with both hands. Now that is something well worth cheering about. Little Shop of Horrors with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, presented by Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and Theatreworx Productions, runs at  Bord Gáis Energy Theatre until August 9. For more information visit Bord Gáis Energy Theatre

Gene Rooney and Conor Hanratty in In Extremis. Image, Aoife Cronin ** It’s easy to scoff from our enlightened distance at the Victorian predilection for all things supernatural. Séances, spiritualism, spurious divinations attracting an army of adoring acolytes. But a cursory glance at contemporary astrology, angel advocates, fairy fanciers and a host of others claiming there is more than what our philosophy understands show the proclivity is very much alive today. Much of it misguided, or a wilful hoax. Like Mrs Robinson in Neil Bartlett's uncharacteristically dull In Extremis from 2000, receiving its Irish premiere. An imaginative ‘what if’ which purports to tell of an alleged visit Oscar Wilde made to palm reader, Mrs Robinson, on March 24, 1895, in the days leading up to his infamous trial, and the dubious advice she gave him. A short story for radio masking as a stage play, Bartlett’s trudging tale is fraught with tedium. Not least of which is Mrs Robinson. A Hammer Horror, Mystic Meg, which Paul Keoghan costumes in requisite attire, is a social climbing, namedropping charlatan enamoured by the sound of her own deceits, who dupes the upper classes into believing what they already know and passes it off as prediction. Wilde, wanting to know should he remain in London or escape to the continent is aware of such charlatans, and clearly aware of their many failings. He asks for specific details to which Mrs Robinson crows abstractions and generalities, unable to provide him with the accuracy he craves. The whole making for an impossible ask as the predictable advice arrives; Wilde’s response going against everything we’ve been led to believe about him. Even so, the final line adds spice, confirming what we knew to be true all along: that whatever you can be convinced of is true is what you’ll ultimately believe. Leaving you to ask what do you believe is true? Punctured with endlessly unnecessary ‘I said, he said, she said’, Bartlett’s stiff, turgid storytelling dialogue is best when honouring Wilde’s cutting repartee, a figure for whom Bartlett has huge respect. Conor Hanratty as the great wit by far the best thing about this production, delivering a sensitive, smart portrayal of the manly effeminate Wilde. In contrast, Gene Rooney goes through the motions of a palmist that is less a character so much as a set-up device. Denis Clohessy's sound design adding mood and atmosphere, as do Colm Maher’s lights, wrestling against Keoghan’s insipid set with spattered playing cards confusing the intent. All attempting to compensate for what isn’t found in Bartlett’s troubled script. Joan Sheehy not directing so much as giving it a passable shape. Aficionados of Wilde might find In Extremis a curio, yet those expecting a play about Oscar Wilde might well be disappointed. Its focus being the duplicitous Mrs Robinson. For those uninterested in Wilde In Extremis might make for an extremely longwinded forty eight minutes. What makes it worthwhile is Hanratty’s lusciously realised Wilde. Ensuring you come away still unconvinced about the night of March 24, 1895, but convinced you might have seen the ghost of Wilde in the flesh. In Extremis , by Neil Bartlett, runs at Bewley’s Café Theatre until August 16. For more information visit Bewley’s Café Theatre .

Emer Dineen and Matthew Malone in A Misanthrope. Image, Patricio Cassinoni *** Molière’s The Misanthrope gets the Carry On treatment in the somewhat muddled A Misanthrope . Written by American playwright Matt Minnicino after Molière, the 17th century classic French comedy, reset in a 21st century Dublin tech company, views office politics through a 1970s sitcom lens. Where the sexually voracious Celimene is lusted after by misanthrope Alceste who demands her exclusive devotion. As does his rival, the poetic Oronte. Lust and business making for busy bedfellows as HR complaints, AI product launches, resurfacing tweets and sexual and professional rivals line up to take a swipe at Celimene. A woman who works hard, plays harder, and wants to live as large as she loves. If only the imploring and insecure men in her life, and one irresistibly nasty woman, would let her. Indeed, so dominant is the irrepressible Celimene, A Misanthrope’s Lover would have been a far more accurate title. Whether Celimene enjoys multiple partners for fun, or flirting for fun, or is marketing herself to climb a corporate ladder cluttered with little boys is rather unclear. Probably a little of everything. Celimene making no secret that she enjoys sex and finds men demanding exclusive rights to her both immature and annoying. The conventional finale offering less a resolution so much as hoovering up a mess that got out of control. Beginning with Minnicino’s brilliant word play. Using rhyming couplets, Minnicino delivers a masterclass in observational hilarity. Understanding couplets are reliant on rhythm as much as rhyme, with both used to terrific effect. Not understanding that you can have too much of a good thing. A Misanthrope screaming for judicious pruning as verbal filler injects its two hour fifteen minutes with durational lag. Narratively, Celimene’s blindsiding coup de theatre confuses more than clarifies as she lectures on corporate culture. Then there’s the dreaded prudery looking dated next to girl boss Celimene. Indeed, a brilliant come to Jesus moment when Celimene tells Alceste he can like or lump her appetites only confuses when Celimene unconvincingly back pedals in her affections later on. The gesture, like their relationship, impossible to buy. Compounded by protagonist and antagonist having zero sexual chemistry. Emer Dineen in A Misanthrope. Image, Ros Kavanagh At its core, the fundamental relationship between Alceste and Celimene doesn’t deliver outside the friend zone. Due, primarily, to a hard working Matthew Malone in the titular role. In the era of acerbic misanthropes like House MD , or cutting drag wits like Panti Bliss, Malone's Alceste proves petulant child more than master of scathing insults. Like a modern day Kenneth Williams, camp insensitivity makes for a delightful addition to an ensemble, but it's not robust enough to carry the lead next to Emer Dineen’s fiercely consuming Celimene. He might bitch, but Alceste is more spoiled brat than bitchy queen. Less stud material so much as a dray foal convincing himself he’s a stallion. Alceste impetuously delivering his world weary pettiness without the requisite range or authority. His beta male lusting after the office bad girl never convincingly landing. Seen in a brilliantly directed office sex romp where Alceste is overwhelmed by man-eater Celimene, looking too slight to push against Dineen’s vivaciously brilliant performance. Or Fiona Bell’s superlatively comic Arsino. In fairness, when it comes to timing, presence, chemistry and finesse; Dineen and Bell have it all and then some. Their cut, thrust and parries as they cross verbal swords in the gym a thing of vicious beauty. Dineen, like Celimene, exuding superstar quality as she slinks across stage with a wicked glint and alluring huskiness owning every scene. Dineen simply impossible to ignore or resist. Bell, like Streep, an actress who leaves you gobsmacked by the sheer breadth of her talent. Her enviable dramatic CV enriched with some of the greatest comic performances of recent years. Seen again as Arsino tries conceal her lustful venom under noble intentions, offering feedback as a friend you don't need. Naoise Dunbar, Adrian Muykanovich, Heather O’Sullivan and Michael Tient rounding out an invested cast. Emer Dineen in A Misanthrope. Image, Ros Kavanagh Receiving its Irish premiere, A Misanthrope's smart reimagining feels less epic poem so much as a litany of lightweight limericks. If poetry is the precise word in the precise place, of which there are many in A Misanthrope , there are far too many imprecise words that don’t have any place at all. Long and long winded, A Misanthrope is funny, insightful and sexy, but never as funny, insightful or sexy as it might have been. Where it is, Bell and Dineen are often the cause and right in the thick of it. Two magnificent talents enlivening whatever production they’re attached to. A Misanthrope , by Matt Minnicino after Molière, presented by Sugarglass and Smock Alley Theatre in association with Once Off Productions, runs at Smock Alley Theatre until August 2nd. For more information visit Smock Alley Theatre

T5/Sea Wall by Simon Stephens. Image uncredited **** It's not enough that Simon Stephens is a brilliant playwright, he also works magic with the short form monologue. Twenty or so minutes of intimate character studies, crammed with detail, in which people live through experiences they hoped they’d never have to live through. Life’s bystanders dragged centre stage into tragedies not of their making. Decadent Theatre Company serving up a double bill of Stephens’s one handers beginning with T5 *, featuring a scintillating Sarah Morris as a wife and mother coming to terms with her husband’s infidelity. Trying to talk past the organised mess that is her demanding, domesticated existence. Randomly singing snatches of songs as if tuning a radio so as to tune out her thoughts. Every song taking her back to where she wanted to escape from. A woman taking the road less travelled to get off a road to nowhere. Looking to soar free of the weights that ground her if only she can pay the price. If Stephen’s script paints a compelling portrait, Morris gives it vivid life; her impeccable London accent, her vocal texturing, her inimitable presence revealing a damaged woman at once solid yet as flimsy as wrapping paper. All achieved despite director Andrew Flynn doing Morris few favours. Arms constrained by her side like an old school Irish dancer, the pose often looks forced and unnatural. The straight jacket symbolism emphasising restraint losing out on more than it delivers, risking Morris appearing as little more than a talking head. Yet Morris frequently slips free of such limits, and if never soaring as high as she is expressively capable, she still elevates everything. A generous actor in ensembles to which her contributions are immeasurable, Morris’s compelling performance reminds you she’s really a natural lead who can take the fine print on a sweet wrapper and make it resonate as poetry. Morris being a genuine star. As is Ian Anderson-Lloyd, compelling as Alex in the critically acclaimed Sea Wall . A magazine photographer waxing lyrical about his idyllic family life. About his idealised wife Helen, and his father-in-law Arthur, a former military man now doting grandfather to his granddaughter Lucy. The imaginative eight year old having all three wrapped around their finger. Family summers spent in the south of France replete with swimming, scuba diving and playing in the sun. Yet foreshadows of doom are present from the outset. Alex’s quavering voice, the incessant tugging at his wedding ring finger, the sea wall and its terrifying darkness. Culminating in flashes of anger at a cruel God for not existing, for residing in the space between two numbers, or in a perfect shaft of light. Or wherever it is the dead go when they depart this body of air and skin. One thing’s for sure, if there is a God, He gives only to take away. Less theological arguments so much a thoughtful prompts, Sea Wall serves up a stirring interrogation of grief, and of vulnerability reforming masculinity. To men softening their hearts to embrace harder truths. Of the courage that requires. Of the possible cost. Anderson stunningly brilliant and better served by Flynn; each utilising silence, space and time with exquisite sensitivity. Anderson’s deeply moving performance ensuring you don’t just feel the hole at the centre of Alex, you pass right through it. Morris and Anderson delivering two poignant performances painted with poetry. Not to be missed. T5 and Sea Wall by Simon Stephens, presented by Decadent Theatre Company, runs as part of Galway International Arts Festival 2025 until July 27. For more information visit Galway International Arts Festival or Decadent Theatre Company *T5 replaces the previously advertised Blue Water and Cold and Fresh

The Baby's Room by Enda Walsh. Image by Emilija Jefremova **** Enda Walsh clearly has a soft spot for Galway, and Galway clearly has a soft spot for him. It’s not just the shows he’s premiered in the city of the tribes, there’s his enduring relationship with Galway International Arts Festival which this year features his twelfth 'Rooms' immersive theatre installation. Designed by Paul Fahy and featuring the voice of Kate Gilmore, The Baby’s Room reframes a familiar space encouraging you to notice what you may not have noticed before. Offering fresh perspectives on yourself as much as on the room in question as Walsh's audio tale unfolds. Fahy’s hallway with child proofed stairs, hung coats and reproduction paintings speaks to middle class aspirations. The main space a living room adapted to accommodate a newborn. The sanitised changing area, the soft furnishings and toys, the tinkling mobile over an empty cot all speak to a defining presence felt despite its absence. Victorian ideals of children represented by several Beatrix Potter styled images and three paintings of young girls similiar to those adorning Dickensian Christmas calendars. Juxtapositions between the idealised and the real emerging after a poltergeist flashing of lights introduces Kate Gilmore's disembodied monologue about a thirty-two year old woman recounting her life forward and backward. Delivered with the relentless urgency of a coked up Miss Lonely Hearts on a three day bender bemoaning the self-inflicted misery that is her half lived life. Dull job, cheap hopes and cheaper sex; the line between self-discovery and self-pity blurs beyond recognition. Narrative flipping as lights click between paintings whilst Gilmore outlines her lack of chances in life. Softer insights leading to the piercing cry of a newborn child. But is it Gilmore herself or her child we hear? Either way, the sentimental legacy continues as the illusions underscoring the Victorian fantasy remain: children are a second chance at life. A chance to redeem yourself. To get it right this time. Hmm. Ever wonder if your children weren't about you at all? It’s a stretch to call The Baby's Room immersive. You may walk around the space and touch things for the whole of two minutes, but for its fifteen minute duration you’re essentially a spectator. But Walsh as director is superb at marshalling the ingredients at his disposal and maximising their effectiveness. Ensuring the juxtapositions of the idealised and the real, of life lived and life imagined, of Walsh’s own superb writing and Gilmore's deeply impassioned delivery cohere into something quietly powerful. The final moments closer to Rosemary’s Baby than a happy ever after. The Baby’s Room by Enda Walsh, runs as part of Galway International Arts Festival 2025 until July 27. For more information visit Galway International Arts Festival

Sabotage by No FitState. Image by Mary Wycherley **** I have to confess to never seeing the allure in running away to join a circus. The romance, yes; but think about the reality. Also, classic circus is hard to find these days. The type that once toured like nomads with travelling zoos before animal rights activists rightly put paid to animal mistreatment. After which circus aspired to Vegas residencies for aerial acts. But you can only twirl on a rope so many times and still look interesting. Classic circus, that’s a different experience altogether. Classic circus, like NoFitState , is wild, sexy, dangerous and fun, even without the animals. NoFitState's current production, Sabotage , running as part of Galway International Arts Festival, reminding you of the enduring appeal of what's best in circus. Directed by Firenza Guidi, Sabotage ticks all the classic circus boxes. Firstly, it must always take place in a big top on possible wasteland on the outskirts of town. Check. On entrance it must sell cardboard popcorn sweetened to within an inch of its death. Check. There must be a roguish camaraderie of clowns, acrobats, jugglers and high wire acts. Check. A strong man, trapeze artist, tightrope walker, along with bearded and tattooed ladies. Or at least ladies sporting tattoos and bearded people who look like ladies with beards. Check. These must also serve as roadies and carnies, resembling extras from American Horror Story suggesting they could easily kill you and hide your body where no one would ever find it. Check. They must also double up as musicians, dancers, man the munchies stand and do anything else required. Check. See what I mean about the reality? Sabotage by NoFitState. Image by Mark J. Robson A visual palate part Jean-Pierre Jeune and Marc Caro, Sabotage's whirling dervish of visual joy captivates instantly. There’s no theme as such, no narrative to speak of, though some visual ideas recur. Riot shields and military uniforms speak to an authoritarianism occasionally subverted; Rhi Matthews’s costumes a vital component in Sabotage's success as a stunning visual spectacle. Its successive acts of increasing physical complexity delightfully informed by David Murray's compositions played live. An aerial artist spinning by her hair, a tightrope walker doing impossible flips, a hula hoop routine of split second precison, a juggler hidden under the floorboards, manipulated rope work that defies gravity, along with endless climbing of steel beams at breakneck speed and much, much more. Acts transitioned between with plenty of humorous clowning. Acts that, were this a cinema, you’d swear were made using CGI. What distinguishes good circus from great circus is not the physical acts themselves but their artistry. NoFitState prove masters of both. Yet most impressive is the tangible camaraderie between its impossible community of magnificent misfits. It’s not enough to have an act, to also sing, dance and play an instrument, all crucial requirements in Sabotage . Nor is it about being rigorous and exacting in pushing at what’s physically possible, again also crucial. Rather it's about having the humility to be centre stage one minute and a stage hand the next. To be exactly where you’re needed, when you’re needed, doing exactly what’s needed whilst relying on others to do the same for you. It’s about pulling your weight, their weight, and any other weight that needs to be pulled, lifted, carried or moved. It’s about family forged nightly in a frenetic cauldron of life threatening routines to bring joy and surprise so as to entertain others. As Sabotage comes to a hurried close, with less of a big finish than you might have hoped for, you quickly forget the guy with the big head half blocking your view, or the guy behind commenting on everything. The night best captured in the bright eyes of the young girl with a white hair ribbon sat next to you. Applauding rapturously, her heart racing with excitement. Perhaps dreaming of when she, too, might run away and join a circus. Do impossible things with remarkable people. On the exhilarating evidence that is Sabotage, who can blame her? Personally, I'll stay where I am with my popcorn. Sabotage by NoFitState, directed by Firenza Guidi, runs as part of Galway International Arts Festival 2025 until July 27. For more information visit Galway International Arts Festival or NoFitState

Marie Mullen and Marty Rea in Druid's Macbeth. Image by Ros Kavanagh **** Some facts land with sobering clarity. Including there are as many years between 1925 and 1975 as there are between 1975 and today. A sobering thought. The year not chosen randomly. 1975 saw a modest theatre company arrive onto the Irish theatre landscape with J.M. Synge’s Playboy of the Western World . Their name, Druid , capturing a sense of mystery, power and tradition. From inauspicious beginnings in the west of Ireland they grew to become one of the defining forces of Irish theatre. The multi-award winning Druid celebrating fifty years at the vanguard of what’s best, bold and brilliant in theatre making, be it classic revivals or new works. Consistency to exacting standards married to core personnel, such the inimitable Garry Hynes and the irreplaceable Marie Mullen, have seen Druid evolve from motley crew to theatrical family, to growing Galway based community. Throughout their five decades Druid have maintained a strong relationship with Galway International Arts Festival, which will celebrate its own 50th anniversary in 2027. Their relationship continuing as Druid kick off their 50th Anniversary Season with a unique double bill: J.M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea , and Shakespeare's Macbeth. A double bill steeped in darkness, death, blood and brooding that’s not for the faint of heart. Marie Mullen, Rachel O'Byrne, Marty Rea and Pattie Maguire in Druid's Riders to the Sea. Image by Ros Kavanagh If Shakespeare had his Globe, Francis O’Connor’s superlative design ensures Druid have their Cube. The Mick Lally Theatre seated on three sides of a soil covered, wood-fringed floor becoming a thrust like barn, or semi round. Hidden doors allowing entrances and exits that transform the space from island cottage to Birnam Woods battlefield where shadowy fighters scurry and crawl across the stage. Colin Grenfell’s stunning lights thickening the shadows whilst texturing Gregory Clarke’s explosive thunder with flashes of lightning; Clarke’s sound design often chilling the silence with haunting whispers of wind. Conor Linehan’s point perfect score adding supporting breaths to a vibrant body of text and performances. These the primary colours informing director Garry Hynes’s directorial palette with which she composes powerful, indelible images over and over and over. Director and tech crafting a liminal space between this world, the otherworld and the underworld whose power is felt rather than seen. Fusing the soil, the air and the inhabited darkness with unseen potency, charging the very atoms and the space between the atoms. Marie Mullen in Druid's Riders to the Sea. Image by Ros Kavanagh Beginning with Synge’s twenty five minute masterpiece, Riders to the Sea , which takes place in a cottage on an island off the west of Ireland. The Islanders easy hybrid of Christian spirituality and pagan superstition very much in evidence. Daily bread, like the host raised in ritual, sees Rachel O’Byrne’s compelling Cathleen kneading the bread with her breath of life before spinning the threads of fate; Byrne’s bread revisited in Macbeth establishing a visual link between both productions. The sudden arrival of Pattie Maguire’s jittery Nora brings news of Michael, presumed lost at sea. Neither woman anxious to tell his mother Maurya, an indomitable Marie Mullen, given she has already lost all the men in her life to the sea. Bar one, her remaining son Bartley. Notions of manliness seeing Marty Rea’s Bartley seek his mother’s blessing as he sets sail to Galway; the maternal motif echoed fiercely in Hynes’s reimagined Macbeth . Hynes’s impeccable direction allowing Mullen’s silence to speak to the power of Bartley's need, its condemnation and its denial. Crone, witch, prophetess, Maurya’s soul is older than the soil, deeper than the sea, honed into impenetrable stuff that only a mother who's known bitter suffering and survived can fathom. Mullen’s Maurya nothing less than a force of nature. Leading to the curse that follows, the visitor from another world, the stark prophecy of doom and its supernatural forces guiding Synge’s pocket tragedy towards its inevitable conclusion, offering a foreshadowing of the Macbeth still to come. Ensuring that had you to go home before Macbeth , you would still leave infinitely enriched. Druid's Macbeth. Image by Ros Kavanagh A defining characteristic of Druid is they’re forever taking risks. Evident in a brave if somewhat troubled Macbeth . Tensions between the natural and the supernatural tempered by the psychological. Notions of sleepwalkers and diseased, deranged and demented minds offsetting the play’s supernatural pull. Reflected in Hynes reframing the central relationship to that of a young man cursed by the thrall of the manipulative maternal. The casting of Marie Mullen as Lady Macbeth proving a brave if imbalanced choice. Mullen’s older woman dynamics with Marty Rea’s extraordinary Macbeth too often resembling the Oedipal Gertrude and Hamlet. Mullen and Rea suggesting a mother and son successfully repositioning some of the play’s trickier issues; Macbeth grovelling like a dog for his mother rather than his wife’s approval being hugely convincing. As is the clarifying and contextualising of Lady Macbeth’s descent into madness which Hynes directs with exciting fervour. Mullen’s matriarch never more visceral than when she rages about ripping babies from her suckling breasts and bashing their skulls in an effort to will her “son” to power, to do her will, to be a man. As with Riders to the Sea, Mullen makes for a compelling matriarch. The chemistry between Rea and Mullen explosively exciting. Marty Rea and Marie Mullen in Druid's Macbeth. Image by Ros Kavanagh Except Shakespeare didn't write Lady Macbeth as Macbeth’s mother. Meaning several lines fall ineffectually by the wayside with several scenes feeling uneven for lack of a lover’s touch. Such love looking incestuous, with terms like husband and wife sounding oddly out of place. The oscillation between parent and partner never convincingly resolved. Leaving Mullen’s uneven performance enlivening the role of matriarch, but feeling forced or implausible when playing Macbeth’s wife. The maternal premise having another unfortunate side effect. That of tipping Rea’s superb Macbeth into a blistering Norman Bates. Rea’s Macbeth running the gamut from convincing hero to corrupt villain to curiously overcooked serial killer hiding in a barn with his lifeless, female victims. The final, blood soaked scene suggesting a gory Silence of the Lambs wherein the FBI agent stealthy sets out to exact final justice. A pity, as there is genuine power in Rea’s undeniably brilliant Macbeth, confirming Rea as possibly the greatest stage actor of his generation. Marty Rea,Marie Mullen and company in Druid's Macbeth. Image by Ros Kavanagh Throughout, Francis O’Connor and Clíodhna Hallissey’s costumes enrich what are often stunning performances, even if doubling or tripling up on roles exacts a price a times. Notably a brilliant Seán Kearns who goes to the well once too often in quick succession with contrasting roles. As is often the case with Druid, a mixture of living legends (Marie Mullen), contemporary masters (Rea, a brilliant Rory Nolan, along with a terrific Garrett Lombard) rising stars (Rachel O’Byrne, Liam Heslin, and Caitríona Ennis) as well promising newcomers (Emmet Farrell, Cathal Ryan and the exciting Pattie Maguire going from strength to strength) see Druid’s mentoring approach being rewarded as well as rewarding. Evident in Caitríona Ennis, extraordinary as the baseline linchpin grounding all about her with rigorous detail, quiet focus and calm authority. Ennis commanding her scenes with a cold gaze, firm expression or delicate gesture, or else cackling conversations from beneath a consuming cowl as one of three faceless witches. Or else Druid debutante Emmet Farrell, whose youthfulness amidst this stage of stars crowns a lively performance as Malcolm, the boy who should be King admitting he is not fit to play being a man. Mentored by Liam Heslin’s compelling McDuff, contrasting Farrell’s youthful boyishness with something a king should aspire to: a ruler who can fight like a man, feel like a man, and cry like a man. Still, there’s that whole ripped from the mother’s womb idea which complicates notions of McDuff’s noble masculinity. And Cathal Ryan’s subtle performance promising great things to come. Opening several avenues for fruitful discussion as you leave the Mick Lally Theatre breathless and blown away, wondering how quickly the time went by. Marty Rea in Druid's Macbeth. Image by Ros Kavanagh   For 50 years Druid have been fashioning complex works of this calibre. 50 years. Some companies can’t survive 50 minutes into their funding application. Some days you simply have to step back. Realise how good we have it. Even a cursory glance at Druid’s countless productions confirm we have been truly blessed. So raise your glass in gratitude and tribute to one of the greatest, bravest, most exciting theatre companies anywhere in the world. Happy 50th Druid. And remember, fifty is the new thirty. There’s still considerable mileage to be had from this inexhaustibly rich, endlessly exciting, relatively young-ish theatre company. Check out this fabulous double bill if you don't believe me, and be prepared to be seriously blown away. Riders to the Sea by J.M. Synge, and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, presented by Druid Theatre as part of their Fiftieth Anniversary Season, runs as part of Galway International Arts Festival 2025 till July 26. Macbeth will feature as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2025 from September 25 till October 5. For more information visit Galway International Arts Festival or Druid Theatre

Juilan Moore-Cook, Fra Fee and Aidan McArdle in The Pillowman. Image, Ros Kavanagh **** Story. Commonly conflated with narrative. Yet the two are distinct. Narrative being one component, albeit an important one, of what constitutes a story. The phrase ‘those who control the narrative control the people’ reminding us that story, and the freedom to tell it, determine who holds power. Martin McDonagh ’s frightening once upon a times informing his dark and complex The Pillowman . Which interrogates stories about stories, stories within stories, and the danger of stories inspiring action, particularly in a totalitarian state. While there’s contemporary resonance in a time when stories condemning protests of genocide are used to distract from the actual genocide, McDonagh’s dark thoughts for little children also reflects the concerns of its time. First read in 1995, first production 2003, The Pillowman evokes 10 year old Jamie Bolger, murdered in 1993. Supplying the meat on The Pillowman’s narrative bones in the shape of how we maim and murder children, coupled with how we’d willingly die to preserve our stories with which we justify our actions. Fra Fee in The Pillowman. Image, Ros Kavanagh Jumping into the action, a blindfolded Katurian, an aspiring writer of four hundred stories, and his “retarded” brother Michal, are being interrogated by good cop, Detective Tupolski, and bad cop, Officer Ariel, all on account of Katurian’s stories. Fairytales in which children swallow razor blades, have toes dismembered, or are buried alive having physically endured the stations of the cross inflicted by their parents. Then there’s The Pillowman, a tale of a benevolent Bogeymen who advises young children to end their lives before they grow into an existence filled with horror. Yet the long arm of totalitarianism is seeking something beyond mere censorship. Trying to solve the recent murders of two children, along with a missing third, whose deaths mirror incidents in Katurian’s stories. The core theme of McDonagh’s tabooed tale revealed; the suffering of little children who come onto us. Abuse perpetrated on the most vulnerable, by the most vulnerable, and frequently on the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable; the deaf, the mute, the disabled child. The foundational story of Christianity reminding us that even God is not averse to abusing His children. That the alleged exceptions are actually the normalised rule. A living legacy in which even the police are victims of childhood violence, ensuring that history is doomed to repeat itself. Its actions justified in our stories. Whose power, politics and subtexts lead to dead or dying children. Aidan McArdle in The Pillowman. Image, Ros Kavanagh Narratively, little happens even though there’s a lot going on. Including a whodunnit, a race against time, another murder, some leisurely torture and a pressing execution. All interspersed with fairytales that try the patience in places. Stories whose dark aspects evoke the Brother’s Grimm. McDonagh’s dark humour providing uneven comic relief. If it sounds like a tough gig, that's because it is. Director Lyndsey Turner flip flopping between the texts competing demands. An initial Kafkaesque absurdism flipping into Freudian sins of the father before some second rate rumination on how suffering shapes the artist. McDonagh’s uneven hybrid of genres, under Turner’s pacy direction, never consistently coalescing into its own unique thing. Performances often shifting to accommodate tone rather than character. Alex Eales’s unimaginative black box set reinforcing the play’s darkness, like it needed the help. Katie Davenport’s costumes and Sinéad McKenna’s lighting functional at best. Kevin Gleeson’s sound and compositions over egging the omelette with brooding tones and some questionable choral contributions. Juilan Moore-Cook in The Pillowman. Image, Ros Kavanagh Whilst you wouldn’t recommend it for a first date, The Pillowman offers a wealth of dark musings, even if some feel clunkily forced. Fra Fee’s Katurian, oscillating from somebody prepared to burn their stories to someone prepared to give his life to preserve them, trots along nicely, but can seem more mouthpiece than character. Aidan McArdle as lead investigator Tupolski feeling far more cohered, perhaps for having less to do. A commanding Julian Moore-Cook, looking like a tough cop from a Sam Spade story, most successful as he shoulders his pain across stage ready to hurt at a moments notice. Ryan Dylan’s low key Michal, the embodiment of abuse and its effects, evoking Kevin McAleer’s downbeat, dead pan delivery. A supporting ensemble of Donncha O’Dea, Jade O’Connor, Ciara O’Sullivan, Ruby Gill, Freddie Cornally and Alexander Bellintani all strong as human marionettes enacting shifting tableaux for a number of stories, helping break up the monotony of having to sit and listen through yet another one. Ryan Dylan in The Pillowman. Image, Ros Kavanagh Unsettling, brave, and in many ways brilliant, The Pillowman makes for thought provoking theatre. Begging us to look at the monsters we want to avoid because we know we’ll be looking into a mirror. The Gate’s current production telling its own story. That’s the thing about stories, their intertextual, intersectional and contextual relationships often speaking to truths beyond the tale. Suggesting something really interesting might be happening at The Gate. But that’s a story for another day. The Pillowman , by Martin McDonagh, runs at The Gate Theatre till September 7. For more information visit The Gate Theatre

Dan Gordon in Static. Image, Rich Davenport ** In the dark ages known as the 1970s several fads came into fashion that died as soon as they found their feet. Clackers, Sea Monkeys and citizen band radio, popularly known as CB radio, to name but a few. Immortalised by the regrettable movie Convoy , the real time communication preference for long-distance truck drivers, CB radio, briefly enjoyed mainstream attention in the late 70s, beloved by criminals and creeps alike. With the advent of the burner phone the criminals moved on. With the advent of the encrypted laptop the creeps soon followed. Unless you happen to be Moonman, a contemporary, middle-aged, detestable slob story from Co. Donegal. Through weakly contrived circumstances, inspired by a real life incident from 1991, Moonman picks up an emergency signal on his CB radio from astronaut Captain Slane. A handsome veteran who, in a fit of rage, smashed his comms and needs emergency assistance before his craft drifts out into space. Slane managing to find the one person with a home based CB radio tuned to his channel in the era of chat rooms. Who is also the last person you would ever turn to in an emergency. Who, conveniently, is a space enthusiast. Over several tensionless orbits they discuss their lives, the universe and everything in between. Jimmy McAleavey’s hugely ambitious Static proving a weak comedy masquerading as a weaker drama, overflowing with low level, existentialist angst. For millennia, space and its constellations were entwined with myth and mystery. Until science came along, jettisoned myth for facts yet retained the language of mystery. Black holes, event horizons, the infinity of the infinite, is there a point, meaning, purpose to it all if we're just atoms and stardust haphazardly assembled that dies in the end? Static’s pop science, buzz words delivering a trivialised intro for anyone with even a remote interest in time, space and philosophy. Exploring loneliness, communications, particularly between men, of being too afraid to live yet too afraid to die, and touching on protected categories like mental health, its existential angst opens not into an abyss so much as a pothole. As for technology, its ideas would have looked dated in the 1970s. Meanwhile, the detestable Moonman sets representations of agoraphobia back fifty years, suggesting that all that’s really needed is willpower. Weak, made to fit arguments avoiding meaningful engagement with where was the willpower when you really needed it? But agoraphobia was never Moonman’s problem, as a clanging in a desk drawer makes clear. Rather, it’s the lies we tell ourselves, and the second rate philosophical and psychological reasons with which we justify ourselves to ourselves. Lying about our lies to justify self-created dramas whilst convincing ourselves we’re pursing the truth. Which, arguably, could serve as an apt description of Static . Or of art perhaps. Seán Mahon in Static.  Image, Rich Davenport As if realising there isn’t enough meat on the script, Alyson Cummins packs the stage with radio tech so it not only feels claustrophobic but looks like it’s trying to overcompensate by pushing everything forward to conceal dead space. Meanwhile Suzie Cummins’ lights inject the mystery and mood the script lacks. John King’s direction sees weak comedy undercutting the possibility of dramatic tension. Performances also uneven. Dan Gordon’s Moonman a superb Billy No Mates with a CB radio that no one wants to speak with. Not because of his agoraphobia, but because he’s selfishly reprehensible. Gordon brilliantly articulating a truly self-centered character having little to like and even less to pity, which McAleavey is to be commended for not shirking away from. If only Seán Mahon’s Spaceman, a heavy breathing, honours graduate from the William Shatner School of slow-motion overacting, didn’t evoke a Star Trek cut out; Spaceman proving a likeable if uneasy foil. The whole making for some contrived asks you don’t quite buy into. The end result a theatrically cramped, dramatically dull production that’s philosophically and psychologically suspect. If Static refers to the white noise Slane uses to block out silence, McAleavey’s verbal white noise often blocks out those deeper, human resonances Static claims to seek. Unless King’s point was to recreate an experience of being trapped inside your head with random thoughts running wild and no possibility of escape, in which case Static succeeds brilliantly. Ensuring that if the only other option is to drift out into space, you might consider it. Except it never is the only other option. Indeed, Static had real existential fish to fry speaking to the human condition. Yet ultimately it trades addressing the lives we live, both good and bad, against all those lives we never get to live for a Hallmark moment to boldly go where you’ve never gone before and live your very best life. Even as it never seems to know quite what that is. Static by Jimmy McAleavey, runs at The Peacock Stage of The Abbey Theatre until July 18. For more information visit The Abbey Theatre

An Evening With Wee Daniel, written and performed by Aoife Sweeney O’Connor. Photograph: Dylan Gomery ** ‘Up in Donegal,’ the award winning An Evening With Wee Daniel tells us, ‘things are different’. Different not necessarily being as interesting as you might have hoped. Aoife Sweeney O'Connor' s one person love poem to all things Dunloe preaching to the faithful. In which Donegal looks like it got stuck in a Workman’s Club cabaret in the 1970s. Even though Dunloe seems remarkably contemporary in its acceptance of gay and non-binary people like Sweeney O’Connor. Leaving this troubled tale of self-acceptance low on drama and high on kitsch. The cheap kind, like the sparkly gold tinsel serving as a backdrop for the simple conceit of a Daniel O’Donnell show on which Sweeney O’Connor tells their story. An uneasy telling of a weak tale interspersed with impressions, gags, and so so songs, aside from one rather stunning ballad. Sweeney O’Connor’s song and comedy act leaving you apt to check if you read the name right? Was it An Evening With Wee Daniel , or An Evening With Twee Daniel ? Like ET, An Evening With Wee Daniel is shamelessly sentimental. Emotional manipulation concealing a multitude of sins. Which is not to devalue Sweeney O’Connor’s autobiographical revelations. But rather to say that to truly engage the story has to be truly engaging, not just the character. Both leave something to be desired. Much and all as you feel for the loss of a mother, her loss being shoehorned in near the end following a brief flash of foreshadowing very early on feels like you’re being played. Otherwise there's no drama, no stakes, and its Daniel O’Donnell themed cabaret is not up to the standard it needed to be, riddled as it is with predictable cliches. Then there’s character. While Sweeney O'Connor oozes charm and charisma, the Daniel O'Donnell suit and mannerisms are so integrated it’s hard to know who is Sweeney O'Connor at times. The result less self-acceptance so much as a more polished mask to hide behind. A drag act concealing rather than revealing the artist in a confessional work that confesses to nothing. Purporting to speak about growing up gay and non-binary in Donegal, it doesn’t really. Indeed, when Sweeney O'Connor begins to look around to find like-minded souls, it doesn't seem they suffered social dislocation so much as they hadn't noticed them before. They were there all the time, happy in a community happy to have them. Which doesn’t give credence to the primary theme of marrying a sense of being non-binary with a sense of belonging to Donegal. Falling short, like much of the humour and songs, unless you’re in on the Donegal in jokes, which evoke a Jury's Hotel Irish Evening with Hal Roach. Still, like Born Again Christians, or The Moonies, or Daniel O’Donnell fans, a devoted cult following is sure to enjoy the local colour of An Evening With Wee Daniel which satisfies their leanings. For everyone else it suggests Sweeney O’Connor has something going on. But we’re only afforded a glimpse of it. An Evening With Wee Daniel by Aoife Sweeney O’Connor, runs at The New Theatre until June 21. For more information visit The New Theatre

Ruth McCabe, Sorcha Cusack, Deirdre Monaghan and Anna Healy in Escaped Alone, by Caryl Churchill. Image, Ros Kavanagh **** In Caryl Churchill's dystopian satire Escaped Alone , the world is gone to hell, but as long as there’s friendship there's hope. Particularly the friendship shared by women. The civilised chitchat sitting on chairs under a tree, the grass under your feet as the sun journeys across the sky. Tom Piper’s colouring book set, illuminated perfectly by SJ Shiels, an island of green in a cartoon universe offering an oasis of connection. Perhaps a park, a garden, or a retirement home. Or a spacecraft carrying the last survivors of humanity as the sun sets through its large, oval window. Or just an ordinary day in some ordinary place with ordinary women talking of ordinary things. Only this is Caryl Churchill where language renders the ordinary extraordinary as stories within the story take shape. Director Annabelle Comyn making strong, compelling choices, not least in her casting of some of the prize jewels of Irish Theatre. Like Eliot's The Wasteland , or Piper’s superb set, Escaped Alone resists easy interpretation. Efforts to nail it definitely to the ground likely to miss something vital. The only response being to yield to its riches in which the truth transcends the limits of facts or words. Even as language is the thing that gives everything substance. Conversations ranging from TV plots to capitalism find three women, Vi, Sally and Ruth, joined by a fourth, Mrs Jarrett, who frequently breaks from their shared conversation to deliver rapid fire monologues. Anna Healy’s energised Mrs Jarrett wielding poetry to craft metaphors and images of a world destroying itself. Returning to join the women where deeper truths are revealed in shared conversation and in each woman’s brief monologue. Discussing the world, their plight, or singing and clapping like vibrant young girls. Ruth McCabe Vi’s recounting time served for manslaughter, Sorcha Cusack’s Sally loathing rats, cats and pigeons, Deirdre Monaghan‘s Lena deepening her separation of public and private. Each delighting in a superb, understated production whose simplicity belies its underlying power. Anna Healy in Escaped Alone, by Caryl Churchill. Image, Ros Kavanagh Escaped Alone might be set in a park, but it’s not always a walk in the park. Rich in cultural and societal references, many twisted into thought provoking metaphors, Churchill’s script makes for challenging going at times. But Comyn teases it into something hugely accessible, honouring the text by leaning into the relationship between the women. Marshalling a strong cast, Comyn realises a solid vision. It might not be everyone’s idea of presenting Churchill, but it’s one that stands its ground, honours its source, and one you’re unlikely to forget. Escaped Alone , by Caryl Churchill, presented by Hatch Theatre Company and The Everyman in association with Once Off Productions, ran at The Everyman as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2025. It transfers to Project Arts Centre Dublin, June 19 - 28. For more information visit Cork Midsummer Festival 2025 or Project Arts Centre

Áine Ní Laoghaire in It's Not You by Cónal Creedon, Theatre for One:Made In Cork. Image J ed Niezgoda **** An often neglected festival joy is the familiar things. Like Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals Theatre for One, this year titled Made In Cork . Serving up six theatrical nuggets for the third consecutive year at Cork Midsummer Festival. Cork natives Cónal Creedon, Katie Holly, John McCarthy, Michael John McCarthy, Gina Moxley and Louise O’Neill each crafting short, one handers to surprise and delight. Performers Áine Ní Laoghaire, Tommy Harris, Simone Collins, Marion O'Dwyer, Gina Moxley, and George Hanover giving them life under the direction of Eoghan Carrick and Julie Kelleher. Those unfamiliar with the format are in for a treat. Set up in Emmet Place outside Cork Opera House, an enclosed booth admits one audience member for a five to ten minutes direct, theatrical encounter. The definition of theatre as one person performing to one other person in a space summing up the experience perfectly, but saying nothing about the intimacy, the visceral reality, the sense of immediacy. The format is normally a monologue delivered directly to the audience member. Making them confidants, connected, even when they might wish they weren’t. Like Cónal Creedon 's superb It's Not You , directed by Julie Kelleher. In which an excellent Áine Ní Laoghaire, clutching a coffee cup like she might strangle it, points her green nailed fingers and asks who do you think you are breaking up with her? Looping back on repeated phrases, the same words shaped and reshaped, intensity deepens each time. In less than a minute you've a pretty good idea why you broke up with her, and are very relieved you did. Until an unexpected flip and everything's changed. The power shifting away from you and back to Ní Laoghaire. Who dispenses some parting shots before the screen slides shut. Tommy Harris in Ambition by Katie Holly, Theatre for One:Made In Cork. Image J ed Niezgoda Or perhaps you’ll meet the worst magician ever, giving the worst job interview ever. Comedy proving a trickier affair in Katie Holly’s delightful Ambition , again directed by Kelleher, as you don’t want to laugh at the person talking to you. A charming Tommy Harris negotiating the tricky terrain as the charmless Dermot, stage name Abracadermot. Another character dealing with a breakup, and once again it's very clear why. He's hoping you'll give him a gig at the Christmas party, or better still make him a manager. He only became a magician to impress his girlfriend. Then there’s his rabbit and ferret. As you listen to his efforts to impress you, you realise getting the gig is the least of Dermot's problems. As the door slides shut on the gormless card sharp, you're already wondering what the next candidate will be like. Or perhaps you might engage with one of the other four intriguing productions. Queueing, you never know which of the six pieces you’ll encounter. But whichever one, Theatre for One: Made in Cork is well worth the wait. Stepping inside the red booth a sheer delight for first timers, and a sort of homecoming for Midsummer veterans. And admission is still free. You’d be mad to miss it. Theatre for One: Made in Cork , presented by Landmark Productions & Octopus Theatricals, in association with Cork Midsummer Festival and Cork Opera House, runs at Emmet Place, (front of Cork Opera House) as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2025,  June 14,15, 17 - 22. For more information visit Cork Midsummer Festival 2025 .

Irene Kelleher in Stitch. Image, Marcin Lewandowski **** What is it about physically demanding theatre at Cork Midsummer Festival this year? Whilst Eileen Walsh deservedly takes the durational plaudits, and every other plaudit imaginable, Irene Kelleher is no slouch when it comes to pushing physical boundaries. Writing and performing two productions concurrently; the comedy Footnote , and the hauntingly dark Stitch . The latter concerning a young woman, Alice, disfigured as a child, who is about to be evicted from the only home she's ever known. The basement of a clothing alteration shop run by her aunt which is about to be turned into an Extravision. Stitch , like Kelleher’s classic Mary and Me , exploring familial shame and generational trauma for unplanned pregnancies in 1980s Ireland, and the often horrific consequences for young women and their unplanned child. Horror being the key word. Kelleher’s breathtaking performance, Cormac O'Connors astonishing lights and sounds, Jenny White's insanely detailed set and props and Valencia Gambardella’s magnificent costumes and masks tipping spectacle into the realms of fantasy. So brilliantly executed you might think you're on the set of a horror movie. But this is a site specific, time specific, woman specific story concerned with real life times and themes. The horror being it could've happened, and that similar horrors, and worse, often did. Director Regina Crowley swirling up a witches brew of extraordinary potency, whose power is punctured somewhat by the poetically rhyming structure of Kelleher’s abstruse script. Midnight. Halloween. 1989. Samhain Festival. The disfigured Alice, a cross between Frankenstein's daughter and Laura Ingalls had she fallen down a ravine, emerges from the basement into the dim light dragging the shadows with her. Samhain connected with many things in Stitch , most notably the night when the worlds of the living and the dead draw near. Allowing spirits of Halloween’s past to pass over in the form of memories as Alice recounts her haunting story before her final denouement and defining last act. Skulking through the deserted shop, seeking out her cat Stitch, Alice talks, howls, shrieks, growls, drools and prowls as she drags on masks, drags out old clothes, and drags memories kicking and screaming into the frugal light. Alice not so much talking with spirits as channeling them, her body a writhing conduit of contaminated powers compelling her as she traverses dark places seeking out light from the doomed underworld of her soul. One thing you could never accuse Kelleher of is not taking risks. Mostly she gets it right. Like the site specified shop on 21 Shandon Street which proves deeply haunting, and Might Oak Productions' superlative team giving Alice’s story life. But risks don't always land as you hoped they might, as well as giving far more than you ever imagined. The former being the case with Kelleher’s rhyming script, the latter for her performance and production. Rhyming couplets might evoke incantations, but the words have to have real poetic power which they don’t always have in Stitch . Trying, as they are, to also tell a story, the competing demands leave narrative and characters often unclear as to who, what, when, where and how? If much is clarified in the final minutes, it’s too late to establish the connection needed. The one arising out of empathy for someone you care for whose story you know, like Mia Goth’s Pearl , rather than sympathy for a stranger whose ranting and raving is hard to make sense of. Language made restrictive and restrained to meet rhyming needs less effective when trying to lead. Strongest when led by Kelleher’s guttural performance which is a tour de force. Alice’s howling winds of rage, tenderness and pain leaving words scattered like petals after a storm. Stitch might not be Kelleher’s strongest script, but Alice is Kelleher's wildest, bravest, most compelling performance to date. Stitch , written and performed by Irene Kelleher, presented by Might Oak Productions, runs at J. Nolan Stationary,  21 Shandon Street as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2025 June 13-15 and June 18 - 22. For more information visit Cork Midsummer Festival 2025

Eileen Walsh in The Second Woman. Image, Jed Niezgoda *****... It's that time of year when the calendar says summer but the weather’s going to do whatever it’s going to do. The only thing you can count on for consistency is Cork Midsummer Festival. This year, the women have it. Irene Kelleher ( Stitch and Footnote ), Camille O’Sullivan ( Cork Girl! ), Amanda Coogan ( Caught In The Furze ), Deirdre Kinahan ( Songs and Souls with Steve Wickham), Caryl Churchill ( Escaped Alone ) with an all female cast. Five women also performing in the annual delight that is Landmark Production’s amuse bouche, Theatre for One , now in its third year at Cork Midsummer Festival. But all that’s to come. Walking the city’s streets, suffused with mouth watering aromas, excited talk is for one show only. One woman only. Eileen Walsh and The Second Woman . If last year’s Cork Midsummer Festival gave us one of the year’s best productions in Kamchàtka’s Alter , with The Second Woman they serve up the theatrical event of 2025. Inspired by John Cassavetes’ film, Opening Night, creators Nat Randall & Anna Breckon blend live performance with filmed close ups projected onto a screen. In which Eileen Walsh undertakes to perform the same scene 100 times with 100 different partners, some professionals, most not, over twenty-four hours. The demands unimaginable. The experience unique. Walsh awe inspiring. No applause between scenes; a notice begs our compliance. Little chance of that. Eileen Walsh in The Second Woman. Image, Jed Niezgoda If Cassavetes’ 70’s masterpiece inspired the scene, David Lynch’s 50’s Americana, by way of  Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet , frames the action. Walsh’s Virginia a sultry, blonde bombshell in a snug red dress. Pushing a trolley of Jim Beam she sits, silently, with a haunted, far away look. FUTURE METHOD STUDIO’s fish bowl design evoking a seedy, red walled, graphic noir hotel, with the play’s curious name etched in neon on the back wall. In which Walsh, part desperate dame, part femme fatale, waits. Embodying the image fetishised by male artists from Eisner to Hammett, from Chandler to Lynch. As a piano score stops, Walsh stands to one side, facing out. Her partner enters, whispers their name and she turns and assesses them with soul searching eyes. A brief exchange establishes the relationship and context of the scene. They eat noodles, drink bourbon, talk, dance till Virginia sends them packing. But not before one final choice. Then Walsh cleans up, sits, and does it all again. And again. And again. Men, women, other. Race, sex, age no restriction. Walsh mother, sister, daughter. In charge. In pain. In love. Breckon & Randall’s direction stacking the deck in Virginia’s favour through clever play with status ensuring you can only go where Virginia leads. The wise follow. The foolish compete. The lovers genuinely there for her. The vain always there for themselves, no matter how strong or sweet their affections. How we communicate and fail to communicate forever made evident. Eileen Walsh in The Second Woman. Image, Jed Niezgoda Technically, it’s something of a Meisner improv. A partner exercise where each performer is restricted to key phrases as the scene is adjusted each time. Drama pared back to its basic ingredients: conflict, motivation, objective, outcome. Walsh endlessly finding new ways to say the same thing and achieve the same goal yet have it mean something different every time. Repetition, like snowflakes, or fingerprints, defined by what makes each one unique. As the hours slip by Walsh pushes past the boundaries of her craft, taking it closer to pure instinct, then pushes further. Mirroring soon exhausting its usefulness and forcing Walsh to dig deeper. Yet always the craft remains, evident in the calculated heel slip, the held gaze, the exquisitely timed delivery. As The Second Woman rolls along with the addictive fascination of doomscrolling, it can come to feel like a theatrical Deathmatch Tournament as another contestant steps into the ring for a ten minute bout in which Walsh wipes the floor with them. The outcome usually decided in the initial tense silence as Walsh establishes dominance. But some she can’t boss around so easily. Usually colleagues like Luke Murphy, Frank Blake, Jack Gleason, or local actor Peter Rawlinson. Some call Virginia’s bluff, others offer support, or deeper challenges, some ready to go where she seems to want to go. Others, like good sport Willie White, inject something from beyond the frame. I’d swear on a stack of bibles that Walsh intentionally set out make the former Artistic Director of Dublin Theatre Festival squirm. And not just him. Though never restricted to sex, age or race, mostly it’s men. Masculinity undergoing a thorough investigation, revealing men stuck as boys, boys playing at being men, the endless power dynamics with the reviled and revered feminine confirming masculinity as never simply one, singular thing. Nor is Walsh. Whatever you need, want, dread or desire, whatever your sex, age, race or creed. Eileen Walsh in The Second Woman. Image, Jed Niezgoda As the hours move on, Walsh remains forever in control. Truths revealed in the lies we tell, and the lies we tell ourselves. Secrets revealed in the ordinary gestures: the size of a whiskey measure, the unspoken etiquette, the way a hand circles a waist, or a gaze is held with assured confidence or avoided with embarrassed unease. Some try to get away, try too hard, try to get their way, try to stay. Playing the moment to avoid playing the scene. Reminding us we only think we see truth. Revealing ourselves trapped in our memories and conditioning reflected back to us, consciously or unconsciously. The laughs coming hard and fast. Suggesting life’s a comedy after all and not the tragedy it seems. Unless you can’t laugh at yourself. Then it’s not a tragedy so much as a bad joke. Either way it's always a power struggle in which the weak get eaten, the tough ones survive. Though tenderness is often the greatest strength. With a constitution fortified against all you can eat noodles, and a bladder clearly made of steel, Walsh presses on, taking a short break every two hours. Most step out, many returning later. And so it goes long past midnight. By the Witching Hour the audience has thinned somewhat, but The Crazies have crawled in from the night. Populating the 3.00 am auditorium like homeless ghosts scattered randomly. Lunatics, insomniacs and tired eyed lovers. Night owls and nighthawks addicted to just one more scene. To ensuring Walsh has an audience to play to. That matters to them. They’re here to give something back. Be part of the exchange. The theatre student from Canada who left his hostel to stay till his flight at noon the next day. The visual artist from Dublin who arrived by train, marched directly to the Opera House and has been here since 4.00pm. Planning on staying as long as her body and brain hold out. Meanwhile, festival director Lorraine Maye floats about with the unbridled enthusiasm of a gleeful child. She’s been here since four and intends on staying till the end. Envy wishing it could siphon her boundless energy. Right now it's easier to begrudge her spitefully from a distance, topping up the diminishing fuel tank with water, chocolate and coffee. The Opera House floor staff working the graveyard shift, dispensing mercy like angels. Eileen Walsh in The Second Woman. Image, Jed Niezgoda Approaching the half way mark you wonder how the hell can Walsh keep going? Onstage, something shifts. The more tired Walsh gets the more youthful, brave and vulnerable she becomes. No trick of tired eyes that a fleeting glance at her close up leaves you wondering did Sydney Sweeney step in? Walsh somehow more real, raunchy, and emotionally risk taking. The Crazies’ all night vigil richly rewarded. Earlier there were rumours Cillian Murphy might appear at some point during the run. The Crazies knew Murphy was never going to show this late given how much he likes his sleep. Anyway, Cillian wouldn’t have a patch on Eileen tonight as she faces infidelity and impotence, egos and misogynists, lovers and the lovelorn. “I love you” a plea, a prayer, a punishment. As scene follows scene Walsh makes clear we are not our performances but that which performs. If only we knew why, and how, we might perform better. You might think you know how each story will go, you never do. You only know the script. It might seem to be the same recurring actions, but always it’s a new action in search of a fresh reaction. Nothing is repeated even though it all happened before. On it goes. By midday Walsh has pushed through the wall. How, defies belief. I’d like to say I went the distance. Like so many before, and after, I had to tap out. Meanwhile Walsh prepares for her next two hours. A voice inside says you’re going to be sorry you didn’t stay. You think I don’t know that? I’ve been at hour long shows that felt infinitely longer than this. This, I never want to end. Though if I never hear Aura’s Taste of Love again it’ll be too soon. Mind you, I’ll probably end up listening to it just to recapture this indescribable, unforgettable, insanely brilliant experience, both communal and individual. A gruelling, punishing, powerful privilege. Eileen Walsh. The words fall short of adequate praise. Just bow, or kneel, and be silent. Attributing stars is a contentious practice. Many feel the popular shorthand should be avoided, unless, of course, they’re being awarded four or five stars themselves. Understandable as most productions rarely fall neatly into three, four or five star categories. But half stars look goofy. Generous soul that I am, I tend to mark up, but read the review and you'll always know which way I lean. So what stars should we attribute to Eileen Walsh for The Second Woman ? Simple. Get a boat. Sail out to the middle of the ocean on a moonless, cloudless night. Stand on deck and look up at the constellations. Start counting. The Second Woman by Nat Randall & Anna Breckon , performed by Eileen Walsh, presented by Cork Midsummer Festival and Cork Opera House ran June 14th and 15th at Cork Opera House as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2025. For more information visit Cork Midsummer Festival 2025

Tommy Tiernan and Aaron Monaghan in The Cave. Image Ros Kavanagh **** Barry does Samuel Beckett. Kevin Barry that is. The Abbey Theatre’s current production, The Cave , finding the renowned novelist slumming it as an absurdist playwright. Barry's dark comedy about the McRae Brothers, tramps living in a cave on Zion Hill in County Sligo, sees nothing much happening for long periods. Comic fisticuffs and their strained relationship with local Garda Helen rambling the long route to get to where you expect it to go. In which the troubled Archie obsesses over the past so he doesn't have to embrace the present or future. His brother Bopper, equally checked out from reality, indulges fantasies of Netflix sensation, Elvira Martinez, if only Irish celeb Con Costello wasn’t on the scene. The long suffering Helen has her issues too, but she’s essentially a straight woman to The Cave's Didi and Gogo. Helen constantly insisting they move on yet telling them to stay. Forever concerned about their ailing health yet never arresting them to ensure they get the care they need. Even when not doing so means one or both might die. Inconsistent to the point where you wish they’d jump off a cliff. Though they’d probably need to be pushed for that to happen rather than do it themselves. Why? It's hard to know and harder to want to know. Barry’s strained comedy taking a very long time to tell a very short story. Decorated with themes about the internet, family, mental health, and caring for those society casts aside.  Judth Roddy, Tommy Tiernan and Aaron Monaghan in The Cave. Image Ros Kavanagh Throughout, Barry as novelist struggles to adapt to the stage, serving up thirteen titled chapters in search of three cohesive acts. Most suffering from the novelist’s rambling rather than the playwright’s economy. Tricks like the explanatory recap frequently resorted to. With talk of ghosts, caves and legacy you could be forgiven for expecting John Moriarty’s wild mythic forces to set your spirit on fire. Yet less Moriarty’s wild man of the West so much as Way Out West , The Cave’s spirit is tamed and dulled. Leaning into absurdity it can’t support the weight, resting on one tone jokes coming soft and fast, rolled like dice and landing on winning combinations quite a lot of the time. Indeed Barry seems incapable of writing a line without a joke or a set up. Ensuring that when pathos arrives at the end (even that has a joke) it feels a little pathetic. Still, Barry can create a sensationally funny line, idea, or image, especially regards our online fascinations, even as he struggles to sustain comedy into a scene or a story. Many jokes recurring, like our celebrity infatuation, along with hilarious moments about using technology in the wild. Aaron Monaghan and Tommy Tiernan in The Cave. Image Ros Kavanagh Like its two unlikely protagonists, The Cave proves remarkably resilent despite, and sometimes because, of the surrounding clutter. If jokes are tediously steady, it allows Tommy Tiernan to shine, drawing on his stand-up skills to compliment a delicate and sensitive performance; Archie frequently resembling one of Tiernan's onstage personas. His chemistry with Arron Monaghan deeply affecting, particularly in later scenes. Monaghan’s gruff Bopper a genuine comic revelation whose singing alone is worth the price of admission. If Judith Roddy has little enough to do, she does it terrifically well, commanding the stage as a Sligo Garda ready for bigger and better things. Yet Helen is surplus to requirements, never more in evidence than the bathrobe scene as Monaghan and Tiernan play verbal tennis and Roddy dutifully rotates her head. Helen there to set them up, wrap it up, and add a little contrast. If Joanna Parker's set and costumes capture a sense of a Sligo bleak midwinter, the action takes place in summer. Stephen Dodd’s lighting and Sinéad Diskin's sound reinforcing the bleakness. Meanwhile director Caitríona McLaughlin crafts some glorious stage images as well as eliciting three strong performances. Tommy Tiernan and Aaron Monaghan in The Cave. Image Ros Kavanagh Fun, entertaining, and eminently enjoyable, The Cave is indicative of a broader concern. A question put to many people recently was what was the last play you recall seeing in The Peacock? The overwhelming answer; “I can't remember”. We have a dearth of venues, yet a perfectly brilliant one, once renowned for championing new work and new writers, sits mostly dark. If because of budgetary issues, that needs to be reassessed. There’s nothing wrong with shows like The Cave riding on the coat tails of a great novel or novelist and featuring popular TV celebrities. They're a welcome addition. But popularised productions aren't the way to secure a meaningful future. Nor are venues sitting dark. The Cave, by Kevin Barry, runs at The Abbey Theatre until July 18. For more information visit The Abbey Theatre

Rex Ryan in The Monk. Image John Anderson Jnr ***** God loves fools and children. So it’s safe to assume She probably loves Rex Ryan. Even if you hate Ryan you have to love his childlike foolishness. It’s as if the expression “you probably shouldn’t do that” inspires Ryan to do exactly that which you probably shouldn’t do. Start a theatre company without funding. Open a completely implausible venue. Do both during Covid. Risk producing new works while avoiding safer options like adapted popular novels. Write, perform and direct a one man play about alleged criminal mastermind, Gerry Hutch, popularly known as The Monk. Probably shouldn’t do that. Might be seen to normalise, glamourise or fetishise criminality. Anyway, Hutch is notoriously private, some might say secretive. What kind of story would he agree to tell and who’d control the narrative? Ryan’s response; let’s find out. We should probably do that. And, again, experience proves him right. Ryan’s sensitive yet excoriating one hander, The Monk , serving up a searingly brilliant piece of theatre. Less a memoir so much as a character study, The Monk economically skates through a biographical highlight reel, stopping five minutes before a not guilty verdict in 2017 over Hutch's possible involvement with The Regency Hotel Murder in 2016. Growing up in Summerhill with an angel on his shoulder and a father who worked hard and drank harder, Hutch watches him die a slave to an empty, work hard dream. Mountjoy prison at fifteen a turning point as Hutch graduates criminal college. Leading to his street gang, The Bugsy Malones, followed by his incarceration and admittance to more crimes, though only ever those he was found guilty of. The two largest robberies in Irish history, Veronica Guerin’s murder, The Regency Hotel shooting all skated past with rote denials looking, at times, like the lady protesting too much. As likely to evoke, “just because they can’t prove it doesn't mean you didn’t do it,” as sympathy for a media maligned, property developer voicing a profound sense of injury. Throughout, with talk of a code, Hutch tries perpetuate the ordinary decent criminal myth. Anger at an alleged murderer’s execution by An Garda following a post office heist a case in point. While it raises genuine Ombudsman concerns, the Postmaster’s murder is spoken of like a fact of life that comes with the job. It wasn’t. It was a choice to rob and shoot him. Similarly the old trope that growing up in Summerhill the only real choice you had was crime. Shit happens, you respond accordingly but it’s never your fault. You’re never accountable. If that were all The Monk had to offer you’d rightly ask for a refund. But Ryan’s script refuses easy refuge behind prepared or rehearsed responses. Rather it digs deep through loops and repetitions to show where responses might be manufactured, and deeper still to reveal an embedded conditioning so normalised as to be believed unquestioningly. Revealing a complex man trying to wrestle his past, his stories, himself, the media, the State, life’s consequences into the story he wants them to fit into. Even as they refuse to allow him make easy sense of it all. Leaving you warming to his rugged charm, his no nonsense Dublin humour, his resilience, his love for his wife and family and his anger and pain at their being caught in the crossfire of his choices. Ryan’s brilliant performance juxtaposing granite strength with frail humanity whilst ensuring you never lose sight of the fact that you would not want to meet this man and his venomous rage in a darkened alley. Or a bright one for that matter. Rex Ryan in The Monk. Image, Beth Strahan When it comes to what informs Ryan’s script, alongside conversations with Hutch Ryan enjoyed an indirect connection given they were neighbours when Ryan grew up in Clontarf. If Ryan’s father was a famous celebrity forever in the spotlight, Hutch appears as the infamous celebrity forever trying to avoid it. Both of them the guy next door far from being the conventional guy next door. Seemingly ordinary people doing extraordinary things, scrutinised unfairly as fair game by being designated public figures for the media’s sensationalist glare. Ryan’s script tapping into this rich paradox with powerful results, interrogating whilst respecting its protagonist by way of a truly remarkable performance. Indeed, there’s a thin line between a performance and an impression of a living figure. The former interprets, the latter mimics faithfully unless exaggerated for satirical effect. Under his own direction Ryan’s immersive performance is utterly riveting. Initially, visuals support the ‘probably shouldn’t do that’ parallel. True to the time, yet looking like a forlorn Worzel Gummidge dressed for Aunt Sally’s funeral, Ryan, all dense beard and wild, straw hair, evokes The Count of Monte Cristo , or the prisoner depicted chained to a dungeon in old cartoons. Yet even when the eyes are all you see, they sear like burning coals. Get too close and they might incinerate you, pull back and you glimpse the hurt behind the anger. Additional depth and expressiveness revealed as the beard is removed and Ryan sits, stands or prowls the stage as he sets about answering an unseen interviewer’s questions, with a wonderfully awkward slow dance thrown in for good measure. John Anderson Jnr’s superb AV and Francisco Collette’s evocative SFX adding narrative links and emotional texture. Bill Woodland’s lights a masterclass in mood, both dark and light. Ciara Murnane’s caged set with auditorium screens transporting the venue, and experience, to a whole other level. With transitions executed with split second precision throughout. Productions as invigoratingly challenging as The Monk come along rarely. Ryan’s fearless script, invested performance and sensitive direction matched only by a tech team at the top of their game. And one unsung hero. When it comes to Glassmask the axiom behind every man there’s a greater woman is very much in evidence. Rex’s better half, Migle Ryan, producer, costumer designer and hostess buzzes with professional alertness, lending Glassmask’s front of house its inimitable charm as well as bolstering its behind the scenes solidity. Endlessly stylish and seemingly immune to fatigue, Migle fuses consummate professionalism with an all consuming work ethic. Rex may bask in the limelight, but Migle’s oft unseen contribution has ensured Glassmask’s much deserved success. Resulting in plays like The Monk , the kind of production that reignites your excitement for theatre. You may not re-evaluate your opinion of Hutch, but you might come away understanding some things better. The Monk shining a light on wider human themes embedded in its protagonist’s fascinating story and his manner of telling it, with the final image inviting a myriad of interpretations. Phenomenally powerful, Ryan’s play, performance and production serve up a contemporarily relevant masterpiece not to be missed. The Monk, written, performed and directed by Rex Ryan, runs at Glass Mask Theatre until June 21. Extra dates added June 26, 27 and 28. For more information visit Glass Mask Theatre

The Importance of Being Earnest. Image, Ciaran Bagnall ***** Double lives and mixed messages. An apt description for Oscar Wilde ’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest , as well as director Jimmy Fay’s fandango production at the Lyric Theatre. In which pre-show images of Victorian styled advertisements scroll across the curtain. Iconic posters for strange and peculiar products. Visually, it’s all of a period, leaving you with an unexplained hankering for ice-cream. Except the jazz score supporting the visuals is from a much later period. The first mixed message, immediately followed by cinematic opening credits in the style of Monty Python , a device later returned to for transitions. Granted, Neil O’Driscoll’s projections are a stroke of brilliance, but aren’t we in a theatre to watch a play? Might as well throw in some vigorous piano playing reminiscent of a recital of The Warsaw Concerto with 1940s Rank Organisation written all over it. Bewilderment mounting and still no one has spoken, aside from Neil Keery’s nasal butler’s house keeping announcements. Adam Gillian and Meghan Tyler in The Importance of Being Earnest. Image, Ciaran Bagnall Once dialogue arrives, the real crazy starts. Traces of camp seventies sit-coms, music hall shenanigans, hints of Jeeves and Wooster, The Good Old Days singalong, add your own spotted reference, all of it peppered with drag brunch bitchiness. Leaving you to wonder has Fay finally lost his mind? While that possibility should never be dismissed, The Importance of Being Earne st is never a case of too many cooks but, rather, of one smartly intrepid chef. Mixing the oddest ingredients to release strange new flavours that, if initially making for bizarre combinations, soon simmer and marinate into a sumptuous, mouth watering casserole. Dishing up lashings of laughter along with one of the finest comedy performances of recent years. Allison Harding and Adam Gillian in The Importance of Being Earnest. Image, Ciaran Bagnall From its rousing start to rousing finish, The Importance of Being Earnest initially journeys through peaks and troughs as ingredients are given time to percolate. Wilde’s comedy of Victorian manners seeing Conor O’Donnell’s camptastic Algernon foregrounding Wilde’s subtextual subversions. A comfort eating cousin beset by petty jealousies, Algy has a bone to pick with Adam Gillian’s foppish, leading man Earnest, a straight-ish foil for the ensuing comedy with secrets to hide who shines in the third act. Neither bachelor averse to some gay coded disappearances with make believe relatives. Each dependent on the staunch Lady Bracknell to ensure marriage to the love of their lives, the ditzy Cecily and vivacious Gwendolyn. Or should that be beards of their lives? No matter. Lost babies, found handbags, old secrets and a passion for the name Earnest, another double meaning, ensure we’re left eternally gratefully that the course of true-ish love never runs smooth but makes for endless wit and merriment. Conor O'Donnell and Calla Hughes Nic Aoidh in The Importance of Being Earnest. Image, Ciaran Bagnall If its men are hilarious, with Martin Maguire’s Reverend Chasuble adding additional comic texture, The Importance of Being Earnest’s women are simply magnificent. Jo Donnelly’s Mrs Prism, a woman of later years looking for the love she missed out on, proves an excellent comic foil. Along with Allison Harding’s priggish Lady Bracknell, whose pomp commands the stage with unquestioned authority. Both offset by two brilliantly exaggerated, larger than life performances. Beginning with Calla Hughes Nic Aoidh as the delightedly daft Cecily. A day dreaming Disney princess in a Minnie Mouse outfit, Hughes Nic Aoidh flits about like a wannabe ballerina in a performance that goes all the way over the top. Finding there Meghan Tyler’s superlative Gwendolyn. A femme fatale lusting with privilege, Gwendolyn proves to be the secret ingredient that brings this meal together. Tyler serving up a comedy masterclass in timing, expression and gesture. Some act funny, some are funny, then there’s whatever it is Tyler is doing. A born natural, the magisterial Tyler’s detailed performance is effervescent and irresistible whilst looking utterly effortless. Tyler mining pure comedy gold every time. The best thing about last year’s Aurora , with The Importance of Being Earnest Tyler shows she can produce comedy performances to a world class level, creating an iconic, unforgettable Gwendolyn in the process. Meghan Tyler in The Importance of Being Earnest. Image, Ciaran Bagnall A kitsch, visual feast, Stuart Marshall’s period set, Mary Tumelty’s superb lights, Catherine Kodicek’s crayon costumes and Garth McConaghie’s excellent sound and compositions see The Importance of Being Earnest land somewhere between the familiar and the fresh, invigorating what can sometimes be predictable and flabby. Everyone imagines a definitive version. Yet most discover that, like the elusive Earnest, it’s impossible to pin down. All it does is colour expectations. Yet set them aside, meet Fay’s fabulous fun head on and you might discover another hidden Earnest. Technically and performatively delightful, Fay restores to Wilde that wild, subversive, fun filled energy that often gets lost beneath Gender Study assignments. On top of which there’s Tyler. At the rate Tyler is going, she should probably start working on her acceptance speeches. For what? Her sky appears to have no limits. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, directed by Jimmy Fay, runs at The Lyric Theatre, Belfast, until July 6. For more information visit The Lyric Theatre, Belfast

Kwaku Fortune in The Black Wolfe Tone: Image, Carol Rosegg *** By all accounts an extremely likeable individual, Kwaku Fortune has been a fixture on the scene for some time now. Popping up regularly on stage and screen, often in supporting roles. Fortune at risk of slip sliding into becoming the eternally supporting character actor. Begging the question can Fortune carry a lead, seeing as how his recent performance in The Haircut left the jury hung? Does he have greater things to offer? Fishamble: The New Play Company reckon he has, being prepared to put their reputation where their mouth is. His debut play, The Black Wolfe Tone , written and performed by Fortune, answering the preceding questions with a resounding yes. Fortune can write. He can carry a lead, exuding huge charisma and a commanding presence. Even if, in this instance, he’s poorly served by director Nicola Murphy Dubey. Like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest , if told by the cuckoo, woe is Kevin, the only sane man in the asylum. Just ask him, he’ll tell you. Indeed, that’s all he does. For Kevin is never not talking about himself, even as he touches on a range of topics and themes. A bipolar black Irish man with psychotic tendencies, Kevin has been sectioned but won’t tell you why. Instead, he recites a litany of reasons to explain and complain as to why he is the way he is so he won’t have to face what he is. God. Nature. Nurture. Parents. Acid. Racism. Masculinity. History. Add your own protected category. Kevin certainly has things to cry about, but the constant self-justification soon becomes monotonous. All denial, projection and avoidance, which everyone can see apart from Kevin. Trying hard to convince himself, in advance of a deciding meeting, that he’s ready to be discharged, Kevin recounts the debris of his life like a hard sell infomercial cranked up on excitement. The play's title echoing his sense of identity as an inside outsider. Yet five minutes spent in his excitable presence and you know Kevin isn’t fit to be released. Creating flaccid narrative tension compounded by Kevin evoking less sympathy so much as the urge to lock him up and throw away the key, if only to shut him up for five minutes. Kwaku Fortune in The Black Wolfe Tone: Image, Carol Rosegg Like being bawled out by a bombastic drill instructor, Fortune’s script suffers trauma and traumatises on account of Fortune’s blistering, go big delivery. Subtlety, nuance, rhythm and pacing all sacrificed by director Nicola Murphy Dubey for a semaphoring, declamatory style that even Shakespeare would have asked be taken down a notch. Starting high, Fortune has nowhere to go, and nowhere to take you. Emotional pyrotechnics resulting in emotional white noise. By the time quietness hits, allowing Kevin see himself as others might see him, you’re apt to be too numb to notice. Though compositionally strong, utilising superbly synchronised lights by Adam Honoré and an institutionalised set by Maree Kearns, Murphy Dubey fails to get to grips with the script’s richness to evoke a deeper understanding of Kevin’s bipolar disorder and his refusal to accept the consequences, relying on shouted mania coming at you like a relentless tornado. Leaving you battening down the hatches as the next outburst arrives. Knowing Fortune could have done so much more had he done so much less. For people suffering bipolar disorder, and those living with them, the unmanaged condition is often terrifying and frightening. Medication involving constant adjustment and tweaks with often horrendous side effects. Here, the dangers are focused on shouting and violence. The end risking bipolar disorder looking like a curable illness once we admit to it. Yet in Fortune’s script, if not his performance, there’s a sense that what we see is not the whole story. Should Fortune go to those softer places he writes of, revealing rather than hiding Kevin’s vulnerability behind a wall of shouted justifications, a whisper might be enough to devastate. The words are there. So is the actor. As it stands, Kevin is a howling demon that doesn’t want to be exorcised. Fishamble backing The Black Wolfe Tone might not take home the Gold Cup, but it crosses the finish line and positions nicely. Fortune's visceral immediacy and smart writing, peppered with spoken word ingredients, confirming Fishamble have backed a long term winner. Originally debuting in New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre, The Black Wolfe Tone embarks on an Irish tour. Catch it to see a potential star in the making. The Black Wolfe Tone , written and performed by Kwaku Fortune, presented by Fishamble: The New Play Company is currently on tour. Project Arts Centre - June 4 - 14 Mermaid Arts Centre - June 17 and 18 Cork Midsummer Festival - June 20 and 21 For more information, visit Fishamble: The New Play Company

Blackwater Valley Opera Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Image Frances Marshall *** It is in the nature of experiments to miss their mark before finally formulating a breakthrough. The same might be said of Benjamin Britten 's experimental opera A Midsummer Night's Dream. An abridged reimagining of Shakespeare's magical comedy, Britten's 1960 avant garde treatment, with libretto co-written with Peter Pears, subverts operatic conventions to explore what opera might do. In doing so, it discovers new possibilities as well as reaffirming what opera should never do. Such as be tedious, dull, and overly self-indulgent. Tendencies offset by moments that prove striking, delightful and memorable. The scales tipping into the success column for Blackwater Valley Opera Festival ’s production courtesy of some outstanding performances, despite notable issues elsewhere. Blackwater Valley Opera Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Image Frances Marshall Currently, love potions are all the rage. Both Irish National Opera’s superlative L’elisir d’amore and Blackwater Valley Opera Festival’s A Midsummer Night's Dream relying on a little love juice for plot devices. Here, fairy king and queen Oberon and Tytania, along with humans Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and the hapless Bottom, find true love’s course rarely runs smooth in the mystical grooves of Athens. A little coaxing to help respective partners fall wildly in love works only if you affect the correct partner, which master of misrule, the non singing Puck (an agile Barry McGovern), seems incapable of achieving. Yet all’s well that ends well, even if A Midsummer Night's Dream doesn’t end well so much as grind to a slow, gradual halt. Blackwater Valley Opera Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Image Frances Marshall Part of the problem is a three act structure with an intermission coming almost two hours in. Britten’s overwrought libretto, though abridged, begging to be abridged more. One suspects Britten and Pears sensed as much given so many references to tedium and brevity, leaving you wishing they’d taken their own advice. Not helped by forced, contrived language draining much of the humour and more of the charm from Shakespeare’s text, particularly in the first two acts. Only for the third act to arrive like a tacked on epilogue, hurriedly wrapping up the main story to introduce the play within a play that no one wanted. Shoehorning some weak slapstick for an additional forty minutes, reminding you of what was missing from the previous two hours. Blackwater Valley Opera Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Image Frances Marshall Throughout, music dominates singing like a tonal poem with too few tones. Especially when contrasted with Britten’s introductions and intermezzos, whose cinematic sweep evoke the otherworldliness of Dimitri Tiomkin’s score for Frank Capra’s 1937 classic, Lost Horizon , or Jerry Goldsmith, lush elations for Ridley Scott’s neglected fantasy Legend . Conventional musical structures luring you down a rabbit hole into a curious musical wonderland. The arrival of voices seeing music cease to describe the supernatural so much as inform personal psychology whilst accenting, or dissenting from the action. Leaving music often in direct conflict with the text's charm and comedy as it force feeds subtext. Singing tailored as a result, suggesting a sung play with musical accompaniment, built from off tuned, sung recitatives rather than songs. Phrases and lines sounding more akin to a violin's expressiveness rather than a voice. Endlessly fascinating, even if it doesn’t always please the ear. Blackwater Valley Opera Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Image Frances Marshall Little of which director Patrick Mason resolves; staging often suggesting a concert performance with costumes. Paul Keogan’s lights might be hugely captivating, but his four poster bed with two doorframes suggests a compromise of convenience. Costumes far more successful, with Catherine Fay’s Elizabethan costumes from the time of Shakespeare juxtaposed with 1960’s fashion commemorating the period Britten’s opera premiered. The Irish Chamber Orchestra under conductor David Brophy doing sterling work in giving Britten’s score life. Yet it is some truly impressive vocal performances that carry the day. Countertenor Iestyn Morris as a commanding Oberon and soprano Ami Hewitt as Tytania one of many strong duos. Tenor Peter O’Reilly’s Lysander and baritone Gregory Feldman’s Demetrius both engaging as duelling rivals sporting a cricket bat. As are baritone Christopher Cull’s Theseus and Gemma Ní Bhriain’s Hippolyta, along with a superb comic chorus in tenors Conor Prenderville (Flute) and Seán Tester (Snout), baritone Massimo Modini (Starveling), and bass-baritones Jakob Mahase (Quince), Rory Dunne (Snug) and Dominic Veilleux (Bottom). A young chorus, giving it their all, round out a committed cast. Yet the night belongs to mezzo-soprano Sarah Richmond and soprano Amy Ní Fhearraigh, whose round, full, confident singing, coupled with top drawer performances, prove irresistible. Blackwater Valley Opera Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Image Frances Marshall A Midsummer Night's Dream is a risk taking opera looking to enrich the opera going experience. The same might be said for Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. Now in its fifteenth year, it has become a regular operatic fixture. Its success due to excellent productions and to the people and places that make up Blackwater Valley. From the gorgeous Lismore Castle and cathedral, to venues in small, local communities like Villierstown, opera is enriched by a passionate community who, like festival volunteers, are warm and welcoming. Different venues revealing a host of local treasures. Including, should you find yourself venturing to Villierstown for the Shakespeare in Music recital featuring Kelli-Ann Masterson, and why wouldn’t you, a sinfully delicious coffee cake in Tory’s Cake Shop. Or a terrific pint with exceptional company in An Cruiscin Lan. Where opera was discussed with passionate locals and seasoned connoisseurs like it truly mattered. Because, at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, it does. A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten, libretto by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, runs at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival until June 1. For more information visit Blackwater Valley Opera Festival

Claudia Boyle in Irish National Opera's L’elisir d’amore. Photo, Ros Kavanagh ***** Seriously, though you probably won’t believe me, this is the plot to L’elisir d’amore , Donizetti ’s vibrant comic opera as imagined by director Cal McCrystal for Irish National Opera’s final production of the season. In an old Western town at the turn of the nineteenth century, Woody from Toy Story (Nemorino) falls hopelessly in love with Scarlett O’Hara (Adina). All the towns folk think he’s silly, including Laurel and Hardy, Calamity Jane, a camp Keystone Calvary and that couple from the American Gothic painting. Even Abe Lincoln sees the writing on the wall. To make matters worse, Woody has a rival for Scarlett's affections. A man mountain of Magic Mike musculature, the suave Sergeant Belcore is the guy all the bad girls want. But Belcore wants Scarlett who, wishing to make Woody jealous, agrees to marry him. Enter the duplicitous Doctor Dulcamara and his long suffering assistant, Truffaldino, like the Wizard of Oz in a hot air balloon, selling the deluded Woody wine passed off as an elixir of love guaranteed to make every woman fall for him. And, indeed, every woman turns out to be wild for Woody, especially Scarlett. Yet it has nothing to do with the elixir. Those old reliables, money and jealousy, bringing it all home in a rousing finale. Yes, I know. Daft, busy, and steeped in visual cliche. Yet L’elisir d’amore is arguably the most fun you’re likely to have at an opera, with superlative singing to boot. Irish National Opera's L’elisir d’amore. Photo, Ros Kavanagh As spectacle goes, L’elisir d’amore is a lot busy and a little mixed. Sarah Bacon evoking the barebones of a cartoon Western with a cactus dry landscape dominated by a Bates Motel, with both pressed against shifting, vermilion skies and the occasional buffalo stampede. Exquisitely lit by Sarah Jane Shiels, despite a few marks being missed on the cramped stage. In contrast to the set’s simplicity, Bacon’s costumes prove richly detailed, right down to the writing on Woody's shoe, with Scarlett’s southern belle gowns each more sumptuous than the last. Detail to dress echoed in an exhilarating chorus whose movement, singing, acting and dancing are orchestrated almost as perfectly as Donizetti’s resounding score. Given vibrant, flowing life by conductor Erina Yashima and The Irish National Opera Orchestra. Duke Kim and Claudia Boyle in Irish National Opera's L’elisir d’amore. Photo, Ros Kavanagh At its core, a happy marriage of acting with singing make this a truly entertaining production. Like trying to choose your favourite child, selecting between soprano Claudia Boyle’s vivacious Adina, soprano Deirdre Higgins’s sumptuous Gianetta, tenor Duke Kim’s lovelorn Nemorino, bass Gianluca Margheri’s musclebound Belcore, bass-baritone John Molloy’s devious Dulcamara, and Ian O'Reilly's mostly non-singing Truffaldino seems almost cruel. Each in their own way utterly magnificent, conveying their character’s inner truth in scrupulous singing wedded to assiduous acting. Molloy and O’Reilly’s comic double act capturing smart, vaudevillian repartee in pre-show introductions for both acts. Kim, embracing Nemorino’s naivety, is exceptional as the comic dope whose rendition of Una furtiva Iagrima is heart-achingly sublime. Deirdre Higgins might have less to do, but she's never less than captivating. As is Gianluca Margheri’s outstanding Belcore. Believing women love a man in uniform, him especially, Margheri has no problem ripping his top off just in case. Reminding an appreciative audience that he could easily be making far more money as an in demand male stripper. The power and sweet tones of his impeccable bass leaving us eternally grateful he chose opera. Gianluca Margheri in Irish National Opera's L’elisir d’amore. Photo, Ros Kavanagh Central to it all is a divine Claudia Boyle. Without question one of our most gifted sopranos, Boyle is arguably our most gifted operatic actor. Every movement, expression and gesture is infused with character-rich expression perfectly harmonised to the most exquisite singing in which trills thrill. More than that, Boyle sets the tone and establishes impeccable standards onstage, giving others permission to play whilst setting the bar, vocally and performatively, impossibly high. Which this cast attain to magnificently. Indeed, Woody and Belcore might well have another rival. For if you’re not already wildly in love with Boyle, you will be after L’elisir d’amore . Her rendition of Prendi; per me sei libero seeing Boyle flip from comedic to serious with sublime results. Clearly, there’s nothing Boyle can’t sing. Irish National Opera's L’elisir d’amore. Photo, Ros Kavanagh Comic opera often suffers snobbish prejudice given its lack of gravitas. There's no jokes in the Bible, they say, and L’elisir d’amore is awash in naughty postcard humour. Yet even God was on her feet laughing and applauding. For some, L’elisir d’amore will appear visually busy, not helped by the cramped confines of the stage. But surrender to the whirlwind. Let it whisk you along with its madcap inventiveness, carry you on its waves of exuberant joy, and smother you with its musical and visual richness. Director Cal McCrystal, the unsung hero of this terrific production, whose choreographic and compositional brilliance is superbly peppered with hilarious meta-operatic touches (a stage manager harassing Laurel and Hardy, a chorus singer overstepping her role), knows that if you're going to go over the top go all the way over the top. May 28th sees Irish National Opera announce their next season. If L’elisir d’amore gives cause for excitement, it also presents the forthcoming season with issues. Namely, how to deliver an operatic experience to rival this? Joyous, delightful, exhilarating, hilarious, L’elisir d’amore offers an exquisitely entertaining night at the opera. Comic opera doesn't get better than this. L’elisir d’amore , by Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Felice Romani, presented by Irish National Opera, runs The Gaiety Theatre till may 31 before embarking on a national tour. June 4, National Opera House, Wexford. June 7, Cork Opera House. For more information, visit The Gaiety Theatre or Irish National Opera or touring venues.

Scorched Earth, Image, Patricio Cassinoni **** Projected slides establish Scorched Earth ’s focus on land based crimes, its particular concern a ten year old, cold case murder. Black and white images bleeding into dancers Luke Murphy, Ryan O’Neill, Sarah Dowling, Tyler Carney-Faleatua and Will Thompson physicalising the projector’s click frame process. Swirling deftly in and out of fleeting tableaux, dancers foreshadow key scenes whilst highlighting the giant behind Luke Murphy's Attic Projects latest production. The giant in question being John B.Keane’s The Field , whose premise of returning generations buying up fields homegrown locals have worked for decades provides Scorched Earth with a weak narrative. Even though peppered with references to The Field , Scorched Earth is never properly seasoned, lacking Keane’s memorable characters, along with the play’s tension and suspense. Murphy’s exhilarating choreography almost forgiving everything, but not quite. For though dance is divine, and its claustrophobic theatrics intriguing, drama falls completely flat. Scorched Earth not so much standing on the shoulders of its narrative giant as being completely eclipsed by their shadow. Even as themes of property developers battling invested locals has huge current resonance. Scorched Earth, Image, Patricio Cassinoni If Scorched Earth finally gets to where it’s going, it makes for a circuitous journey, gets stuck in traffic and deliberately avoids the scenic route. Scenery, by way of Alyson Cummins’s troubled set, resembling a handball alley designed by the Stasi based on German coastal bunkers from World War Two. Lifeless, soul sucking grey sapping energy whilst being tediously dull on the gaze, which feels like it’s being encased in concrete. Against which Stephen Dodd’s lights lose much of their lustre. Cleverly orchestrated transitions between an interrogation room, bar, radio station or phone box are smartly synchronised, with the desk design a stroke of genius. Against which choreographic flourishes frequently delight, despite the colourless vacuum. Ryan O’Neill’s torchlit solo, Will Thompson’s excellent rag doll routines, and a terrific line dancing sequence reviving flagging energy. Meanwhile, story crawls away to curl up and die in a traffic jam. Its crime drama narrative amounting to a wasteful interrogation of an under developed character. Wasteful because you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to determine whether they did it. The real crime a pointless interrogation device offering less and less till finally going exactly where you knew it would go. Heart, soul and depth found in stirring choreographic moments strung on a flimsy narrative thread, which a more vibrant, economic narrative with complex characters might have better served. Scorched Earth, Image, Patricio Cassinoni Throughout, Rob Moloney’s compositions and sound design try inject tension and energy, often succeeding, but just as often overcompensating and, on occasion, being overly intrusive; sounds similar to machine gun fire or helicopter blades competing with key dialogue at one point. Valentina Gambardella grass suit might facilitate a superb duet/solo between the accused and God‘s green earth, but you have to see past it as a Sesame Street muppet first. Or, later, as a sniper team in Ghillie suits. Then there’s a donkey, whose disappearance offers a far more intriguing, if equally unresolved story. Problem visuals resolved as the set is struck whilst Murphy flails like a raver on high grade drugs. Cummins’s stunning second set unfolding, revealing what could have been all along. Moonlit green, its back inclined, awash in the smell of earth; we come full circle as one becomes five in an exhilarating whirling dervish. Passion and violence made visceral through interweaving, almost organic choreography as dancers run, climb, fall, slide and begin again, pushed to exhausting limits. The answer to “shut up and kiss me” a goodnight kiss that sets you swooning. Leaving you wishing Scorched Earth had talked a lot less and kissed a lot more. Scorched Earth, Image, Patricio Cassinoni As dance theatre goes, Scorched Earth’s concomitant parts don’t always fit. Narratively, it makes for a dull affair. Visually, its prison grey tone doesn’t do it any favours beyond offering an expensive contrast with the land. Choreographically, as is always the case with Murphy’s movement sequences, be they solos, duets or group, Scorched Earth is visceral and sensational, taking your breath away during peaks and never less than intriguing during throughs. Ensuring there’s plenty of meat on Scorched Earth’s choreographic bones to warrant anyone's attendance. Along with that goodnight kiss. Scorched Earth by Luke Murphy's Attic Projects runs at The Abbey Theatre as part of Dublin Dance Festival 2025 until May 24. For more information visit The Abbey Theatre or Dublin Dance Festival 2025

Jackson Fisch (The Swan), Stephen Murray (Prince) and Company, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Photo Johan Persson ***** Despite what marketers would have us believe, there are very few seminal, groundbreaking productions. Even less that remain fresh, vital and continue to break ground thirty years on. Matthew Bourne’s incomparable Swan Lake is one such production. The hype sells it short. Tchaikovsky’s eternal ballet refashioned in ways that honour tradition whilst subverting it. Respecting the form whilst poking fun at its conventions. Poetic, sumptuous, spectacular, movement married to music, narrative, and emotional expression is refined into supple, choreographic fluidities that undulate across the stage. Rigorously exacting technique manifested in the dancer’s body creating a visual spectacle par excellence. Immeasurably enhanced by Paule Constable’s expressive lights, and Lez Brotherston’s opulent costumes and set, with both evoking old world, Hollywood glamour. Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake gracing Bord Gáis Energy Theatre as part of Dublin Dance Festival 2025. Proving, in the process, that it remains a breathtaking tour de force. Stephen Murray (Prince) Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Photo Johan Persson   Narratively, Bourne’s remix proves remarkably current, as it was when it premiered in 1995. Its tale of a Prince and a commoner, rigid royalty not amused, celebrity obsession and a parasitic paparazzi evoking themes that fashionably resonate. At the centre of which is Dubliner Stephen Murray's weak willed Prince. A blend of movie star good looks with gormless childishness who is forever out of his depth, be it ruling a kingdom or ruling his heart; Murray's powerful movements infused with captivating grace throughout. Pursued by a scene stealing Girlfriend; Bryony Wood's ditzy blonde, one part flirt, two parts attention seeker, irresistibly hilarious and divine. Katrina Lyndon’s hot to trot Queen, regal with a wild streak, equally ravishing as she rules the stage, her lovers, and her juvenile son’s impetuousness with commanding ease; Lyndon’s straight backed, effortless composure evoking the presence and charisma of Cyd Charisse. Accompanied by her faithftful Private Secretary, a superb James Lovell. Eve Ngbokota (Romanian Princess) and Jackson Fisch (The Stranger ) Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Photo Johan Persson   As boy meets girl and introduces her to his disapproving family, it’s easy to understand why ballet’s bourgeoisie and Petipa purists were less than enthusiastic about Bourne's version. Classic choreography replaced by gestural expression emphasising story and emotion look more akin to a musical. Similar to Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly where ballet adds to the choreographic mix rather than defines it. A social night at the theatre to see a dance troupe finds the eye drawn to the royal box where Wood’s comic shenanigans upstage everyone. And so it goes; bursts of conventional choreographic colour, such as The Fosse inspired Swank Bar sequence, until the Prince and Swan meet in a park one fateful night. Introducing a magical transformation mirrored in the choreographic transformation onstage. Jackson Fisch’s Swan, and later Stranger, along with a muscular yet featherlight troupe, cementing ballet, through glorious leaps, lifts, turns and extensions, as the core choreographic component in sequences of extraordinary beauty and exactitude. Jackson Fisch (The Swan) and Company, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Photo Johan Persson   Whilst talk often focuses on Brotherston’s iconic dressing of the swans, the Royal Gala, like a Met Gala only better dressed, delivers sublime costuming that highlights the body's musculature, enlivens expression yet never seems to restrict the dancer, evident in a series of exquisite pas de deux. The arrival of The Stranger, a walking aphrodisiac with the confidence to know it and own it, sees ballet become sensual, passionate, powerful. Men dancing as swans might challenge conservative attitudes and singular notions of masculinity, yet when it comes to lust the song remains the same; lads and ladies do really love them a bad boy. And Fisch is a very good bad boy. As we rollercoaster towards the tragic denouement, a second rollercoaster ride follows as we plunge into one final, feral encounter with The Swan, culminating in a breathtaking bedroom sequence having come full circle to where we started, only now everything has changed. Jackson Fisch (The Swan) and Company, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Photo Johan Persson   Some will say, technically, this is not Swan Lake . Different story, different steps. But like a classic cover of a classic song, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake remains true to the original whilst being its own unique thing. True to the ballet's poetry, power, exuberance and romance, looking fresher today than it did thirty years ago. Indeed, If you see only one ballet this year, make it Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake . There’s simply nothing else like it. Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake runs at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre as part of Dublin Dance Festival 2025 till May 24. Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake features a rotating cast. This review responds to the performance on Tuesday, May 20th as part of Dublin Dance Festival 2025. For more information visit Bord Gáis Energy Theatre or Dublin Dance Festival 2025

Specky Clark by Oona Doherty. Image, Luca Truffarelli *** If purists are apt to scratch their heads, so might many others. Is the darkly comic Specky Clark dance theatre? Oona Doherty’s tale of her great-great-grandfather arriving in Belfast serving up something of a collaborative car crash. Multidisciplinary in construction, dance proves the poor relation, appearing only in sporadic bursts, not having its big moment until the finale. Yet calling Specky Clark dance theatre doesn’t quite cut it. The whole, visually and structurally, looking more like a film of a graphic novel. Doherty having made several forays into the medium looking as if trying to replicate the effect onstage. The result a whole lot of something adding up to a whole lot of not enough that often drags its heels. Choreographed, written & directed by Doherty in collaboration with performers Diarmuid Amstrong, Maëva Berthelot, Malick Cissé, Tom Grand Mourcel, Gerard Headley, Clay Koonar, Gennaro Lauro, Michael McEvoy, Erin O’Reilly, Faith Pendergast and Zoé Lecorgne, there’s an overriding sense of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Of a brainstorming session that never found a cohesive outcome; a democracy minus a vision. Just a flimsy narrative about an orphaned boy missing his mother who’s shipped to relatives in Belfast where he’s sent to work at an abattoir. Having killed his first pig, the beast returns Halloween night to comic effect as the veil between the living and the dead is parted so the boy can boogie on down, if only for a moment. All told through a series of chronological scenes steeped in hit and miss fantastical visuals; its piecemeal narrative delivered by way of surtitles and voice overs. Specky Clark by Oona Doherty. Image, Luca Truffarelli A disharmony of opposites, Specky Clark proves too funny to be serious yet too serious to be funny. Too surreal to be realism yet too realist to be surreal. The best you can say is that it’s its own unique thing, built on a proverbial kitchen sink of ideas that often culminate in cartoonish, slow motion visuals. Wren boys, devils and towering giants all surrounding the diminutive Specky, the lost boy resembling a forlorn Where’s Wally. Throughout, several sequences and devices overstay their welcome: endless slow motion, shaking, listening to talk of Halloween and fairies till you’re blue in the face all looking like filler. Dance, finally having a sustained moment, delivers a musical theatre styled big finish. A hybrid of choreographic ideas, it quickly resembles the obligatory music video moment in endless movies. In this instance a cut price Thriller , which does enough to wrap it up, but not to resolve deeper themes of bereavement, displacement and longing. Specky Clark by Oona Doherty. Image, Luca Truffarelli If Sabine Dargent’s clever set, John Gunning’s stunning lights and Maxime Jerry Fraisse’s evocative compositions and sound design, the latter incorporating music from contemporary Irish folk band Lankum, all conspire to delight, they also flatter to decieve. Once the eyes adjust to the directorial glare there’s not enough of real interest or intrigue. Minimising dance might be intended to highlight a repressed expressiveness given release, but it proves a pyrrhic victory given that dance is the second best thing about Specky Clark . The first being the irresistible Faith Prendergast as Specky. Prendergast owns the stage, enlivening uncharacteristically innocuous choreography with her abundant expressiveness and seductive presence. Clay Kooner and Gennaro Lauro also excellent as Specky’s jittery relatives. Making Specky Clark a hit and miss affair, full of big ideas and graphic novel flourishes, but ultimately falling short of Doherty’s usual brilliant standards. Specky Clark by Oona Doherty, co-produced and presented by Dublin Dance Festival and the Abbey Theatre, runs at The Abbey Theatre until May 17. For more information visit The Abbey Theatre or Dublin Dance Festival 2025

Naoise Dunbar and Zara Devlin in Lovesong by Abi Morgan. Image, Pato Cassinoni **** They sure don’t make them like they used to. Songs, movies, chocolate eclairs. And, of course, love stories. In which a handsome, respectable boy falls for a wholesome, virginal girl next door. They kiss, marry, then settle down to a raise a brood of happily ever afters. The staple narrative of Hollywood’s escapist rom coms, especially during its Golden Era. Perhaps that’s why Abi Morgan grounds her poignant Lovesong in 60’s America. Where married, immigrant couple, Maggie and William, paragons of middle class respectability, aspire to a life more Norman Rockwell than Richard Yates. Living a Doris Day, Rock Hudson movie, minus the songs, that slathers on the schmaltz. Were that all Morgan had to offer you could easily dismiss Lovesong and leave it there. Yet beyond its obvious, dated kitsch there’s a heart beating wild and passionate. Transforming two lives less than ordinary into a universal experience of love and loss, youth and aging, living and dying, with the telling far tastier than the tale. Ingrid Craigie, Zara Devlin, Naoise Dunbar, Nick Dunning in Lovesong by Abi Morgan. Image, Pato Cassinoni If form is content and content form, Lovesong begs to differ. Its content revolving around retired dentist William and retired librarian Maggie as they remember dullish slices of married life whilst facing into Maggie’s encroaching, and vastly more interesting death. A life of passionate, troubled devotion peppered with fears of infidelity and the frustrations of infertility. Form, meanwhile, plumbs profounder depths, aspiring towards registering Lovesong as direct experience. Director David Bolger’s marvellous weaving of choreography and direction, married to Francis O’Connor’s layered set merging memory with now, Suzie Cummins’s evocative lighting, and Joan O’Clery’s shared costumes releases sub-textual forces to reveal deeper themes. Ghosts of passions past yet ever present; lustful desires even as the older body struggles; how to die in the face of living and how to live in the face of dying; the distance between nostalgia and the hollowed out reality of now; the heart’s questions of legacy. Staging, composition of movement, the interplay of Naoise Dunbar and Zara Devlin as the younger Will and Maggie, juxtaposed yet connected to their older selves, beautifully exemplified by Nick Dunning and Ingrid Craigie, made utterly compelling. Naoise Dunbar, Ingrid Craigie and Zara Devlin in Lovesong by Abi Morgan. Image, Pato Cassinoni At times delivery can feel like it’s being recited by a documentarian, or a stage conscious salesman on the Shopping Channel selling life insurance to the over 70s. Then there’s Jack Foster’s score full of New Age reveries opting for easy sentimentality, lacking the warmth and depth of jazz standards like I’ll Be Seeing You which cover the same themes. Yet, these issues aside, Lovesong’s strength lies in the how. If Bolger‘s direction artfully juxtaposes then and now, it’s a superlative cast who make the experience visceral. Naoise Dunbar’s superbly crafted William, a charming, muscle toned, hunk of manly love, hides his insecurities behind jealousy, alcohol, and facts about teeth or time to prevent him talking about his pain. Until it finally erupts decades later. Nick Dunning’s doddery husband, out of his comfort zone, emotionally eviscerating as he delivers a tirade to describe the inevitable that utterly floors you. An effervescent Zara Devlin, irresistible as the youthful good wife, is expertly offset by Ingrid Craigie’s superb older Maggie. The ghost of a young girl trapped in an ailing woman’s body, still harbouring desire whilst mothering her troubled husband. The child she had in place of the child she never had, highlighting their deeply complex, if recognisably conventional relationship. Deeper truths revealed in a series of gorgeously choreographed duets where their idealised, youthful selves dance with their present decrepitudes. Hot, heartbreakingly poignant, the limits of language transcended in moments of physical beauty that prove breathtaking. Nick Dunning,  Zara Devlin, Naoise Dunbar, Ingrid Craigie in Lovesong by Abi Morgan. Image, Pato Cassinoni Cloned from the same gene pool that gave us The Notebook and Deirdre Kinahan’s marvellous Halcyon Days , Morgan’s ageing, childless couple reflecting on life’s fleeting moments oozes charm and poignancy. The cynically unromantic might find less to love about Lovesong , but even they’ll have to admit its performances are outstanding, its staging superb and its direction bordering on magical. For those of a more amenable persuasion, Lovesong delivers all the feels for hopeless romantics everywhere, and does so with considerable style. Life is fleeting and all we have is each other. Lovesong declares we should savour every moment. Something this wonderful production ensures you do. Lovesong by Abi Morgan, directed by David Bolger, runs at The Gate Theatre until June 15. For more information visit The Gate Theatre

Chora, by Luail. Image, Patricio Cassinoni ***** No new undertaking is without its cheerleaders or critics. The policies, practices and price of newly formed Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company, generating delight and discontent. Its inaugural production, Chora , making history at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, sees Luail making its case. Luail’s artistic director, Liz Roche, never one to shrink from a big occasion, bringing together twelve dancers, three additional choreographers and a superlative Irish Chamber Orchestra, under leader Katherine Hunka, to craft a sublime journey from darkness into light. One whose cathartic release hits you with the force of grace, offering joy, hope, connection and reconnection. Silencing begrudging nay sayers and kicking off Dublin Dance Festival 2025 with a resounding success. As is usually the case, the programme’s artspeak sells ice to the academics. Framings you won’t remember five seconds after you’ve read them talk of Greek and Irish influences, of a space between here and some vague other world, of ancestral voices, infinite patterns and fractals. What you never forget is what you see and feel. Which, more often than not, transcends such limiting and obscure definitions. Less contrast and compare so much as a triptych of distinct works, Chora’s power is derived from its unity rather than its individual parts as they engage in shared conversation, each informing the whole. Beginning with Invocation by choreographer and Luail Artist in Residence, Mufutau Yusuf . The first of two consecutive works steeped in Goth like shadings. Designer Katie Davenport subsuming stage and costumes in pitch black evoking a liminal space between heaven and earth. Less purgatory so much as a Universal Studios idea of limbo, which ties in with Roche’s otherworldly inspiration. Sinéad McKenna’s superb lighting both complimenting and establishing mood throughout. Here, six dancers, dressed head to toe in black, cower like acolytes whilst a single dancer, her bare arms exposed, face unmasked, commands the space in which they executes a solo. Presently duets and groupings emerge in a flurry of demonic punches, lifts, flails and swirls set against a stirring composition, Dig Deep by Julia Wolfe, steeped in frenetic tension, like a classic Hitchcock score, the whole serving up a demented danse macabre. Chora, by Luail. Image, Patricio Cassinoni A light interlude facilitates a transition to Constellations as a black floor covering is rolled away to reveal a blood red floor underneath, the Goth influence once again evident. Nimbus, by Sam Perkins, providing another musical score haunted by tense, sinister overtones until the final moments. Choreographer Liz Roche setting up a choreographic conversation built on pulse and flow as gentle bumps and buffeting allow the body be propelled in patterns suggesting an inevitability that it could never have been otherwise. Dancers leaving and exiting the space pair off into various groupings creating recurring physical motifs: full body embraces, fireman lifts, arms locked at the wrists as bodies pull against each other creating tension. Creating an organic ebb and flow evolving and dissolving like swirls of smoke. A short intermission precedes a striking contrast, even if a shared choreographic lexicon suggests dynamic links, especially with the preceding work. I Contain Multitudes by choreographers Guy Nader and Maria Campo s, inspired by Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass , saving the best wine till last, though at first you might not think so. Visually, Davenport reveals she is equally gifted when it comes to simple design, as is McKenna's lighting; white floor, see-through gauze concealing live musicians, with dancers dressed in conventional clothing feeling lighter and brighter. Music, based on Canto Ostinato by Simeon ten Holt, rearranged for the Irish Chamber Orchestra by Marjin van Prooijen, reinforcing an energised, playful liveliness. Once again it begins in silence, individual dancers gradually entering the space, engaging in what appears to be an actor’s floor exercise. Walking around randomly and making eye contact, coming together in pairs then parting before endlessly reforming. Just as you start to feel you're being had a single note rings out, introducing a lively music composition as the walking continues. Gradually choreographic phrases emerge, are repeated, and the illusion of casual randomness is revealed to be exactly that as bodies move in near endless motion, uniting and dividing into various groupings with split-second precision. Time, distance, gravity, space enriched with traces of a divine designer placing bodies exactly where they need to be to catch a fall, receive a lift, grab a hand, a foot, before swiftly moving on as a complex interplay unfolds with stirring simplicity. Like watching the universe from God's perspective, or the swirling components of an atom, everything is singular, everything is relational, everything is connected, everything is one. Forever forming, dissolving, and reforming amidst endless variations; your eyes opened wide in astonishment. All breathtakingly, gorgeously executed right up to the spontaneous standing ovation. Chora, by Luail. Image, Patricio Cassinoni Individually there are minor issues, such as music, played live onstage, risking expressive domination. Yet, collectively, Chora proves an astonishing achievement. Company dancers Jou-Hsin Chu, Conor Thomas Doherty, Clara Kerr, Sean Lammer, Tom O’Gorman, Hamza Pirimo, Rosie Stebbing, Meghan Stevens, along with dancers Glòria Ros Abellana, Sarah Cerneaux, Jyoti Soni and Alexander de Vires each delivering exquisite performances. Which leads me to gripe about a growing practice in many venues of admitting latecomers and parading them across entire rows, indifferent to audience members and cast, thereby undermining the experience. If any venue can explain to me how they can justify discommoding several hundred audience members and a stage of invested performers to accommodate a couple of latecomers, despite announcements they wouldn’t be admitted once the show had started, I would dearly love to hear it. Especially when there were vacant seats they could've sat in without disturbing anyone. Till someone can give me a rational explanation for this ludicrous and disgraceful practice, should any venue admitting latecomers ask me to move, I will refuse, and I strongly encourage others to do the same. Dance, even more than theatre, deals in visceral, physical immediacy, weaving visual spells brimming with power and enchantment. All beautifully evident in Luail’s sublime Chora . Crafting a spell that should never be broken. Not for anyone. Do not miss this historic, breathtaking production that gets Dublin Dance Festival 2025 off to a flying start. And please, make sure to arrive before the curtain rises. Chora , by Luail, Ireland’s National Dance Company, with The Irish Chamber Orchestra, premiered at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on May 13th, opening Dublin Dance Festival 2025 before undertaking a limited, national tour. May 16, National Opera House, Wexford May 18, The Lyric Theatre, Belfast May 28, Cork Opera House. For more information visit Luail or Dublin Dance Festival 2025

Tomorrowisnowtodayisyesterday by Sung Im Her. Image, Sung Im Her Post Dramatic Theatrical Performance refers to a particular approach to theatre where dramatic conventions (character, conflict, proscenium staging) are subverted or ignored. Instead, alternate artistic conventions - dance, cinema, music, multi-media - are merged, or subverted, in interdisciplinary, multi-disciplinary collaborations foregrounding presence and performance over text. Like sub-genres of metal and hip hop, this working definition distinguishes Post-Dramatic Theatrical Performances from other, similar art forms such as Performance Art. Definition proving vital given Post Dramatic Theatrical Performance is often dismissed as Performance Art's poor relation. A perception Live Collision International Festival 2025 aims to challenge. Viewing art and theatre as ongoing, ever evolving concerns, Live Collision International Festival , now in its thirteenth year, aspires, in the words of founding festival director and current curator, Lynnette Moran, to deliver “performance as transformation rather than commentary.” Challenging, in the process, the audience's position as passive spectators. Like all great festivals Live Collision International Festival 2025 brings experienced veterans and fledgling artists together. Evident in two performances whose foundations lie in dance. Beginning with young, black, Irish artist Ghaliah Conroy . A rising star whose debut, Sunken Works/Who Makes The Rules? displays impressive promise coupled with growing pains. Conroy bravely jumping into the shark infested, multi-disciplinary deep end in attempting to explore how we look via movement and image. Interrogating the oft forgotten practice of the Human Zoo, where black people were historically displayed in cages like animals for perusal by a white audience. The relationship between body, space, seeing and subjectivity interrogated as cultural and social practices. The misrepresentation of black identity challenged as Conroy repositions how and what we see. Yet it falls foul to some basic issues. Predicated on seeing, the body struggles to be visible, literally; presented as a fleshless, faceless, formless mass dancing in the dark on a black box against a black back drop, dressed in black from head to toe, including a hood and black mask, illuminated only by a scratch of overhead light. The performative forest getting lost in the theoretical trees. Beginning with a slow, ponderous sequence lying on a large black box, hands supporting hips, legs in the air weaving slow patterns like a bicycle exercise, or else leaning on one arm in repose. The body reduced to articulating hands and muscular calves glimpsed when not subsumed in shadow, with front and back made interchangeable courtesy of some clever costuming. Sunken Works/Who Makes The Rules by Ghaliah Conroy. Image uncredited. Written text provides grounding for the next sequence as a muffled recording of Maya Angelou reciting The Mask risks reducing the physical to the verbal. The body made compliant, with movement offering near mimetic representation of the text. Followed by a camera sequence offering an alternate frame. Conroy’s eye, watching us, captured through its mask by the camera, undermined by her presence; the eye looking at us from the screen always leading back to the performer looking at the camera. Conroy’s true strength revealed in a final, powerful dance sequence. Short, snapping, fluid movements, marginally clearer in the light from the screen, juxtaposed against flashing, provocative images. Images coming a distant second to the physical body as a site of information and transformation. Conroy proving a visceral conduit, despite carrying an injury which she bravely pushed through. If the injury impacted on choreography it was impossible to know given Conroy exhibited rage, pain, distress and release so powerfully it risked everything else looking forced. Switching to more experienced performers, Tomorrowisnowtodayisyesterday (TiNTiY) by South Korean artist Sung Im Her leans unashamedly into dance as two become one in a divine entanglement exploring the impact of social media. A floor routine in which two dancers, a radiant Martha Passakopoulou and a superb Sung Im Her in peroxide blonde wigs and black masks wrestle, jujitsu style, around the space opens up into comic intrigue. Costumes shed for something a little easier to move in facilitating the beginning of a durational sequence as the body is pushed to its physical limits. If movement patterns change, the patterning remains the same. A vocal ingredient, be it a grunt or recited verse, is overlaid with a rhythmic music phrase as a recurring pattern of movements is explored. Arms flailing high and wide, shuffling like a windup toy, jumps, thrusts, punches and poses facilitating organic moments of synchronicity evolving from the chaos. Yet (TiNTiY) is ever mindful of the body in performance. Counting movements, water breaks, pauses for dancers to catch their breath offering more than just playful diversion. Like the exaggerated mime in learning how to create a Tik Tok story, humour is a joyous by product of deeper, smarter interrogations. Its forty joyous minutes of energised, exhausting delight forever embedded in the body which embodies everything. This gives barely a hint of what Live Collision International Festival 2025 has to offer, it being one of the most genuinely innovative festivals. Those looking to understand more about Post Dramatic Theatrical Performance should avail of Hans-Theis Lehmann’s seminal worku Postdramatic Theatre . Or better still, just take yourself along to a show. Whether it's veterans or rising stars, Live Collision International Festival 2025 is guaranteed to leave you intrigued, curious and wanting more. Live Collision International Festival 2025 runs at The Project Arts Centre till May 10. For more information visit Live Collision International Festival or Project Arts Centre

Craig Connolly and Alan Devine in Jigsaw. Image, John Anderson Jr . **** The wonderful thing about Lee Coffey’s new play, Jigsaw , is that it’s so utterly exasperating. As likely to be accused of confirming gender and addiction bias as of challenging them. The troubled tale of Jim, a homeless, former addict who, upon meeting his estranged daughter after twenty years, begins a downward spiral when he discovers his mother is dying. Leading to a final, public showdown with his ex-wife as old habits emerge and old wounds are ripped open. Even as everything they’ve ever done was in the name of love, no matter how insane or contradictory. Begging the question what more in the name of love, given love is little more than the blind leading the blinded down a painfully lopsided blame lane. The whole deliciously and cleverly lubricated by the soundtrack to Grease . Craig Connolly in Jigsaw. Image, John Anderson Jr . Reminiscent in construction to Coffey’s excellent A Murder of Crows , Jigsaw delivers storytelling theatre made vital and visceral. Structurally leaning into Howie The Rookie, Dublin Old School territory, with cast flipping roles midway, Coffey’s tidy two hander is locked and loaded with rapid fire dialogue defined by economy and precision. Yet there’s a sense, psychologically and thematically, of Jigsaw having bitten off more than it can chew in places. Cocaine addiction surfacing like a one dimensional, cartoon devil villainously tempting by way of a proverbial inner monologue. The depth, nuance and subtlety elsewhere displayed absent when it comes to an addict’s cravings, which rarely present as such a simplistic choice. Compounded by addiction dovetailing with toxic masculine tendencies, especially as Jim deliberately tries never to be toxic or aggressive. Unable to see that violence and abuse don’t have to be physical. Still, it leaves you begging the question is he toxic or just an addict? Either way three generations of women, embodying patriarchal otherness and mothering tendencies, resort to defensive measures against man-child Jim, one in the extreme. Wife Haley’s choice likely to leave the audience divided, depending on your perspective. Ultimately not everything is clear, yet what is clear is that Jigsaw serves up endless, challenging provocations. When it comes to production and performance, the exasperating thing about Lee Coffey’s latest play, Jigsaw , is that it’s so utterly wonderful. Even if you resent its ambiguous opaqueness, you can’t help but love what you see on stage. Nurtured in Glass Mask’s fail better till you’re brilliant bosom, director Ian Toner does astonishing work in unveiling the narrative’s dark, wounded heart. Composition, pace, performance, all richly detailed and articulated, see Alan Devine and Craig Connolly set the stage alight with two riveting and compelling performances, playing multiple roles whilst alternating the key role of Jim. Andrew Clancy’s scaffold set, evocative of Dublin street life and a metaphor for Jim’s recovery, enriched at times by hit and miss lighting by Cillian O’Donnell. Craig Connolly and Alan Devine in Jigsaw. Image, John Anderson Jr . When the curtain falls love changes nothing, excuses nothing and forgives less. As a study of the dynamics of gender and masculinity Jigsaw is at its most unclear, reinforcing notions of the masculine as a childlike singularity needing to protect itself from the feminine, and vice versa, with never the twain finding common ground. Even so, Jim‘s vulnerability offers several salient insights and makes certain gendered invisibilities visible, most notably around blame. As a study of addiction there’s not enough clarity or credibility when it comes to how one person can keep drug use recreational whilst another spirals into addiction. That said, where Jigsaw succeeds is as a series of disturbing, compelling, heartfelt and heartbreaking provocations, ensuring the final line leaves you wondering is it enough, too little, too much? As thought provoking, beautifully executed theatre goes, Jigsaw’s the word. It’s got groove, it’s got meaning. With Devine and Connolly an utter joy to watch, enriched by Toner’s superb direction. Jigsaw by Lee Coffey runs at Glass Mask Theatre until May 24. For more information visit Glass Mask Theatre

Molly Murphy Hazzard and Kate Brosnan in But We're Right. Image, Joyce Mylod. **** But We’re Right, written and directed by Morghan Welt , marks a revival for Welt and Bad Things Theatre , a collective of Irish-German, freelance theatre makers. Original presented in Smock Alley in 2024, Welt’s two hander was seen in preview at DU Players Theatre, TCD, given it played for only two dates in Dublin before heading out on tour. Even allowing for being seen in preview, its script is technically clunky in places and the production shows frequent directorial errors. Or, simply put, it reveals its young practitioners lack of experience. That out of the way, it also needs to be said that But We’re Right is one of the freshest, bravest and most intelligent theatrical responses to the issue of immigration, with this fledgling company displaying an abundance of dramatic and theatrical smarts. Delivering politically engaged theatre with a committed cast, a risk taking writer and director, and a passionate script, with a ladder and football thrown in for good measure. Like many modern scripts, But We’re Right structurally leans towards the screen rather than stage, its short scenes interlinked to make a cohesive whole. In which names prove to be a thing by virtue of not being used. Welt’s town with no name as likely to be anywhere for being everywhere. It’s two Everywomen BFF’s who could be anyone for being everyone. After a laboured, no win contest between Saoirse Miller’s captivating music and recorded testimonies from The Cross Border Chorus of immigrants in Ireland, the latter frequently muffled, action finally gets underway at breakneck pace. Pace a continual problem for injecting a hurried, nervous energy that isn’t needed. Welt’s smart, sassy script frequently resorting to short snappy sentences and playing rapid verbal tennis. A device that, when overplayed, frequently inserts the author into proceedings via self-conscious technique. Molly Murphy Hazzard and Kate Brosnan in But We're Right.  Image, Joyce Mylod. Within a handful of minutes our two protagonists have intelligently skirted Irish people having foreign maids, the rights of sex workers, casual sex in the workplace and concerns over immigrants moving into small town anywhere. All done without battering you over the head with self righteous tirades or endless statistics. Kate Brosnan and Molly Murphy Hazzard both superb at finding that sweet spot between playing general types and specific characters. In this instance, two friends affected by the rhetoric and ideology of xenophobia. Its mixture of lies, rumours and lived experience interpreted so that the exception is held up to be the rule. “They’re rapists taking our jobs and our accommodation. I’m not right wing, I’m a patriot.” So say those from one of the greatest diasporas the world has ever known, relatively speaking, who are as likely to have friends or family living abroad as, oh, I don’t know, a refugee perhaps? When you feel an impact personally, that’s when you’re more likely to be swayed towards hatred or hope, towards new dawns or old yesterdays. Lost jobs and accommodation, violent crime and its consequences having a profound impact on Welt’s two protagonists. Their reversals, and opposing journeys, cleverly charted, with the immigrant always present via regular voice overs. Yet whilst giving them voice, But We’re Right’s primary concern is understanding an indigenous people's response to immigrants in a housing crisis, jobs at risk community, which it does with immense intelligence and great sensitivity. If the end lacks a degree of textual clarity, its emotional resonance is keenly felt, all the more powerful for not resorting to easy sensationalism or lazy sentimentality. Kate Brosnan and Molly Murphy Hazzard in But We're Right.  Image, Joyce Mylod. Theatrically, But We’re Right shows a triumph of imagination over budget. Eschewing the graffiti realism of its previous staging, a ladder is used to cleverly suggest status and reinvigorate the playing space, illuminated smartly by Samuel Ferrie’s evocative lights, with Erica Smith's costumes articulating individuality without overstatement. When it comes to props, not since The Changeling has a ball been employed to such perfect and haunting effect. Throughout, Welt’s compositional direction is clever and assured. Yet given Brosnan and Murphy Hazzard frequently play the line rather than the scene, more likely to happen when the writer is also the director and allowed too much leniency, the case for an independent director gains credence. Welt’s two cast members holding such restraints to account with performances that shine whenever the actor is trusted to articulate rather than reiterate. Yet these minor bumps are all part of a young company’s learning curve, where confidence grows by doing. What’s clearly evident is that what can’t be taught this cast and crew already possess. What they need, experience, they can easily acquire. Once they do, they might well prove to be a formidable outfit. You could argue But We’re Right would have benefited from another round of revision and rewrites, pushing and polishing to make it truly brilliant. That said, it is, by far, one of smartest political productions, thematically and theatrical, currently doing the circuit. If it avoids some of the more thornier issues - tensions between multi-cultural and inter-culturalism, the challange for local cultures in new cultural melting pots, the distinction between immigration and government sponsored mass immigration -  it never loses sight that at the heart of the immigration experience are real, living people on both sides of the equation. Ultimately, it was never designed to answer, or even ask, all of the questions, but rather to try find a way to begin conversations on more solid, more sympathetic, less antagonistic ground. That it manages to achieve, proving beautifully fluent in its imperfections. Not bad for a fledgling outfit. But We’re Right , written and directed by Morghan Welt, presented by Bad Things Theatre, is currently on tour. DUPlayers Theatre, Samuel Beckett Centre, 29th and 30th of April, 7PM   Galway Theatre Festival, Bank Of Ireland Theatre 3rd and 4th of May, 6PM   Fuse International Festival, London, Arthur Cotterell Theatre Studio, 3rd of July, 7PM   Edinburgh Fringe Fest, The Sanctuary, Paradise Green, 2nd till 9th of August, 4.20PM

Roseanna Purcell in Baby. Image Sean Garland **** Meet Camilla, aka Linda. A thirty-six year old, single nurse sporting a busy Tinder profile and a bun in the oven. Or, rather, a sponge cake. Which she is currently baking for Maureen’s baby shower. Maureen’s fifth no less. Meanwhile, the childless Camilla craves a proverbial bun in her own oven, metaphorically speaking. Or does she? In Lianne O’Hara’s one woman confessional, Baby, Camilla’s desire for a bundle of joy speaks less to maternal broodiness, or even biological clocks, so much as FOMO and of not belonging to the gang. Her inability to conceive speaking less to infertility so much as FOMO and of not belonging to herself. O’Hara’s cleverly observational, comic road to nowhere proving good for a giggle or three. A potential sow’s ear turned into a silk purse courtesy of supple direction by Liam Halligan and a masterful performance by Roseanna Purcell. Narratively and dramatically there’s not a lot going on. Camilla bakes a cake as she recounts her jealousies and insecurities towards mothers leading to unsafe sex and a decision to harvest her eggs for conception at a later date. With so little at stake, Camilla’s self-inflicted anxieties offer less a story so much as a self-absorbed, self-obsessed character study. The centre of her own dull universe, showing little sympathy or empathy for others, she pretends she’s pregnant even as she’s relieved that she isn’t. It’s not that Camilla's infertile, it’s that she feels she should have a baby even as it isn’t exactly clear as to why, especially at a time when more and more people are opposed to the idea of having children. But even buying social pressure as a premise, what you cannot buy is Camilla’s ignorance, along with a half a dozen other big asks. Camilla being far too smart to be this stupid, whatever the pressures. Even as a device for comic purposes. Theatrically, Baby proves a much richer affair. A clever conceit of baking a cake onstage, (incidentally, make sure to grab a slice before you go; Purcell is a top class baker) allows for clever metaphors and similes to abound. Eoin Lennon’s marvellous kitchen full of props loaded with double meanings. In which a transcendent Purcell delivers a consummate performance. Her detailed lexicon of nuance and expression ensuring Camilla becomes likeable, recognisable and relatable. Music by Denis Clohessy, used to convey the passing of time and inject a little new age moodiness, proves wonderfully playful. With everything whisked together nicely under Halligan’s astute and deliciously timed direction. In the end, despite Camilla’s maternal anxieties, one suspects Chappell Roan and Camilla are more aligned than either might care to admit. Winner of Bewley’s Little Gem Award, the real strength of Baby lies in its lightweight, observational in-jokes strung together to make a sketch of easy laughs rather than a story with oomph. Still, the real winner is the audience given Purcell is an absolute star, enlivening the saturated genre of confessional theatre with another seriously impressive performance. And don’t forget to try the cake as you leave. Scrumptious. Baby by Lianne O’Hara, runs at Bewley’s Café Theatre until May 3. For more information visit Bewley’s Café Theatre

Seoirsín Bashford in  Ní Liomsa an Teach Álainn Seo (This is Not My Beautiful House). Image uncredited. *** Illusions can be powerful motivators, evident in Anna Ní Dhúill's ambitious but flawed one person debut, Ní Liomsa a Teach Álainn Seo (This is Not My Beautiful House) . Its premise supremely simple; to articulate what non-binary identity means. Alas, that’s not quite what we get. Preaching to the converted, what emerges is less a polemic so much as low hanging gender representations. Masculinity lashed to the wheel of reimagined myth, the latter refitted to suit the crimes, the former serving as misdirection. Feminism amounting to women as sensitive, loving supporters, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The tragedy being that, in the end, it’s not cliched masculinity who emerges worse off but non-binary identity, reduced to an emotional footnote in a play purporting to give it voice and context. Obscuring, in the process, the immense value of Ní Dhúill’s Irish language text which, though overwritten, is rich in rhythmical magic. Initially things look promising as a lesbian artist waits for her partner to come home so she can confess a potential infidelity. The infidelity being with herself. Or, rather, with who she imagines her self might be. For she has accepted that she is not a woman and is wondering if she might rather be a man. Soul searching, she’s been painting in secret. Works involving the Brown Bull of Colley, the legendary bull from An Táin , which she conjures and converses with about her prospective transition to masculinity. A series of to and fro arguments sees the alpha bull recasting the tale of Queen Meabh to make himself the legend at its centre. Foregrounding the notion that men have to sacrifice themselves for the love of a good woman so the artist needs to grow a pair, metaphorically and literally, if she wants to be a man, or a woman. A come-to-Jesus tirade sees the artist reject what’s on offer in favour of a third way, referencing the two soul gender identity of certain cultures in the closing moments. But by then its ninety-five minutes are up and the status quo has been re-established. Men are baddies, women are loving and nurturing, and the third way is as unclear as it ever was. Leaving you marginally more educated and better informed than when you went in. Presenting a foregone conclusion masquerading as a debate ensures even brilliant points begin to look suspicious as you examine the terms of reference. In which cliched portrayals of toxic masculinity reinforce a lopsided binary structure. Especially as femininity is unquestioningly recycled as the loving carer. This despite the most vehement arguments against non-binary and trans often coming from prominent women. The recent British Government ruling on a legal definition of gender being a case in point. Then there’s Queen Meabh’s complex story and personality replaced by a reimagined bull suggesting projection rather than salient insight. Presenting masculinity as a singularity, synonymous with misogyny, risks looking like gaslighting. Evident in a rejection of an Up The Ra, male Irishness, even though it’s the Irish Women’s Football team who are most prominently associated with celebrating Up The Ra. Such gender complexities ignored as Ní Liomsa a Teach Álainn Seo (This is Not My Beautiful House) spends most of its time reducing masculinity to aggression and strength. Indicative of a power dynamic based on an understanding of power dismissed in the 80’s by Foucault. Power being far more complex. As are masculinity, femininity and non-binary. Theatrically, Ní Dhúill as director shows flair in utilising space and props. Yet a hugely impressive Seoirsín Bashford is rendered guilty of the most basic of sins; the distracting tendency to deliver lines to the floor or to some vague somewhere out there, something the director should have corrected. The error distancing the audience from the experience of being confidants and making Bashford look like they’re struggling to remember their lines. Not helped by surtitles, sure to enrage the grammar police, which are often out of sync with dialogue. A hairy coat and removable horns might aim to evoke the Brown Bull of Cooley, but married to a laddish, swaggering Dublin accent it's more evocative of a trumped up pimp. Highlighting the benefits of engaging an experienced, independent director. One who might have tackled Ní Dhúill’s overwrought script, which labours its points to the point of lecturing. Risking promoting long held illusions just as often as it challenges them. Ní Liomsa a Teach Álainn Seo (This is Not My Beautiful House) is supremely sensitive to the lived experience of non-binary individuals. Yet as long as non-binary discussions preach a reductive, singular masculinity and a saintly femininity, and preach only to the converted, they reinforce the very process they’re trying to escape; that of defining oneself in terms of opposites, in which opposites are made to fit the argument as ‘other’. Repeating the same old same old and hoping for a different outcome. Still, something important needs to be remembered; Ní Dhúill is to be applauded for creating a play about not belonging to either gender camp on which little of real substance has been written. In the process, Ní Dhúill shows huge bravery, compelling promise and genuine sensitivity. The problem is their aspirations and finer moments hold them to account. Even so, Ní Liomsa an Teach Álainn Seo (This is Not My Beautiful House) suggests a significant artist in the making, one whose use of Irish language speaks of great promise for both artist and the use of Irish language in performance. One final criticism. On Smock Alley’s webpage the play was said to run for sixty-five minutes. It ran for ninety-five minutes. Which might explain the gentleman leaving after an hour, and the mad scramble out the door at the end. Ní Liomsa an Teach Álainn Seo (This is Not My Beautiful House) by Anna Ní Dhúill, presented by Kilkenny based Cult Collective, ran at Smock Alley Theatre April 17 and 18.

Breda McCann and Wayne Leitch in Two Minutes. Image, Billy Cahill **** Breda McCann’s debut play, Two Minutes , first premiered in 2020 and was about to take the world by storm when COVID put paid to its prospects and promises. Five years on and McCann returns to where it all began at The Civic Theatre, Tallaght, with a spritely revival of her little ditty about Trisha and Billy, fourteen years married and having a final fling in the last chance, fertility saloon. Proving, in the process, that you can’t keep a good thing down. McCann revealing a natural flair for comedy in a hilarious debut that’s hugely heartfelt and wildly entertaining. A tale of mantras, music, and more intercourse than the Kama Sutra, McCann’s couple have tried everything to conceive. Yet despite there being nothing biologically wrong with either of them, the pitter patter of little feet isn’t happening. The frayed, five-a-side loving, Billy, is reaching the point of being done with it all. The organic, yin yang, mistress of chill, Trisha, fuming with frustration is not ready to give up just yet. Throw in secret Chinese takeaways, red raw bejazzling, and a quickie seduction on the side of a football pitch and you have a couple so wrong in so many ways they can only be right for each other. A couple fused by an older pain that informs their desire for a baby and their frustrations with sterility. Leading to choices which might bring them closer together or destroy what they already have. Throughout , Two Minutes exudes a punkish, DIY quality similar to an untrained musician grabbing a guitar to bash out a tune they’ve learnt by ear. McCann’s Two Minutes looking like an unpolished play in its rough, unvarnished state, full of raw, infectious energy that’s impossible to resist, and forgives several shortcomings. Including a Larry Hagman joke that will go over many people’s heads and a more serious unease with vulnerable emotions. McCann's shift to a tell-all monologue with a scrapbook, along with a rushed final scene dashed off like an embarrassed goodbye suggest difficulty writing deeper emotions. Unlike her comedy which is pure gold. Tensions director Audrey Devereux unevenly negotiates, sacrificing rigour and crispiness for an untidy playfulness. McCann’s Trisha a firebrand of delight, enjoying natural chemistry with Wayne Leitch’s Billy. Devereux wisely not wanting to mess with the magic, even as some scenes could have benefitted from more exacting precision. Even so, moments such as Trisha arriving pitch side much to Billy’s consternation leave you whisked away by the sheer joy of it all and begging for more. Structurally, Two Minutes sequential scenes look written for the screen rather than the stage. A smart producer should option it. As a debut Two Minutes has its flaws, but its irrepressible humour forgives almost everything. A three star production delivering a four star experience from a writer showing five star potential, Two Minutes is loaded with lashings of good fun. Two Minutes by Breda McCann, runs at The Civic Theatre, Tallaght until April 19. For more information visit Civic Theatre, Tallaght .

Beth Marshall and David Hayman in Death of a Salesman. Image Tommy Ga-Ken Wan **** There’s challenges in presenting a classic play. Including emotional balance and whether to place thematic stresses emphasising key points over others. All of which impacts on performance. As is the case with the current production of Arthur Miller ’s 1949 classic, Death of a Salesman currently at The Gaiety, a memory play revolving around the final twenty-four hours in the life of travelling salesman, Willie Loman. A play in which Miller’s towering talent was rarely more in evidence. The same likely to be said of David Hayman, who delivers a devastating performance as the iconic Willie. Which, under director Andy Arnold, highlights key aspects of Miller's devoted family man trapped in the long con of American exceptionalism; achieving richer emotional resonance at the cost of wider emotional range. Arnold’s version looking uncomfortably close given the current political climate. Daniel Cahill, David Hayman and Michael Wallace in Death of a Salesman. Image Tommy Ga-Ken Wan From the outset, Arnold nails his colours to the mast. Neil Haynes simple set dominated by an image of a giant tree imprisoned behind the bars of some wooden fire escapes. Nature and the city one of many juxtapositions that run throughout Miller’s script, along with the real and the imagined, the dream and the lived experience, the truth and the lie. Seats stage left and right with actors sitting between scenes, some doubling as live musicians, add a touch of Brechtian distance, ensuring you never forget you're watching a performance. A strong choice that undermines any realist temptation to become immersed in the spectacle. Into which a diminutive Willie enters loaded down with two burdensome suitcases. A shabby, hollowed out, shell of a man whose mind is beginning to go. His enabling wife making excuses to him as to why. A legend in his own mind, Willie espouses not so much the American Dream as the quick fix way to get it. The cult of personality which forgives all forms of cheating and stealing if you’re liked enough. Traits inherited by his sons, Biff, now a rambling bum, and Lucky, a philandering dreamer with the same dead end dreams. One last ditch attempt to turn their lives around reveals you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Even as insanity is repeating the same old, same old and hoping for a different outcome. Ensuring the ending is as inevitable as it is tragic. Benny Young and David Hayman in Death of a Salesman. Image Tommy Ga-Ken Wan With Hayman and Arnold opting to foreground tragedy, Willie is portrayed with a tragic flaw rather than as a man trapped in a game he was destined to loose. His flaw being he’s a naked fool proclaiming himself emperor, opening up rich interpretive possibilities in terms of masculine interrogations. Willie less someone playing with loaded dice so much as a man trying to load the dice. The game of success he believes he can rig already rigged long before by others. Willie’s demise into madness, loneliness, frailty and humiliation brought viscerally alive in Hayman’s stunning performance. Even as it leaves Willie’s arrogance and anger too softly spoken. Sacrificing swagger and front for an enduring sense of fraility and failure, it can be hard to understand Biff and Lucky’s devotion. Even more his wife Linda’s admiration and his neighbour Charley’s endless generosity, even as both see through Willie’s lies. Beth Marshall’s enabling Linda, Daniel Cahill's conflicted Biff, Michael Wallace’s devoted Happy and Benny Young’s tolerant Charley each turning in impeccable performances. Gavin John Wright, Simon Donaldson, Charlene Boyd, Stewart Ennis, Fay Guiffo, Bailey Newsome and Gillian Massey rounding out an impressive cast. David Hayman in Death of a Salesman. Image Tommy Ga-Ken Wan A jaded man in a jaded suit, who made it to the finish line only to lose the race, Hayman’s Willie is to be pitied more than reviled. Hayman wrenching every last drop of pathos in a powerfully moving performance. A terrific production of a terrific play, not everyone will agree with all the choices made. But Death of a Salesman is a startlingly brilliant, modern classic, given quality treatment in this powerhouse production. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, presented by Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Raw Material, runs at The Gaiety Theatre until April 19. For more information visit The Gaiety Theatre

Dan Monaghan and Ian Bermingham in The Last Man in. Ireland. Image uncredited *** Try explaining a Monty Python sketch. It’s tricky. The description never quite living up to the comic experience. Their unique brand of surreal, absurdist comedy operating on a variety of levels. Similarly Keith James Walker’ s off the wall The Last Man in Ireland. Ostensibly a comedy about three brothers, one living in the last house in Ireland. The Emerald Isle reduced to small patch of land following rising sea levels. The blurb claims it’s about grief and family dysfunction. In truth it’s about Irish dysfunction. Equally akin to satire as surrealism, more akin to Halls Pictorial Weekly than Python, and less akin to a play so much as an overplayed sketch. Its cultural grab bag of Irish cliches rode roughshod over. Puncturing the sacred and profane references historically used to define Irish identity. Did I mention it’s often hilariously funny? Often, but not consistently. Like an over extended sketch it lacks sufficient variety to sustain it. The brothers arguing whether to sell the house a device around which Walker litters jokes and insights of various strengths. Some wonderfully smart, some generating a snigger, some a smile, some missing their mark. The best usually over the top and accompanied by impeccable comic physicality. Dan Monaghan’s Michael, an introvert poet who can’t write poems, Ian Bermingham’s Barry, an extrovert, self obsessed actor whose career lies Stateside, and Barry McKiernan as gombeen brother Gerry, who’s a…gombeen, each give superb comic performances of popular Irish stereotypes in a land riddled with cliches. Unrequited love, the drunken Daddy and devoted Mammy, hints of Englishness, promises to keep the family home, the curse of tourism, our tendency to soothe the present with the past, or with whisky; the list goes on. Barry McKiernan  in The Last Man in. Ireland. Image uncredited Assured direction by Ian Toner unleashes many comic treasures. Toner capably distinguishing between when a scene needs to go over the top or be restrained. Ensuring the most crazy scenes are played with the serious intensity of a Mamet play rather than for easy laughs, making them all the funnier. Utilising Monaghan as the grounding straight man to Bermingham and McKiernan’s excessive overacting magnifies the play's comic antics. Yet along with its quirky humour there’s a datedness that tempers everything. In a post banking crisis, multicultural Ireland, the country’s accelerated rate of change means that many of Walker’s references look old school. Reinforced by a workmanlike set of retro cottage fittings, right down to a typewriter and luggage case. Still, its comic performances and hilarious antics are well worth the price of admission, today or any day. The Last Man in Ireland by Keith James Walker, presented by Modest Odyssey, runs at Smock Alley Theatre until April 19. For more information visit Smock Alley Theatre

Emily Healy, Eoin O’Sullivan, Ruairí Lenaghan, Jed Murray, Darina Gallagher in The Sailor's Dream. Image, Al Craig *** Like the ships it purports to seek out, Jack Harte’s labour of love, The Sailor's Dream , is a romantic shipwreck. A feeling reinforced by Martin Cahill’s beachcomber’s set evoking flotsam and jetsam piled neatly onstage. A bell, a chest, some stools and a guitar all bathed in Avram Rosewood’s delicate lighting whose golden intensity tapers as it edges away from the centre. Within which the mystery of Sir John Franklin unfolds in song and story. An explorer who, in 1845, set out to discover the Northwest Passage, a sea route from Europe to Asia between the Arctic and Canada. Both his ships, the Erebus and Terror, disappearing without a trace. Not a single survivor of its 129 strong crew returning to tell their tale. Franklin’s wife, Lady Jane Franklin, a shrewd woman displaying financial acumen, relentless in her determination to discover her husband’s remains and assert his claim as discoverer of The North West Passage. That honour actually belonging to Sir John McClure. An intrepid Irishman whose Arctic Expedition in search of Franklin in 1850 saw him achieve what Franklin failed to. But not before Franklin’s wife, with help from her niece, Sophia Cracroft, along with Tennyson and Dickens, had Franklin immortalised in the Victorian imagination, culminating in a statue in Westminster Abbey. All this despite his obvious incompetence and posthumous rumours of cannibalism. Darina Gallagher in The Sailor's Dream. Image, Al Craig If it all sounds wonderfully intriguing, dramatically there’s little of interest. Efforts still afoot to find Franklin’s resting place unlikely to generate too much excitement given the only thing more pompous than Franklin appears to have been the British Admiralty. Textually, Harte’s language proves over wrought and over written, offering less a story so much as a work of non-fiction cleverly relayed; similar to Kevin Cronin’s, The Search for Franklin: An Irish Connection which inspired it. All of which impacts on narrative and performances, which land like dressed up lectures or direct address. Self-indulgent, blinkered, overly focused on side issues, including overt reverence for the Inuit people, The Sailor's Dream risks scuttling before it ever leaves port. Eoin O’Sullivan, Emily Healy, Jed Murray in The Sailor's Dream. Image, Al Craig Yet somehow it doesn’t. Like a folksy sea shanty, Harte’s use of music and text, along with too many facts and too little fiction, weaves an eccentric spell that lures you in, even as its lullaby tones and tame drama risk lulling you to sleep. Harte seemingly willing it all to succeed by sheer determination. Which doesn’t account for its undeniable charm, the result of director Andy Crook working some minor and major miracles to relieve the play's textual stiffness. Leaning into rather than resisting the play’s lecturing format, supporting song solos and monologues with searing, expressive gazes, showing compositional brilliance in simple yet effective arrangements, Crook then elicits strong performances from Darina Gallagher, Emily Healy, Jed Murray, Eoin O’Sullivan and Ruairí Lenaghan. Lengahan as a guitar playing, master of ceremonies bringing it all together whilst doubling up on roles. Along with a hard working Murray and O’Sullivan. All three supporting Gallagher and Healy representing the play’s true north. An endearing Gallagher enchanting as Franklin’s determined wife, with the magnetic Healy mesmerising as Tennyson’s wife and Lady Jane’s niece. Both revealing the real focus of the story. Healy revealing a promising young talent well worth keeping an eye on. Emily Healy in The Sailor's Dream. Image, Al Craig If there are other quibbles, Tennyson and Dickens overplayed as caricatures for example, there are also other graces, including the easy chemistry between O’Sullivan and Murray. An engaging interplay of song and speech, smartly used tech, an invested ensemble and a director at the top of their game, The Sailor’s Dream succeeds despite obvious drawbacks. Navigating its way safely to shore whilst sailing storm tossed seas. A testament to its crew, its naviagtor and its captain. Not so much Franklin. The Sailor’s Dream by Jack Harte runs at The New Theatre until April 12th. For more information visit The New Theatre

Eoin Fullston, Jack Meade, Sadhbh Malin, Mazzy Ronaldson, Molly Hanly and David Rawle in Youth’s the Season - ? Image: Ros Kavanagh *** Youth’s the season to be jolly. Is it? In Youth’s the Season - ? a twenty six year old Mary Manning marinates an Irish Vile Bodies in a Noel Coward drawing room comedy with just a dash of haphazard expressionism. Written in 1931, a year after Evelyn Waugh’s classic satire about privileged English youth, similarities between Manning’s promising debut and Waugh’s novel are undeniable. Manning going so far as to brazenly reference Vile Bodies’ Bright Young Things. Yet the comparison doesn’t serve the play well. An in-crowd you wouldn’t want to be seen out with, Manning’s wild things couldn’t be more tame, conventional or house broken. Even so, Manning’s lightweight tale provides a peek at Anglo-Irish concerns in the years following Irish independence, along with those whose sexuality made them anathema to the rising Catholic norm. David Rawle and Ciara Berkeley in Youth’s the Season - ? Image: Ros Kavanagh. Full of great lines, Manning’s reclaimed opus is not a great play. Indeed, it struggles to meet the mustard of being a good one. Structurally it moves uncomfortably between realism, farce and expressionist frames, the latter proving weakest of all. Set in Dublin, a group of petulant, privileged, self pitying poseurs prepare for, play out, then ponder the aftermath of a tame, twenty-first birthday party. A party whose upsets are so conservative even its participants agree it’s terrible. Decadence amounting to getting moderately drunk, trying to make your emotionless fiancé jealous, and trying to decide between which of two men to love. There’s even a scandalous kiss and such dull dancing as to leave you breathlessly snoozing. Action culminating in self-pitying posturing passed off as soul searching the following morning. Even so, some touching moments evoke the pain of rejected sexuality in search of a society and of independent women being undermined, the latter theme tempered by comedy. A final, supernatural twist gets tediously drawn out by way of a meandering monologue in which a gun is wielded. To conform or not conform? Is he mad? Do we care? Thankfully Manning’s comic touches, though hit and miss, provide much needed comic relief when they land. Jack Meade and Valerie O’Connor in Youth’s the Season - ? Image: Ros Kavanagh Yet Youth’s the Season - ? is not a comedy. Indeed, it’s not much of anything for trying to be a little too much of too many things. Tensions director Sarah Jane Scaife doesn’t cohere so much as compartmentalise, shifting uneasily between farce, realism and abstract expressionism. Sabine Dargent’s gorgeously opulent set speaking to the confusion. Its recognised realism offset by floating vases and symbolic cracks in the wall. More grounded are Sinéad Cuthbert’s superb period costumes and Val Sherlock’s divine hair which teases out a Louise Brooks bob. All tempered by an otherworldliness evident in Stephen Dodd’s excellent lights and Rob Moloney’s stirring sound and composition, descending from sweeping score into discordant, darker places. Evoking, at times, the forgotten charm of B-movies that endlessly reappear on retro TV channels reminding you why they’ve been forgotten. Kerill Kelly and Lórcan Strain in Youth’s the Season - ? Image: Ros Kavanagh Like an old necklace on Antiques Roadshow, Youth’s the Season - ? isn’t quite the heirloom you hoped it would be. Still, there are some genuine jewels in the guise of memorable performances. Ciara Berkeley’s vivacious Toots cementing Berkeley’s reputation as a rising star. Sadhbh Malin’s independently minded Deirdre and Molly Hanly’s wanting the best of both worlds Connie are both terrific. All upstaged by Valerie O’Connor as a scene stealing Miss Millington. In fairness, O’Connor’s ditzy mother is pure comic relief and doesn’t have to navigate the play's shallower waters. Evident in a bunch of histrionic men who, like its women, want change yet want nothing to change. Youssef Quinn as conventional husband material Harry, along with David Rawle’s gender bending Desmond, and Jack Meade’s conservative Gerald all terrific. Meade showing excellent comic awareness playing straight man to his own and other’s benefit. Kerill Kelly terrific in the thankless role of a misery loving Terence, a poet without poetry, along with his ever silent companion, Lórcan Strain’s Egosmith, a symbol so painfully obvious it doesn’t bear stating. A delightful Mazzy Ronaldson and Eoin Fullston rounding out an impeccable and impressive cast. Mazzy Ronaldson, Molly Hanly, Eoin Fullston, Ciara Berkeley and David Rawle in Youth’s the Season - ? Image: Ros Kavanagh If youth is a season sure to pass, you can be forgiven for wondering if The Gregory Project is ever going to pass. Thankfully The Abbey’s line up for 2025 gives cause for hope. Like the misjudged Grainne, Youth's the Season - ? feels more an academic victory than a theatrical one. And a pyrrhic victory at that. Unlike its obvious inspirations, Youth’s the Season-? is never wild, brave nor decadent enough. Never funny, clever nor witty enough. Never aesthetically nor philosophically subversive enough. True, there’s something going on, there’s just not enough of it. Historically, Manning’s dated play might have been hugely popular in its time, but so were Showaddywaddy. With both looking neglected today for good reason, despite some enlightening moments. Indeed, in a climate in which limited resources and opportunities place huge restrictions on artists, the hidden cost of other voices losing out needs to be tallied when reviving such expensive, cultural curios of B-movie quality. Youth’s the Season - ? By Mary Manning, runs at The Abbey Theatre until May 3rd. For more information, visit The Abbey Theatre

Kwaku Fortune in The Haircut. Image, Ros Kavanagh *** A revival of Wayne Jordan and Tom Lane ’s delightful fairytale from 2019, The Haircut introduces secretive king, Labhraidh Loingseach, who gets his hair cut annually by a barber who is immediately killed. That way they can never reveal the King has donkeys ears hidden beneath his long mane. His kingdom having run out of barbers, a lottery now determines the King’s latest hairdresser. This year it’s Kwaku O’Brien, a boy with a flare for kitsch, a dislike of football, and who dares to be different. Whose mother, Trina, convinces the king not to kill her son but to trust him not to tell. Only Kwaku, struggling to keep the King’s secret, whispers it to a willow tree leading to revelations and consequences. A celebration of acceptance and difference, of embracing change and of not imposing secrets on the young, The Haircut’s inclusive, feel-good message is hugely uplifting. But, as in 2019, its word heavy script struggles beneath its literary weight, with jokes catering mostly for adults. The result a piece of storytelling theatre light on theatricality, yet whose tale is genuinely enjoyable. Kwaku Fortune in The Haircut. Image, Ros Kavanagh Suitable for older children, The Haircut is modestly updated to reflect contemporary issues. Jordan’s direction lacking its characteristic theatricality, leaving an engaging Kwaku Fortune as Narrator relying on his warm, commanding presence and a handful of visual flourishes. A stark contrast with 2019 where a flamboyant TKB was more a master of ceremonies than narrator, embodying the play’s spirit of kitsch. Here, Sarah Bacon’s neat, grey suit suggests a member of the King’s entourage. Slightly rushed at times, delivery often resembles an audiobook, which risks younger audience members zoning out as scenes overplay their prose and overstay their welcome. Lane’s music and sound effects lending proceedings a children’s storytelling vibe. Music, played live by Paddy Nolan, Lioba Petrie and Berginald Rash, beautifully executed. Like the ancient story it tells, T he Haircut’s message of live and let live is timeless. It might plod at times, but the charismatic Fortune ensures young and old alike are entertained and come away wiser. The Haircut by Wayne Jordan and Tom Lane, runs at The Ark until April 6. For more information, visit The Ark

Don Wycherley in Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong. Image uncredited. ***** The hallmark of a truly great biographer is that they never flinch. Ensuring they themselves, or their chosen subject, confess their sins, shames, regrets and humiliations in all their unvarnished rawness. Especially when a temptation towards a PR paint job, or hindsight heroism is justifiable. By any such metrics, Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong by Mary-Elaine Tynan, Don Wycherley and Niamh Gleeson  is an outstanding piece of autobiographical theatre. Inspired by Tynan’s 2017, Life After Life: A Guildford Four Memoir,  what emerges is a searing indictment of injustice and a heartfelt song of survival. And that’s not even the best part. That would be Don Wycherley , whose career defining performance is of such devastating power the only appropriate response is awe. Not that you see much of Wycherley, so embedded in the role you frequently double take to make sure it’s not Armstrong onstage. A man cursed with being in the wrong place at the wrong time, with making bad decisions, with being a degenerate gambler with a fondness for strong drugs. Who fled to London in the 1970s to escape The Troubles only to find himself right at the heart of them by being wrongly convicted, or more accurately, framed for a bombing he did not commit on behalf of the IRA who he didn’t belong to. Along with Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon and Armstrong’s then girlfriend, Carole Richardson, known as the Guildford Four, Armstrong spent almost fifteen years incarcerated until their conviction was deemed unsafe and overturned, due to sterling work by their solicitors. Celebrity status and hanging with Daniel Day Lewis not sitting well with Armstrong upon his release, he married, moved to Dublin and settled down to a quieter life raising his family. Set in a nursing home, we encounter Paddy as his memory is beginning to fade. A clever device allowing narrative to slip between the years establishing connections that frequently overlap. Paddy talking to try piece together a jigsaw of memories. His first poker game, the family priest, the night the police came calling, the interrogations, the court case, the screws, both in prison and the nursing home, all bleed into each other. Smart, jumbled, economic fragments unafraid to risk confusion allow us share in Paddy's dilemma. Directed by Tynan, deep familiarity with her subject matter and a sensible approach of allowing Wycherley do what he does best ensures it all comes home with a bang, no pun intended. Though one suspects Armstrong would have appreciated the joke. Fringed by a single armchair, ragged bathrobe, some retro tunes and a completely pointless and distracting use of lights, Wycherley is utterly sensational. Rich, subtle, nuanced; gestures and expressions spill over with endless depth as Paddy fizzes with energy. Wycherley leaving no microscopic moment unattended; dancing like he's seventy or seventeen, or playing a handful of supporting characters with rigour. Throughout, horrifying facts are a distant second to the uplifting spirit of a remarkable man, who Wycherley realises and honours. Indeed, it's at times like this that the loss of The Irish Times Theatre Awards are most keenly felt. Wycherley’s tour de force performance is deserving of the highest plaudits. Indeed, bookies would stop taking bets on Wycherley were awards up for grabs, probably to Paddy's disappointment. It’s a testament to  Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong that were it pure fiction it would still make for a devastating piece of theatre. Still, it bears remembering what lies at the core of Armstrong’s real life experiences. An unsafe conviction suggests a mishap, an error, an accident. A lack of deliberate intent. But history has shown there was deliberate intent. That Armstrong has made peace with it is a measure of the man’s character. Audiences may not be so forgiving, given that none of the police or judiciary involved were ever convicted. Indeed, several went on to receive honours and awards. As the world spirals into dark places, the truth behind such lies of language needs to be remembered. Having premiered at The Viking Theatre, Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong currently runs as part of The Five Lamps Arts Festival before continuing its national tour. On the evidence of the enthusiastic, sold out crowd in East Wall’s Sean O'Casey Theatre, book your tickets now. A celebration of the human spirit in adversity Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong is not to be missed. Wycherley's performance destined to be talked about for decades to come. Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong written by Mary-Elaine Tynan, Don Wycherley and Niamh Gleeson, directed by Mary-Elaine Tynan is currently on tour. For more information visit The Five Lamps Arts Festival or Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong

Helen McGrath in Ivy. Image, Dominik Turkowski ** You can only but admire performers with the gumption to write and perform their own work. Even when that work doesn’t quite come together, as is the case with Helen McGrath’s hugely ambitious Ivy . A labour of love, love blinds in this troubled production in which an eager to please mother of two, in some kind of accommodation, relays the details from her married past and her new day to day living. A woman previously subjected to emotional and psychological abuse from a controlling husband who spends her day rearranging the debris of her life dressed in pyjamas. The rearranging of Dylan McGloin’s cleverly symmetrically boxes hinting of ritual, or OCD. Structurally, and dramatically, nothing much happens till the final moment which serves up a bittersweet catharsis. Instead, we listen to vague, ditzy ramblings as the real and imagined become clearly delineated. Ivy’s daily ritual ultimately ineffective. Her good girl, self talk sounding monotone, not telling us quite what Ivy might think it does. Problems compounded by the play’s premise. While many women leave their homes due to domestic abuse, those with even a cursory acquaintance with family law would take serious exception with McGrath’s premise of a woman forcibly removed from the family home and denied custody solely on the unfounded lies of her husband. But, like many things in Ivy , it’s never properly explained, just hinted at. Like it’s obvious when it isn’t. The work looking half done, offering less a story, or ritual, so much as a litany of distracting descriptions, bland observations and heavy handed metaphors. With butter topping the metaphor list. Resulting in confusion and obscurity rather than mystery. An invested performance not enough to fill in the blanks in Ivy’s unimaginative imagination. When it comes to McGrath’s writer-performer divide, there’s less a yin yang balance so much as each side vying for dominance. McGrath’s literary aspirations winning out to the point Ivy feels less like a play so much as a novel. So dominant is the writer’s presence it’s rarely Ivy’s voice we hear but the author’s. Overwrought prose sentences, long descriptive passages that meander aimlessly, and a host of golden literary allusions, Ivy screams to be read. As if written for the mind’s eye and not the spectator. Something director Esosa Ighodaro fails to address. Ighodaro’s physical approach imposing on proceedings, sometimes to effect as in a clever opening image. Given Ois O’Donoghue is listed as movement director, Ighodaro’s direction soon looks like misdirection. As if trying to distract rather than unpack. As McGrath delivers an energised, if occasionally strained performance, Ighodaro fails to unpack character, or text, to the level it needed. Relying instead on weak physical images and heavy pacing that occasionally catches the eye but offers little by way of depth or impact. Not doing enough to bring this mental health ritual together. A brave, risk taking performer who can light up a stage, McGrath isn’t quite there yet as a playwright. Like Ivy, McGrath’s script has a lot of baggage that weighs it down. A character study of a character not fully developed, speaking to experiences half illustrated and a system, and story, we don’t fully understand, Ivy’s absurd heart might be in the right place, but its ritualistic head is all over the place. Still, there’s evident promise, from both Ighodaro and McGrath, suggesting watch this space. Ivy , written and performed by Helen McGrath, directed by Esosa Ighodaro, runs at The New Theatre until March 29. For more information visit The New Theatre

Jordan Shanahan and Giselle Allen in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond *** A director establishes a contract with their audience within the first few minutes of the curtain rising. In Irish National Opera’s production of Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman , director Rachael Hewer’s contract aims to subvert the opera’s overt sexual politics. It’s not that Hewer strays from Wagner’s source material so much as takes exception to it. An all male first act in which a young woman is bartered without her consent by her seafaring father and a prospective husband marooned during a storm providing justifiable cause. Wagner’s rampant misogyny clearly in need of a feminist revisioning for modern tastes. Yet Hewer’s revisioning throws out the passionate baby with the misogynistic bathwater whilst playing up masculine stereotypes. Even as it tries to have its cake and eat it by indulging the very Romanticism it’s trying to subvert.  Caroline Wheeler and Giselle Allen in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond A trait evident in Francis O’Connor‘s inclined, atmospheric set, with a distracting ships mast frequently obscuring sight lines. Both awash in Howard Husdon’s broody use of light and shadow evoking the romanticism of Caspar David Friedrich. Wherein an all female opening sees a child reared on fairytales shake hands with countless strong women during a stormy overture. Establishing a dichotomy between vibrant music and staid staging, between foregrounded politics and punctured passion, creating tensions which INO’s The Flying Dutchman never quite resolves.  James Creswell and Jordan Shanahan in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond Narratively, even though his music is wildly evocative, Wagner was a poor librettist, especially when it came to love. His tale of The Flying Dutchman , inspired during a sea journey from Riga, focusing on a doomed sea captain cursed to roam the oceans. Allowed to come ashore every seven years in the hope of finding a faithful maiden to love him till death do them part. As characters go, The Dutchman is dull and one dimensional, full of doomed, Byronic intensity. A brooding Heathcliff pinning on darkened oceans for a true love he dreams of but has never seen. Indeed, there’s motifs and leitmotifs, which abound beautifully in Wagner’s music, then there’s saying the same thing over and over for nearly three hours. Jordan Shanahan’s superb baritone squeezing every emotional resonance from The Dutchman’s handful of repeated phrases married to Wagner’s superb music. So lush, rich, and passionate, it became the template for Hollywood’s Golden Era.  Caroline Wheeler, Giselle Allen and Carolyn Dobbin in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond Cinema echoed in Neil O’Driscoll’s weak projections; part portraits, part poorly rendered ship at sea. Yet a synchronised moment between The Dutchman and Senta proves an unexpected delight. Unawares she’s being haggled over, soprano Giselle Allen’s romantically inclined Senta, the impressionable child from Hewer’s overture, gazes longingly at The Dutchman’s portrait, envisioned as the ideal of manliness and romantic desire. Meanwhile, she strings along the hapless Erik, tenor Toby Spence brilliant in the supporting role of a jilted boyfriend desperately in love with a woman who dreams of a man she can desperately love. Had Hewer dug a little deeper she might have better understood the hidden implications of Erik’s masculinity trapped in the belief of women as paragons of doom or deliverance. Thankfully Spence’s impassioned singing elevates Erik’s equally romanticised conditioning into something poignant, heartfelt and recognisable. Indeed, Hewer looks far more comfortable when working with female protagonists, evident in the difference between sailors scenes and the working women. The former stiff and lifeless, the latter sparkling with effervescent movement and liveliness. The former silenced by stereotype as the latter speaks new gendered truths. Evident later on as The Dutchman and Senta reverse roles during a kitchen scene. Political gain deflating passion to a domestic drama, to the literal making of a sandwich.  Jordan Shanahan, James Creswell, Giselle Allen in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond Other problems don’t help. Stephanie Dufresne’s playful, though weak choreography suggests a compromise of convenience that’s more compromise than convenient. Even so, other elements delight. The ghost chorus far more powerful for unashamedly tapping into the opera's supernatural dimensions, something Hewer never looks comfortable with. Choral work is also impressive, as is singing despite an occasional unsteadiness in the highest register, something sure to resolve itself as the run progresses. Indeed, singing conjours the ghost of passion Hewer tries undermine, even as bass James Creswell’s Daland, along with mezzo soprano Carolyn Dobbin’s worldly Mary prove superb at earthing that passion. Grounding the opera’s emotional core, which is given full expression by Irish National Opera Orchestra under Fergus Shiel’s elegant baton. Wagner’s rising, falling, sweeping score reinforcing the dichotomy between music and staging. Hewer playing politics, Shiel’s surrendering to passion in a beautiful judged performance. Women's chorus in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond Like Disney’s live action Snow White , Hewer’s The Flying Dutchman feels like a well intentioned revision that buckles under the weight of its self-inflicted limits. Imprisoned within Hewer’s lopsided gender reading mood gets sold short for political gain, and often sold cheaply. Thankfully, as is often the case with Wagner, mind and heart lie more in his music, where he reveals permanent and impersonal truths. Even as, too often in his operas, words get in the way. Which is perhaps why one of the most powerful moments is the first wordless encounter between The Dutchman and Senta where music carries the emotional heft. Tovy Spence and Giselle Allen in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond If Hewer sacrifices a total vision of Wagner’s opera for a limited political message, its feminist frame compensates by ensuring the plight of Senta is felt rather than stated. Made all the more poignant by her lack of self-awareness, highlighting the libretto as reinforcing the culturally conditioned belief that someday her prince will come. Yet Hewer neglects to realise its damaging effect for the other gender onstage, also believing their salvation lies with the opposite sex. The final drenched image of a body hoisted from the sea making clear where Hewer’s one-sided focus lies. In giving The Flying Dutchman such lopsided symbolic weight, Hewer portrays only half the picture. Reframing the action as revisionist politics she conveys half the tale. Undercutting its passion, she delivers half the intensity. Thankfully, a sterling cast sing their hearts out and sing most of the heart back into it. Toby Spence, Giselle Allen, Jordan Shanahan in Irish National Opera’s The Flying Dutchman. Image, Patrick Redmond Their first production of an opera by Wagner, Irish National Opera offer An Evening of Wagnerian Insight and Music at the Dean Hotel at 6,00 pm on Wednesday 26th for those wanting more. Those interested in better understanding Wagner’s music in The Flying Dutchmen should check out INO’s instagram page where conductor and INO artistic director Fergus Shiel has a number of short, insightful posts well worth listening to. Even so, despite its shortcomings, the live performance is the way to go. There are enough superb moments in The Flying Dutchman to make it an experience worth checking out. One whose music alone is worth the price of admission. The Flying Dutchman , by Richard Wagner, libretto by Richard Wagner, first performed 1843, presented by Irish National Opera in a co-production with Garsington Opera, runs at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre until March 29. Fore more information visits Bord Gáis Energy Theatre or Irish National Opera.

Hannah Brady in Little One, Image, Matthew Williamson ***** Can a monster learn to love? Can kindness sow redemption in a scorched earth heart? What makes a monster anyway? Abuse? Neglect? How do you recognise a monster? In Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch’s stunning, dark tragedy Little One, receiving its Irish premiere at Glass Mask Theatre, adopted siblings Aaron and Clare unravel the bonds of family dynamics. Two troubled orphans thrown together as their neglectful step-parents insist Aaron play parent to his abused younger sister. Unfolding into a psychological thriller whose twisted tale is exhilarating dark and darkly funny. Made all the more so by the manner of its telling. Dan Monaghan and Hannah Brady in Little One, Image, Matthew Williamson Narratively a memory play, focus falls on the elder Aaron as he recounts growing up with his adopted sister, Clare. From her first bizarre encounter with a mail order bride’s husband at the age of four to the final, pubescent straw of Aaron’s missing cat, the sexually abused Clare has been the bane and responsibility of Aaron’s existence. Stabbings, dead goldfish, missing figurines found in the most unlikely of places; how much can an eldest brother take? Maybe Clare had nothing to do with what happened his cat, but maybe its good to finally have an excuse to be done with Clare and the responsibility that comes with her. Sure, everyone says she’s on the verge of recovery, but you can’t build your life on someone else’s suffering. What of Aaron’s life? Doesn’t his suffering count? After all, there are many types of abuse. Many conducted in the name of love. All of which provides you with a bare sketch of the depths Moscovitch plumbs. Ensuring Little One is an experience to be had more than a story to be told. Evoking terrors that lurk in the shadowed corners of the mind. Under the exceptional direction of Samatha Cade, Little One effortlessly yields up countless treasures. Cade, displaying compositional excellence, perfect pace, and a rigorous deep dive into the text, envelops it all in a deep yet delicate artistry. Marshalling her technical troops, Cade crafts a psychological space steeped in the warmth and terror of memory. Eoin Lennon’s shadowed, twilit lights and set, enriched by Denis Clohessy’s thumping soundtrack and sensitive score establish a liminal context in which an unblinking Hannah Brady delivers a riveting performance as the tortured Clare. Part Blumhouse anti-heroine, part Stephen King nightmare, with Migle Ryan’s effective dungarees evoking Mia Goth’s Pearl , Clare risks being little more than a device. But Cade and Brady resist the temptation, furnishing darker, deeper tones that are far more poignant. Dan Monaghan’s Aaron providing the perfect foil by way of a brilliantly controlled performance, journeying from eager to please child, resentful teen, to conflicted adult. Running the emotional gamut, Monaghan conveys a range of experiences through subtle yet sensitive details. Even as Brady delivers another of her disturbing monologues, Monaghan’s eyes flit with devouring concentration, reminding you that everything onstage is Aaron’s memory. A representation, or misrepresentation, of his troubled sister. That Clare might only truly exist in the space that Aaron refuses to accept. For that would mean looking at himself and the choice he made as a parental child when push came to shove. Hannah Brady and Dan Monaghan in Little One, Image, Matthew Williamson If Little One , written 2011, introduces the exciting work of Moscovitch to Irish audiences, of equally significant interest is director Samatha Cade. Working with what she has, rather than against what she has not, Cade crafts a veritable universe in one of the most demanding of spaces. Serving up a breathtakingly brilliant, stunningly complex, genuinely thrilling experience. If Moscovitch wraps things up with an unsatisfying bow, Cade has already done her job. Transforming Moscovitch’s little play into a monstrously big experience, ensuring Little One is not to be missed. Little One, by Hannah Moscovitch, runs at Glass Mask Theatre until April 5. For more information visit Glass MaskTheatre .

Owen O'Gorman, Ann Russell and Brid McCarthy in Sally's Return. Image by Kevin B. Newcome ** Playwright Michael J. Harnett and director Vinny McCabe’s Dublin Touring Company have created a theatrical cottage industry crafting original plays for the nostalgia circuit. And more power to them, given there's a dedicated audience who enjoy trips down memory lane. At best, like the memorable Madeira , whose success was due in no small measure to a mesmerising Deirdre Monaghan, Harnett's lightweight scripts entertain and enlighten. At the other end of the spectrum there’s Sally’s Return , which tells a desperately dull, drearily told, utterly unconvincing tale. Redeemed, but not saved, by a top cast who look wasted in this problematic production. It begins promising enough. A morning after a wedding in the country, with everyone a little worse for wear, sees Owen O’Gorman’s Gerry establishing backstory by way of a phone call to his wife back in Coventry. Enter fellow member of the diaspora, Sally; Ann Russell charging tensions as Sally reignites a conversation from the previous night with the evasive Gerry. For the next twenty minutes we listen in on something akin to a genealogy chart of people we never met nor care about, peppered with nostalgic recollections that renders action onstage nothing more than expositional chatter. The arrival of Brid McCarty’s adorable Bernie opens up a contrived question about the past with the same attraction as clickbait: false enticements promising much but delivering little. As an unconvincing story plays out to an unconvincing end, it’s hard to care for characters who are little more than contradictory mouthpieces revisioning historical issues from the 1970s through a 21st century lens. Along with a half developed theme of the dangers of medicating for depression. Without giving away Sally’s contrived motive for cornering Gerry, what can be said is that in the era of The Disappeared, knee cappings and much worse, Sally’s grievance resembles what Sarah Schulman terms overstating trauma, due, in no small measure, to Harnett failing to make his case. As a result, everything becomes a hard sell. Much more compelling is Brid’s tagged on tale of a practice common during the years of the Magdalene Laundries, leaving you wanting to know more of what is clearly the stronger story. Instead Sally’s Return settles for nostalgic referencing akin to the harp rendition of Butch Moore’s Walking The Streets In The Rain , resulting in a sugar rush of sentimentality that claims old friends to be the best. Even as the play spent seventy minutes proving the exact opposite to be true. Like Madeira , cast is by far the best thing about this production. Marie Tierney’s set, all latticed wood evoking a hotel garden or nursing home, ably lit by Andrew Murray, is competent without being compelling. Meanwhile Russell, O’Gorman and McCarthy give energised performances lending this disappointing offering far more dignity than it deserves. McCabe’s direction often leaving his three strong cast looking left to their own devices. Luckily, they’ve a wealth of experience to draw on. As does Harnett, who can, and has written far better plays than Sally’s Return . Sally’s Return by Michael J. Harnett, runs at The Viking Theatre until April 5. For more information visit The Viking Theatre

Magdalena Hylak in Begin Anywhere presented by John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre . Image, Nir Arieli. **** Begin Anywhere. A complex illusion of natural simplicity. Of minimising predictable patterns. Of subverting focus on the front of the body. All space, occupied or otherwise, being equal in value and importance. Similarly with movement, which often displays competing relationships regarding direction, rhythm, fluidity and timing. Underscoring dance’s connection to life, not only to music, which is itself subverted. The whole embracing collaboration and subverting isolationism. The subjective become the collective; the individualised ensemble. Composition and choreography refuting the habitual in pursuit of chance. But of whose choreography are we speaking? John Scott or Merce Cunningham ? The answer is both. In Begin Anywhere by John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre, which premiered to great acclaim at The Irish Arts Centre, New York in February, four solos by Cunningham seamlessly shift into the eponymous new work by Scott and musician Mel Mercier . And the contrast is somewhat telling. It’s not a case of emphasis or degrees, or of distinctions without a difference. Despite choreographic similarities, and Scott’s avowed devotion to all things Cunningham, Scott speaks his own choreographic language. If Four Solos speak to form as content, Begin Anywhere speaks to content becoming form. If Cunningham appears to be searching for something, for Scott that something is the search itself. Indeed, if  Four Solos ends too quickly, Begin Anywhere  struggles to end its search for searching’s sake. Ultimately, Scott and Cunningham might wield similar, choreographic coins, but they reveal entirely different sides. Begin Anywhere presented by John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre . Image, Nir Arieli. Take Cunningham's Four Solos, which includes Changeling  (1957),  Solo  (1975), along with excerpted solos from RainForest  (1968) and Travelogue (1977). Despite covering two decades, there’s precious little new under Cunningham’s classical, statuesque stars. The solos cohesion, built around a marriage of Western ballet and Eastern martial arts, with both married to John King’s composition, sees evolving poses played out against white noise, Zappa-esque bass rhythms and the gong-like sound of a Zen bowl. Dancers Magdalena Hylak, Boris Charrion, and François Malbranque plumbing spiritual depths with ballet poses and movements offset by articulating animal archetypes. Soloists overlapping as they transition in and out of the space dressed in Cunningham’s recognisable uniform. What Begin Anywhere sacrifices in terms of depth it compensates for with greater range and richness. And, arguably, humanity, trading idealised spirituality for something more fleshed and visceral. Four Solos selecting the dignified, ideal best of us; Begin Anywhere unafraid of the mess we are, right down to clothing for our shuddering, shaking, shouting bodies. An opening duet embodying the contemplative stillness of Cunningham is offset by an energetic explosion of exuberant tap as a soloist dances, cabaret style, across the stage establishing a jumping off point: we’re no longer in Cunningham’s Kansas but Scott’s Oz. Theory, like a bad joke reality ignores, is evident in interviews about Cunningham played as a constant loop with Mercier’s Irish traditional based score; with music played live onstage. Musicians Caoimhe Uí Fhlathata, Kevin McNally, Mick O'Shea and Mercier adding to the visual backdrop. Against which Scott’s energetic choreography channels Jackson Pollock, flinging endless choreographic paint to see what emerges. Leaving a sense of a serious minded search laced with playfulness. Of humour, heart, and spontaneity. Yet the longer it runs, the more the search seems like an endless experiment. If that’s true of life, it’s less satisfying in art where wheat gets separated from the chaff. Begin Anywhere presented by John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre . Image, Nir Arieli. If Cunningham mines for ingots, Scott sifts through dance’s riverbed seeking nuggets, and discovers many. But where Cunningham shines his gold with classical rigour and curated selection, Scott shows you the dust and dirt of randomness and chance. If the end sees dancers Vinicius Martins Araujo, Boris Charrion, Magdalena Hylak, François Malbranque and Adam O'Reilly arrive at a shared, swirling pattern in conversation with Mercier’s score, it can seem too late. By then, even a clever tableaux building sequence established from simple points of contact between dancers as they move across the stage looks like a rehearsal room exercise that's overplayed its hand. Risking, retrospectively, the same judgement on an energised counting sequence invested with joy. Asking the question, can experimentation be the finished artwork? A little process goes along way. A lot of process risks looking like…a lot of process. One thing’s for sure, where Cunningham’s solos attempt to control chance, Scott’s Begin Anywhere bravely submits to it. There’s a ton of historical and academic information in the programme notes and online which there’s no point repeating here. It is worth remembering, however, that greatness results from standing on the shoulders of giants. The phrase suggests a diminutive quality. Yet when you recall Cunningham’s formative years with Martha Graham, you realise that giants stand on the shoulders of fellow giants. Begin Anywhere is not mimicry, flattery or a tribute band testament to the inimitable Cunningham. It’s taking work that’s beginning to look historical and finding ways to continue its conversations into today. Scott, a giant standing on the shoulder of a fellow giant, trying to honour the great master’s legacy by seeing further into the future. Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre celebrating thirty three years in the business of dance with this thought provoking and richly revealing production. Thirty three years. That doesn’t happen by chance, no pun intended. Here’s looking forward to their next exciting chapter. So, where should Scott begin? Hazard a wild guess. Begin Anywhere, presented by John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre, runs at The Project Arts Centre until March 15 before transferring to The Civic, Tallaght, on March 18. For more information visit The Project Arts Centre or The Civic Theatre .

John Cronin and Clara Fitzgerald in No Romance. Image uncredited *** Not for the first, or last time has a modest production been elevated by its superior cast. Nancy Harris’ s moderately amusing, No Romance: A Desperate Business, being a case in point. Like a pilot for a TV series, it offers a preliminary set up promising more to come. Only nothing more comes. Joe, a belligerent, blowhard beta male blusters to hide his brokenness. A failed businessman, son, husband and father, Joe is confronted by a string of mother, virgin and whore archetypes. The wounded Joe too gullible to see that yes, he’s an idiot with Mammy issues and secret fantasies, but Harris’s gender dice were loaded from the start. Still, the jokes are often funny, even if they disguise a plethora of clichéd sins. Beginning with Joe’s judgemental and recently deceased mother, whose body rests in the smallest coffin imaginable at a funeral home. Designer Ronán Duffy suggesting they were in a hurry to get home so made do with a Moses basket. Waiting for the mourners to arrive, husband and wife, Joe and Carmel, need to clear the air about some things. Or rather the wage earning, moderately racist Carmel does. Yet another mother disappointed in Joe. Meanwhile the virgin, their 22 year old daughter, is posting pictures online of her wet t-shirt competitions in Australia much to Joe’s hypocritical chagrin. Elsewhere, the whore transpires to be Abbi with an I, who mails intimate items of clothing she’s worn for a modest fee. Throw in double standards, ambush arguments, secret emails and a sexy Nigerian taxi driver and it all trots along nicely till Harris bails midway leaving the audience in the middle of nowhere. Feeling unfinished, No Romance: A Desperate Business is amusing more than funny, its martial relationship full of stereotypical, smart wife, dumb male tropes. In fairness, it's an isolated piece from a triptych of three short plays which had their Irish premiere in The Abbey in 2011 and whose juxtaposition might offer richer interpretations. Even so, director Ellen Buckley mines the married couple comedy for all it’s worth. Buckley eliciting two terrific performances from an excellent Clara Fitzgerald as a wife reclaiming herself and her life and a stupendously brilliant John Cronin, who risks cornering the market in weak-willed, boy men following a similarly brilliant turn in ANU’s The Dead . Just as Carmel is offended by what Joe’s mother thinks of her legs, men, too, are influenced by what other men think. Except there’s no other men here. Not for the first, or last time, will representations of masculinity omit those who should be having the challenging conversation. While it is vital men embrace feminism, women training boys to be their version of men, then punishing them when they fail is not the answer. A truth disguised beneath rich veins of comedy in Harris’s predictable tale. No Romance: A Desperate Business by Nancy Harris runs at Bewley’s Café Theatre until March 15. For more information visit Bewley’s Café Theatre

Stuart Graham and Conleth Hill in King Lear. Image. Ros Kavanagh *** For generations, learning Shakespeare in school, like learning Irish, was tantamount to educational trauma. Something you endured rather than enjoyed. If you drew the long straw you gleaned a modicum of excitement from Hal, Hotspur and Falstaff. Or the nubile, star crossed Romeo and Juliet . Or the bloodthirsty couple whose name we dare not speak. If you drew the short straw, like the current Leaving Certificate cohort, you studied King Lear . A bitter, old madman screaming at a storm out on a moor. Leaving you wanting to pluck your own eyes out rather than read another old man soliloquy. If ever a Shakespeare play was out of sync with a teenage audience, King Lear is it. Alas, The Gate’s current production does little to change that, or to offer an older audience much to get excited about. Aside, that is, from an invested cast. King Lear. Image. Ros Kavanagh Ageing and dementia, inheritance and power grabs, abandonment of the elderly once they’ve served their use; King Lear is replete with grown up, later in life themes. Lear dividing his kingdom between the fawning Regan and Goneril, and dismissing the faithful Cordelia, might well speak to the current face of US politics, but it's never developed. The emphasis here placed on greed within families, mirrored in the tale of Gloucester, Edgar and Edmund. As their worlds fall apart by way of contrived, convenient and inconvenient letters, the old King loses his mind in order to find it, just as Gloucester loses his sight so he can see. Not that it does either of them, or anyone around them, much good. Michael Glenn Murphy and Fiona Bell in King Lear. Image. Ros Kavanagh As productions of King Lear go, The Gate’s current offering is fraught with problems, the buck stopping squarely with director Roxana Dilbert. A former associate director of The Royal Shakespeare Company, Dilbert serves up a shapeless and somewhat shambolic three hours, busy yet lacking in real energy. Dilbert’s King Lear very much a museum piece. The museum in question being Madam Tussaud's. Staging, like Night at the Museum , frequently suggesting wax figurines coming momentarily to life whilst the rest of the cast stand like lifeless waxworks waiting to deliver their lines. Ti Green’s disjointed set and bland costumes bewilderingly dull and unforgivably distracting. Benji Bower’s intrusive score also falling short, even if the thunderstorm is moderately engaging. Throw in Ciaran O’Grady’s weakly crafted fight scenes, Northern accents slipping in and out of use, and it makes for a mediocre experience. Only Paul Keogan’s endlessly engaging lights remind you of what should have been. Stuart Graham and Eavan Gaffney in King Lear. Image. Ros Kavanagh Throughout, performances range from regrettable to memorable; running the gamut from underwhelming and over the top to moments that capture the sublime. Cast frequently looking adrift, as if lacking a cohesive central vision and working with weak compositional choices. Delivery suggesting soliloquies recorded for an audiobook. Even shared scenes frequently sound like competing soliloquies recited at an advanced, read through stage. Dilbert never achieving cohesion, or locating the meat beneath the text, or sounding the profounder notes. The whole looking confused rather than complex. Conleth Hill and Aidan Moriarty in King Lear. Image. Ros Kavanagh To be clear, this is a hard working cast. But they’re poorly served and appear left to their own devices. Some manage to shine. Stuart Graham’s Gloucester proves terrific, especially in later scenes, as does Michael Glenn Murphy as the energetic Fool. Eavan Gaffney’s Regan proves strongest of Lear’s three daughters; Gaffney’s steely expression and tensed fists pushing against imposed restraints. Aidan Moriarty’s Edgar, especially during his mad phase, frequently brings the thunder, along with an invested Conleth Hill as Lear. Hill scintillating during key scenes (most notably his reunion with Cordelia) suggesting greater possibilities had a stronger hand guided the helm rather than presenting Lear like an angry Moses cameoing in an episode of Star Trek . Just one of many difficulties Hill navigates which, if they never diminish his performance, never allow it to truly find its feet. Rounding out an uneven patchwork, a vibrant Fiona Bell as Kent, and an unmissable Ryan Hunter as comic villain Edmund turn in crowning performances, each worth the price of admission. But, performances aside, there’s little enough to admire here. Still, it’s on the Leaving Cert for 2025 so it’s a safe bet it'll attract a captive audience. Even if Shakespeare's unlikely to win too many new converts. King Lear by William Shakespeare, presented by The Gate Theatre, runs at The Gate Theatre until April 27. For more information visit The Gate Theatre

Eva-Jane Gaffney in Becoming Maggie. Image, Al Craig. *** In Donagh Humphreys problematic Becoming Maggie the prejudice, pretensions and personalities of a local drama society provide predictable comedic fodder. Suggesting an elephant’s graveyard of unfulfilled talent where could have beens, should have beens, has beens and those who never would be relive former dreams whilst rehearsing John B. Keane’s Big Maggie . Festering somewhere between vanity and insecurity, passion and pretension, each character is a first class failure dealing in second hand hope. As troubles stew more than brew, it all trots towards its inevitable conclusion. Back by popular demand, structurally, Becoming Maggie is a long, slow, drawn out car crash. Yet rarely has a car crash felt so wonderfully adorable, due entirely to its three charismatic performances. Suggesting another screenwriter writing for the stage, Humphreys leans into cinematic conventions rather than theatrical, relying on linked scenes passed off as story. The whole topped and tailed by fourth wall breaking monologues to set up and wrap up, as if the play doesn’t trust itself, or its audience, to get it. The opportunity for the story to organically unfold lost to verbal explanations that place the dramatic pot on medium heat and leave it stew rather than boil by not jumping into the action. Which occurs mostly during rehearsals in the local community hall, with brief visits to a bedroom and an apartment. Throughout, life coach and director, Bren-dawn, and his disillusioned and oddly uninformed wife, Jen, rehearse with newby Shane. As Brendan’s madcap directing demeans them both and makes the case for intimacy coaches, their affection for each other grows. But both broken winged creatures are currently incapable of flight. As it all falls unconvincingly apart, it stumbles toward a contrived, girl power ending that feels like a cheat, leaving the bittersweet taste of being sold short. Jed Murray in Becoming Maggie. Image, Al Craig. Despite some genuinely funny lines, Becoming Maggie frequently falls from the tightrope Humphreys unsuccessfully tries to walk, creating tensions director Andy Crook never resolves. Its three actors looking as if they’re in two separate plays. One a broad comedy with a pantomime antagonist, the other a dramatic comedy with naturalist tendencies. In which low hanging jokes and an unfleshed story make for big asks. Especially Jen. A clever woman believing working in commercials the glamorous side of professional theatre? Anyone, actor or otherwise, can work in commercials and everyone remotely connected to theatre knows that. Then there’s Jen’s undeveloped past and unexplained character flips in key scenes instead of a character arc leaving much to be desired. Never mind what she ever saw in Brendan who has no redeeming qualities. Luckily Crook elicits three compelling performances, even if they’re for two incompatible genres. Whilst Jed Murray turns in a compelling comic turn as the dapper dressed Brendan, a monument to egoism who sees the universe designed to meet his needs, Brendan’s cartoon portrait denies the production real force by hobbling Murray’s considerable talent at shaping compelling and credible characters. Glimpsed in moments when flickers of menace or self doubt haunt the eyes, revealing real human depths before Murray is quickly forced to don his pantomime mask. Shane O’Regan in the unenviable role of Shane, a pony-tailed, thirty something with pubescent level maturity, makes a sterling effort to straddle Crooks questionable marriage of pantomime and naturalism. O’Regan mesmerising when grounded in the real, less credible when forced into exaggeration. Terrific when playing next to a transcendent Eva-Jane Gaffney, whose imminent presence and photogenic features allow Jen, a plain Jane with hidden depths, convey a plethora of secret states that fill in the script's countless blanks. Gaffney’s star quality enriching every scene, elevating the whole, and promising greater things to come. Shane O'Regan and Eva-Jane Gaffney in Becoming Maggie. Image, Al Craig. Like an in-joke, Becoming Maggie sings to the dramatic society choir who are sure to appreciate its recognisable references. Yet there’s a funny, heartfelt story here with broader appeal looking to break free. If it doesn’t fully deliver on its promise, Becoming Maggie compensates with three incredible performances. Murray showing impressive comic skill, O’Regan displaying impressive talent, and a luminously irresistible Eva-Jane Gaffney, whose expressions alone launch a thousand possibilities. Becoming Maggie by Donagh Humphreys runs at The New Theatre until March 7. For more information visit The New Theatre

MILK مِلْك. Image by Eid Adawi **** Milk. Or rather, mother’s milk. Lactating in rivulets when not raining down like a deluge from heaven. Gathering as lakes, or gushing streams, nurturing the earth, plants and all who live and die. Like water, or blood, it is a lifestream of strength and sustenance. Gift of Mother Earth, or any life giving mother, who, like her children, suffer most during times of disaster, natural or man made. An experience vividly and viscerally realised in Bashar Murku and Khulood Basel’s stunning visual poem MILK مِلْك. Offering a profound meditation on pain and loss as experienced by women when disaster strikes. MILK مِلْك, image Christophe Raynaud de Lage Festival d'Avignon Given Khashabi Theatre are a Palestinian company, the temptation view MILK مِلْك solely as a response to Gaza’s current disaster are unavoidable. Yet if Gaza lends MILK مِلْك a resonant immediacy, the work evolved in 2022 to speak to a wider sense of how humans respond to unimaginable disasters. Politics and blame are not the issues here. As Bashar Murkus and Khulood Basel have commented; “three years ago, we thought we had succeeded in MILK مِلْك creating a theatrical poem about what wars leave behind. But over the past three years, as ‘real wars’ have crushed people before our eyes and stolen everything they love, we have come to realise how incapable theatre is of capturing even a single moment of war.” True, perhaps. But MILK مِلْك  makes a decent attempt at it. MILK مِلْك. Image by Eid Adawi Performed without words, MILK مِلْك trades in image as text. Murkus unafraid to let images linger and arrest attention beyond an immediate response, inducing a deeper, meditative engagement. Like the opening moments. The stage covered in floor mats, a single chair and a lifeless mannequin with holes in its arms and legs, as well as cavities in its stomach and chest. The image textured by Raymond Haddad’s two note melody; Haddad’s score revelatory throughout. Images becoming tableaux, a recurring device, often evoking a variety of pieta’s with madonna’s cradling their dead children. Seen as five women take to the stage, mechanically rocking the lifeless forms held in their arms till, eventually, they slip to the floor. MILK مِلْك, imabe by Khulood Basel As images and sequences follow - attempts to take a family photograph, to engage with lifeless mannequins like children being called to, cooed, kissed - there's a sense of MILK مِلْك as performance art within a theatrical frame, washed in a downpour of Pina Bausch. Physically demanding and repetitive routines, confrontational stares to the audience, the endless upheaval and reforming of the space, the hyperphysical physicality of impossible umbilical chords and lactating breasts grounding the action in visceral experience. Pushed to metaphorical extremes as the stage becomes a lake of breastmilk, or a heavily pregnant earth mother brings plants and fruits and hints at a bittersweet resurrection. Though such images pack a mean punch, it’s a punch often undermined by their repetitive nature. As Eddie Dow endlessly removes floor mats to create a wall of rubble you’re as likely to count them to see how many more he has to remove as feel the physical strain of the sequence. Like being constantly tapped by an annoying child, repetition risks you becoming desensitised and numbed, and checking your watch. MILK مِلْك Image by Eid Adawi Even so, a return to transformed images of cooing, kissing and calling children opens onto moments of such pain and beauty they imprint powerfully. Performers Salwa Nakkara, Reem Talhami, Shaden Kanboura, Samaa Wakim, Firielle Al Jubeh, Samera Kadry and Eddie Dow never less than compelling. Technically, too, everything about this production is simply stunning. Muaz Al Jubeh’s lighting design and Majdala Khoury scenography crafting a heavenly journey through unimaginable hell. As MILK مِلْك  opens onto its final image of women lying strewn amidst the rubble, their confrontational stare is still vividly felt, asking; "do you see us? Do you see us now?" We do. But now what? MILK مِلْك by Bashar Murku and Khulood Basel, presented by The Abbey Theatre and Khashabi Theatre, Palestine, runs at The Abbey Theatre until March 1. For more information visit The Abbey Theatre

Many Mes by Rocio Dominguez. Image, Patricio Cassinoni *** When it comes to Artspeak, like Newspeak or Doublespeak, your instinct is to immediately distrust it. Especially when it appears to contradict what’s right before your eyes. Which is not to say the real life inspirations for Argentinian artist, Rocio Dominguez’s Many Mes are not without their personal validity to the artist. It’s their framing, no matter how hauntingly beautiful, that feels like a hard sell and contrary to the production’s expressed purposes. "The unending quest for the completion of a rite of passage" says nothing whilst trying to suggest everything. Talk of immersion in a liminal space sounding off when the forty minute production is solidly centred from beginning to end. Along with the dubious notion of many mes when it’s abundantly clear there is only ever one; Dominguez. Not that Many Mes doesn’t aspire towards splintering and fracture. Dominguez emerging from Gearóid O’Hallmhuráin’s transparent dark towards Ross Ryder's superb videos on a stand-alone screen establishing a foundational dichotomy. Images of Dominguez scooping water and washing her hands from a basin, back naked and to the audience, offset and often mirrored by a basin of water onstage around which the live Dominguez moves. But though image and body are divided, it’s their similarities that establish cohesion. Same dancer, same body, same hair cut, same white trousers and vest top, same gestures, same movements. No evidence of many unique mes, just identical reflections mirroring more of the same. In Ryder’s video sequences, accompanied by Ingrid Boeck’s sound design, the opposition of body and image are often impressively synchronised. Evident in an orgy of dancer, silhouette and faded images executing identical patterns like a James Bond movie's opening sequence. The effect a multiverse of marginal differences. In which a single dancer defined by grace, poise, and exacting precision executes movements instilled with undercurrents of power. Throughout, Dominguez’s choreography evokes the rigour of a Zen Tea Ceremony. Simple, repeated sequences defined by precision and exactitude. Deep squats, wide stances, arms extended like sun salutations reinforce the kata-like structure. Even pulses, or allowing arms to naturally sway look controlled and measured. A whirling circular pattern of movement, a crawling sequence in conversation with a chair, the endlessly repeated washing motions soon become mildly durational. The whole speaking to ritual. But a ritual that never redeems, and rarely transcends to anything other than a self-conscious ritual. Many Mes Artspeak pushing a pull door and trying to sound reasonable. You could spend your entire life doing that, the door still won’t open. The truth far simpler. And more direct. Glimpsed in nuggets scattered throughout, articulated by a single body in motion. Many Mes by Rocio Dominguez, ran at The Project Arts Centre, Feb 18. For more information visit Project Arts Centre.

Lauren Farrell and Rex Ryan in Men's Business. Image by Wen Driftwood  *** A Simon Stephens world premiere is a major theatrical event. But it would be a stretch to call Men’s Business a Simon Stephen’s play. An adaptation of Franz Xaver Kroetz’s 1972 play, Mannersache , Stephen’s homage to the German playwright is clearly a labour of love. Yet it can be difficult to know what fish Stephens is hoping to fry with Kroetz's damaged, expressionist characters, who both look out of place in their reimagined modern setting. Politically, Kroetz’s study of class sees a bourgeoise, female butcher and her bit of rough, working class welder play out their dominant-submissive relationship to a mutually assured destruction. The play’s exploration of power, sex and relationships following the same format. The charmless Victor, a retarded beta male with alpha male delusions, gets off inflicting pain and humiliation on a compliant Charlie who’s looking for connection. Both characters essentially distinctions without a difference. Each ready to use, do, or sacrifice anyone to get what they want. But it all looks dated in a late Capitalist, kink comfortable 21st century where greater sexual awareness and online porn has replaced girly mags and naivety. And where the bourgeoise look to be as politically screwed as the working class. If Stephens emphasises sex and power, what emerges is less Last Tango in Paris so much as Last Dance in a Kilmuckridge Abattoir . Andrew Clancy’s clinical set as much an expressionist symbol as a physical space. In which loveless, empty sex scenes, under intimacy coach Marty Breen, are bravely, if one-sidedly rendered. Indeed, seeing a topless woman onstage risking greater vulnerability, especially when the scene didn’t need it, while the man never undertakes a similar risk raises interesting questions about performance power dynamics. Lauren Farrell’s detailed and delicate Charlie already laced with affecting vulnerability which stripping off adds little too. Charlie’s near expressionless expressions, her hard edged nuance, her slip sliding into despair all terrifically rendered in Farrell's beautifully etched and incredibly brave performance. Against which Rex Ryan’s menacing, loud mouth misogynist plays like a cartoon villain, and plays out to the audience a tad too much. Charlie filling out the play’s recurring silences with flesh and blood. Victor’s power play aggression charging the silence till it crackles. The dog, Wolfie, Victor’s imagined rival, stealing hearts and minds. Lauren Farrell and Rex Ryan in Men's Business. Image by Wen Driftwood  If director Ross Gaynor deftly manages to tap into the play’s dark humour, scenes set-up proves less successful. A weak, and unnecessary music intro reeks wannabe movie whilst looking desperate to inject some punkish energy. Instead, it just delays the action, looks contrived and slows things down. Endless costume changes and sluggish transitions further hamper pace. Violence, when it lands, is again cartoonish. But Men’s Business is nothing if not an absurdly humorous rabbit hole, albeit not a very deep one. Something Gaynor sensitively negotiates for the most part. While there is everything to admire here, not everyone is going to like Men’s Business. It isn’t Stephens’s best work. One suspects it isn’t Kroetz’s best work. Victor’s patriarch masculinity soon becoming a one trick pony that runs out of road. Playing into predictable male tropes till Charlie’s compliance begins to defy belief. Thankfully, Farrell’s sinuous performance makes the incredible credible and deeply affecting. Ensuring that though the play’s politics, be they relational, social or sexual, feel dated, Men’s Business crackles with undercurrents that strike theatrical gold. Even as it risks resembling a dirty old man’s sexual fantasy of domination and abuse. Glass Mask once again pushing at boundaries, premiering another new work by one our European counterparts. Men’s Business by Franz Xaver Kroetz, translated by Simon Stephens, runs at Glass Mask Theatre until March 1. For more information visit Glass Mask Theatre

Georgina McKevitt and Brian Gallagher in The Bad Daters. Image by Al Craig. **** Two lost souls in search of companionship opt for online dating. Liam, a gormless widower trying to do better meets Wendy, a law onto herself forced on a date by her sister. First impressions suggest opposites repel. Liam, so laid back as to be horizontal, is the diametric opposite to Wendy, whose unblinking laser stare would terrify the most vicious Mother Superior. Speaking without filters, displaying OCD and Tourette tendencies, Wendy compulsively sanitises her hands but can’t sanitise her curse loving tongue. No bookie would take bets on them surviving a date, let alone a second one, these broken and cracked souls. Yet in Derek Murphy’s darling rom com, The Bad Daters, it’s through the cracks that the light pours in. Shining gloriously in a bewitchingly uplifting production. Like Harold and Maude , or Benny and Joon, Murphy’s oddball couple offer a character study in loneliness and connection. Spread over a series of interconnected, cinematic scenes their relationship blossoms towards a turning point as Liam stays the course and Wendy feels less threatened. Yet whilst dialogue sparkles with incisive humour, too much is left unsaid, falling through the spaces between the scenes. The result less a story so much as a character arc that skates over depth, leaving the audience to fill in too many blanks. Given you’re wildly in love with all you see and hear, it can feel like being short changed. Still, The Bad Daters generates more laughter and heart in forty five minutes than most shows of a similar ilk could hope to muster. Brian Gallagher and Georgina McKevitt in The Bad Daters. Image by Al Craig. Throughout, Murphy’s simple staging and direction ensures conversations are allowed to breathe. Brian Gallagher delighting as the lovelorn Liam ready to do anything except the one thing Wendy wants. Comedian Gallagher knowing his role is to play straight man to a superlative Georgina McKevitt as Wendy. Like the  Extraordinary Attorney Woo , McKevitt’s character makes the awkward Wendy utterly adorable with a wonderfully affecting performance. The whole a delight from start to finish. Murphy's The Bad Dater’s one of the most charming, feel good, utterly irresistible productions you’ll see this year. The Bad Daters by Derek Murphy, presented by Bewley’s Café Theatre and Speckintime, runs at Bewley’s Café Theatre until February 22. For more information visit Bewley’s Café Theatre

Giles Terera, Steve Coogan, Tony Jayawardena, Mark Hadfield , Oliver Alvin-Wilson in Dr. Strangelove. Photograph: Manuel Harlan ***** Movie aficionados claim it as a modern classic. Others claim it’s a cult classic. Others, still, that it’s an outdated classic. Whatever way you look at it, Stanley Kubrick’s 1964, anti-nuclear satire, Dr. Strangelove, has classic movie written all over it. So why mess with it? Why transfer what was purposely designed for a black and white screen sixty years ago to the contemporary stage? Especially if contemporary relevances are thin on the ground? Then there’s those iconic performances. Sterling Hayden, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens along with Peter Sellers in a trio of roles. Why compete when you know you can’t compare? But that’s asking the wrong question. The question is not how does the stage version compare with the original movie, for nothing can compare with the original movie. Rather, the question is does it succeed on the terms it sets out for itself as a piece of theatre? In that regards, Dr. Strangelove most definitely succeeds, with Steve Coogan being something of a tour de force. Steve Coogan in Dr. Strangelove. Photograph: Manuel Harlan Throughout, director and adaptor Sean Foley, along with co-adaptor Armando Iannucci, remain true to the original script, arguably to a fault, injecting the odd modern reference. A superb opening song and dance routine, the device humorously circled back to at the end accompanied by Vera Lynn, introduces gung-ho General, Jack D. Ripper. A terrific John Hopkins as the cigar munching psychotic who dispatches a fleet of B52 bombers to launch a nuclear attack on Russia in the 1960s. Efforts in the Presidential War Room to call off the attack being thwarted at every turn. Even though the consequence is total annihilation from a Russian Doomsday defence system. After which we’ll meet again, or won’t, if the bombs drop. So what has this to say to a modern world where nuclear annihilation is not as pressing as during the arms race era? Again, wrong question. It’s not about nuclear power but about the misuse of power. About lies, prejudice, misinformation and disinformation informing major military decisions. Of putting idiots in charge of our fates and futures and wondering how it all went wrong? Of stupid doing what stupid does. Of how you can’t reason with crazy. Starting to sound familiar? Steve Coogan and Giles Terera in Dr. Strangelove. Photograph: Manuel Harlan Under Foley’s excellent direction a strong cast, including Giles Terera as the warmongering General Turgidson, Tony Jayawardena as the bewildered Russian ambassador Bakov, and Mark Hadfield as Presidential assistant Faceman, keep the laughs and insights coming. But it’s a phenomenal Steve Coogan who brings it together, elevating Dr. Strangelove into something special, drawing on both his comic and straight acting talents. Whether as the eponymous blonde scientist and former Nazi pining for the gold old days, which, of course, were dreadful, a straight up President Muffley, a beleaguered RAF Captain Mandrake or the Gung Ho Major Kong, Coogan is mesmerising; the mind boggling at the sheer number of costume changes. But even Coogan risks playing second fiddle to Hildegard Bechtler’s superlative set design basking in Jessica Hung Han Yun’s terrific lights. War Room, General’s Office, plane cockpit, Bechtler’s set eases from one to the other effortlessly. Akhila Krishnan’s stunning projections offering a visual threat as the bomber flies towards its final destination, and that iconic rodeo ride. Dr. Strangelove could have done a lot of things differently. Indeed, there are as many opinions as to how it should have been done as there are opinions. But, again, the question is does it work on the terms it set out for itself? A question already asked and answered. Which leaves only one question remaining; when do I go see it? The answer; as soon as is humanly possible. Dr. Strangelove, adapted by Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley, based on the motion picture by Stanley Kubrick, presented by Patrick Myles and David Luff, in association with Tulchin Barter Productions and Playful Productions runs at Bord Gais Energy Theatre until February 22. For more information visit Bord Gáis Energy Theatre

Charlene McKenna, Aaron McCusker in The Ferryman. Image, Marcin Lewandowski. ***** It might come as a surprise but The Gaiety, home to the Christmas Panto and Riverdance , has produced many important plays in recent years exploring Irish identity. Works new and old, not necessarily by Irish writers, that entertain and educate as they address our sense of ourselves. The Ferryman being a case in point. Jez Butterworth’s epically ambitious play, first produced in 2017, finally receiving its Irish premiere at The Gaiety. Which is very good news. For The Ferryman is a cracking tale, superbly directed, terrifically designed, and with a cast that’s simply to die for. Set in 1981, Butterworth’s generational, family drama highlights the trials and joys of the Carney family as they prepare to gather the annual harvest. Staunch, Irish nationalists living in Armagh whose son, Seamus, ‘disappeared’ ten years before. A euphemism for alleged traitors murdered by the IRA whose bodies were never found. Unless unearthed by accident. The discovery of Seamus’s remains at a time when the IRA was enjoying public sympathy on account of the Hunger Strikes making for an inconvenient truth. Intimidations to deny IRA involvement placing unbearable strain on an extended family already tearing itself apart. The Ferryman. Image, Marcin Lewandowski. Following a brooding prologue, steeped in verse, foreshadowing the darkness and dangers to come, The Ferryman divides neatly into three sections. The first act aswirl with the coarse, caring and commonplace cruelties of family dynamics played out around the kitchen table. A garrulous Niall Buggy superb as the loquacious, bookish layabout Uncle Patrick, crossing swords with an equally superb Anna Healy’s as the self righteous nationalist, Aunt Patricia. Meanwhile a terrific Brid Ní Neachtain as the crone like Aunt Maggie drifts in and out of the spirit world. Throw in some feisty nephews, a husband and wife, Seamus’ widow, and a modest tribe of children and the scene is set for a recognisable family sit com. In which rumours, gossip, emotional affairs and unresolved tensions turn the pressure up. Come the second act, women become foregrounded as mothers, virgins, and witch like crones recall forgotten pasts and predict unwritten futures. Women the true victims of war, along with children, as men attempt to justify their actions. Evident in the third, male dominated, and least satisfying act in which the truth doesn't set you free so much as contrive to become a death wish. The Ferryman’s chickens coming home violently to roost as bluster turns to deeds. The ending sudden and explosive, albeit feeling forced, unconvincing and a little contrived. Orén Kinlan, Lilymai Clancy, Anna Healy, Ava Molloy, Vega Farrelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain in The Ferryman. Image, Marcin Lewandowski. A mix of realism and Greek tragedy, Butterworth’s indulgent, three and a half hour script is unafraid of taking its time. If this allows some scenes to breathe, it can serve up unnecessary colour rather than moving action forward. The political, personal and mythological colliding with sentimentalised notions of tragic Irishness tipping uncomfortably into breezy cliche at times. Violent, whiskey swilling, fighting talk, replete with singsongs, stories and poetic lapses loom large. Yet it never topples into excess; walking a tightrope between myth and history, story and fact, this world and the next. Liminality present in Ciaran Bagnall’s angular set bathed in twilight glow capturing reality and nostalgia. Sinead Cuthbert’s costumes highlighting the look of the period. Charlene McKenna, Aaron McCusker, Sarah Morris in The Ferryman. Image, Marcin Lewandowski. Throughout, Andrew Flynn superbly directs a stellar cast. Aaron McCusker as Quinn Carney and Charlene McKenna as Caitlin Carney crackle with contagious chemistry. Joe Hanley delighting as the village idiot, Tom Kettle, breaks your heart in an extraordinarily moving scene reminiscent of Barry Geoghan in The Banshees of Inisherin . Sarah Morris superb as Mary Carney, a role that risks being a lightweight cameo which Morris imbues with strength and grace. Laurence Kinlan as the threatening heavy Muldoon is equally superb, ably supported by Robbie O’Connor and Andrew Graham McClay. But it’s the four, young Carney sisters who light up the stage. Olivia Byrne, Lilymai Clancy and Ava Molloy each hugely impressive. Along with a scene stealing fourth sister, Honor Carney, rotated between Francesca Europa, Matilda Gavin and Vega Farrelly. That said, an adorable goose and real life rabbit risk stealing everyone’s limelight. Whilst the 'disappeared' provide inspiration and focus, The Ferryman casts a much wider net. Asking questions about who we are, who we were and who we might become. And at what cost? Entertaining, educating, enlightening, it might be a marathon more than a sprint, but The Ferryman delivers a terrific production that's not to be missed. The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth, presented by Gaiety Productions, runs at The Gaiety Theatre until March 15. For more information visit The Gaiety Theatre

INO's Der Fledermaus. Image by Ros Kavanagh *** Mention Johann Strauss II and many imagine a nineteenth century Andre Rieu. The undisputed king of waltz and polka, Strauss’s frolicking dance tunes are as effervescent as sparkling champagne. As is his most popular operetta Die Fledermaus. Whose instantly recognisable overture opens onto a fizzy tale of frivolous lust, revenge served cold, masked duplicity and sprightly infidelities, all sprinkled with a smidgen of social commentary. Its tale of revenge for a practical joke setting up a serious of wild scenarios in which mistaken identities, an impending prison sentence and a bawdy party get the alcohol flowing. Yet what scandalised in 1874 looks dated in 2025. Irish National Opera resorting to naughty postcard humour and slapstick shenanigans, relocating from 1870’s Vienna to a 1920’s cabaret to try make it fizz. But the result is Cava rather than champagne. It’s bubbles not always popping. Doing enough to get you tipsy, but not enough to intoxicate. Alex McKissick, Jade Phoenix and Sarah Shine in INO's Der Fledermaus. Image by Ros Kavanagh Even allowing for the economy required of a touring production, the 1920's device looses much by way of glamour and glitz, with Paul O’Mahony’s claustrophobic design resembling a Hollywood movie apartment for a Noel Coward play. Low budget opulence with Art deco touches include bat emblems Bruce Wayne would be envious of. As for Bohemian cabaret, what’s presented is more cut price speakeasy than a debauched Kit Kat Club. Catherine Fay’s cliched costumes reinforcing the Cava level rebranding, with chorus girls looking like pound shop Follies. Facilitating a reduced orchestra onstage, suggestive of a cabaret house band, O’Mahony’s pyrrhic victory proves costly. The restricted playing area impacting on dancing and acting even as it places music on an equal footing. INO's Der Fledermaus. Image by Ros Kavanagh Conductor Richard Peirson’s playful arrangement might have distinct charms, with Peirson delighting when directly involved with the onstage action, but it comes at a cost as music sounds flimsy at times and, on occasion, tinny on account of less musicians. Choreography by Stephanie Dufresne, often clunky and clumsy, mirrors Davey Kelleher’s overactive direction. Relying on comic overacting, what emerges is less human nature so much as human caricature. Kelleher, like Dufresne and O’Mahony, suggesting influences in search of an identity. Under Kelleher’s heavy handed direction Die Fledermaus resembles less a lively operetta so much as a vaudevillian parody of an operetta. If madcap comedies and the silent movie era inform much of the look of Die Fledermaus , the result is a Mel Brooks Silent Movie styled send up. One approximating its inspiration more by accident than design. Granted, Strauss consciously subverted opera’s conventions in 1874, with many references evident throughout. But Kelleher over eggs the send up till it becomes comedic Grand Guignol. Soprano Jade Phoenix’s Rosalinde, with her Jean Harlow hairstyle, might aspire to evoke 1920’s chic, but her flustered fluttering suggests a Margaret Dumont clone hamming it up in a Marx Brothers sketch. Tenor Alex McKissick’s Eisenstein might convey a Hollywood movie idol, but a Clark Kent moment which sees McKissick uncannily resembling Harold Lloyd highlights the gulf between Lloyd's inventive physical comedy and the second rate antics on display. Antics that would look more at home in a children’s TV programme. Jade Phoenix, Alex McKissick, Aaron O'Hare in INO's Der Fledermaus. Image by Ros Kavanagh Where Die Fledermau s succeeds is in Daniel Dooner and Stephen Lawless’s English translation of Karl Haffner and Richard Genée’s German libretto. Singing, which struggles for balance with spoken dialogue at times, achieves a Goldilocks quality; sometimes too high, occasionally too low, mostly just right. And, lest we forget, occasionally stunning. The conducted chorus, the ‘So Sad’ trio, along with several solos remind you of what could have been, with mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty delighting in a trouser role. Yet it is soprano Sarah Shine’s vivacious and flirtatious maid, Adele, that holds everything to account. Shine’s solos, superbly sung, are married to top class acting and impeccable comic timing. Ably supported by Megan O’Neill as Adele’s sidekick sister, Ida, Shine shows serious comedic skill by playing the scene rather than playing for laughs. A comedic straight woman exposing others trying too hard to be funny. Reminding you that less is often so much more. Megan O'Neill, Sean Boylan and Sarah Shine in INO's Der Fledermaus. Image by Ros Kavanagh Musical theatre has its roots in operetta. Both trade in light, comic romances designed to delight and distract. Both rely on singing married to speech, acting and dancing. Subversions many opera purists turned their nose up at when Die Fledermaus first premiered in 1874. If Kelleher fails to grasp the operetta ball on occasion, uncharacteristically, he still manages to drop it.  A send up of a send up, Die Fledermaus is filled with fun and frolics. You’re sure to giggle, but not always to laugh. To tap your feet, yet rarely to feel the urge to dance. Even so, when it finds its sweet spot, Die Fledermaus delivers some utterly glorious moments. Die Fledermaus , by Johann Strauss II, libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, English translation by Daniel Dooner and Stephen Lawless, presented by Irish National Opera, is currently touring nationwide till February 23. For more information visit Irish National Opera.

Maeve Fitzgerald and Marty Rea in The Dead. Image by Patrick Redmond As another year draws to a close, pour yourself a generous indulgence of your favourite tipple and get comfortable. We’ve an entire year to cover so sit down, exhale, relax. Mindful, as always, of all the shows I didn’t get to see, let’s look at some of the highlights, lowlights, shining stars and black holes that made up the year that was 2024. Beginning with a little context before we get settled. Amy Molloy and Marty Rea in The House. Image, Ros Kavanagh It’s always the way of the thing; theatre is forever in a state of crisis. Funding and its distribution, lack of venues, working conditions, ChatGPT. Often it falls to the critic to highlight concerns. Shaw, Tynan, Billington all gave voice to the concerns of their times. Even so, many revile the critic unless they’re dishing out five star cheerleading scores. Sometimes the resentment is warranted. Often it’s just asinine prejudice passed off as self-evident truth. ‘No one has ever raised a statue to a critic.’ In fairness Sibelius didn’t have Google images where he could find lots of statues to critics. Or Behan’s ‘eunuchs who see how it’s done but don’t know how to do it.’ Shaw knew. Tynan knew. And both did it. Then there’s protecting the experimental sanctity of the artistic process. No one’s interested in undermining the artistic process. Most critics understand the sacrifices involved and that no one puts on a show intentionally to fail or to fall short of its own ambition. But sometimes they do, for a variety of reasons. Finally, and most disingenuous of all, Roosevelt’s ‘it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles.’ No one would accuse you of undermining the strong if you criticised an undercooked meal you paid for, a new car you bought that sputters at ten miles an hour, or a five star hotel that turned out to be a hovel. Indeed, artists who are genuinely strong appreciate honest and insightful feedback as to where they might have stumbled. Even then, you’re not mandated to agree with the critic. It’s about provoking conversation. So with that in mind, let’s begin our round up with The Gate and The Abbey. Who, in 2024, looked as if they were vying to become Dublin’s newest Arts Centres. Eavan Gaffney in Breaking. Photo Anthony Woods If Roisín McBrinn and Colm O’Callaghan were considered a safe pair of hands following Selina Cartmell’s departure (Cartmell now installed as artistic director at Manchester’s Royal Exchange), safety proved a risk that hasn’t quite paid off. Stealing pages from the Abbey’s playbook, and sliding towards an education and community arts centre model, The Gate front loaded their summer with the old Abbey ruse of a tourist friendly, Irish classic. Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa proving a smart move and a fine production. Meanwhile Charles Way’s adaptation of Mary Norton’s The Borrowers proved underwhelming despite some terrific performances, as did Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation , both directed by McBrinn. Emma Donoghue’s ambitious, if patchy, The Pull of the Stars, directed by Louise Lowe, was an all female revelation that landed some solid blows. A double dollop of political theatre saw Thomas Bernhard’s The President, co-produced with Sydney Theatre Company, not being to everyone’s liking, even as The Lyric’s touring production of The Agreement was to most people’s liking. The end result a mixed bag of mostly modest delights. Claire O'Leary and Aoife Mulholland in The Borrowers. Image, Ros Kavanagh Meanwhile, The Abbey had another difficult year. Whatever Mark O’Brien and Caitriona McLaughlin’s artistic choices, they inherited a poison chalice and have borne it bravely and with dignity. Even so, with funding withheld for a time, along with that ‘report,’ The Abbey made a handbrake turn mid year and went dark, dropped shows and altered its schedule. Lingering suspicions about the timing of the report and reasons for going dark leaving a sour taste. Damage to The Abbey’s reputation immeasurable. Similar to Ireland’s theatrical reputation. Both sounding anachronistic despite spin to the contrary. As a former colleague in New York asked after seeing Luke Casserly’s Distillation in the Irish Arts Centre in June (having played at The Peacock in February), ‘is this what the Abbey invests in exporting these days?’ Personally I liked Distillation’s quirkiness, but, if I’m honest, I take her point. It’s good in its way, but is it a standard bearer? Is it as good as Malaprop’s brilliant Hothouse which rightly drew critical acclaim Stateside? Kate Gilmore in Safe House. Image, Ste Murray Back home, perforated with celebrity and cultural one night stands, The Abbey’s women writers programme The Gregory Project stumbled as the year went on before plummeting face down into Grainne. The road to Gregory lined with good intentions as Marina Carr’s impressive enough Audrey or Sorrow and Na Peirsigh/Persians Le hAeschylus , aistrithe ag Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill got the year off to a solid start. But Elizabeth Kuti’s lacklustre The Sugar Wife , Janet Moran’s similarly staid Aftermath and Hilary Fannin’s underwhelming Children Of The Sun failed to get out of first gear. Fortunately, the handbrake turn which saw Marina Carr lose out on a second Abbey production gave us Enda Walsh’s superb Safe House with a brilliant Kate Gilmore, who also shone in The President. Yet even an impressive Ella Lily Hyland couldn’t save Lady Gregory’s instantly regrettable Grainne . The year rounding off with Kat Hamill’s Gen Z, cartoon fluff that was the fun and frolicking Emma . Alter, by Kamchàtka. Image uncredited. Elsewhere in Dublin, The Project Arts Centre saw a changing of the guard as Sophie Motley took over from the much loved Cian O’Brien as artistic director. The baton also passing at Dublin Theatre Festival as Róise Goan took over as director from a stalwart Willie White. White and O’Brien much admired, as is the Project’s Carmel Mackey, a front of house fixture who retired this year…well, mostly. Meanwhile the Viking, Bewley’s Café Theatre, The New Theatre and Smock Alley kept their respective flags flying, along with The Civic, Axis and Draiocht Art Centres. It was often in such venues that more interesting work was happening. Similarly Glass Mask Theatre who, after a bumpy year, finally secured Arts Council funding and look set for a promising 2024. Sorcha Furlong in Tender Mercies. Image Al Craig. Once again it was outside Dublin that much of what was best was happening, especially during festivals. Indeed, the festival model looked like the preferred way for audiences to consume theatre in 2024. Yet festivals raise concerns about their impact on local theatres as well as the cost of travel, accommodation, and eating out for prospective audiences. Still, festivals did attract the best productions of 2024, including Druid’s fantastic revival of Tom Murphy’s, The House, the first of three Outstanding Productions of 2024 and the crown of Dublin Theatre Festival. Zak Ford-Williams (role rotated with Michael Patrick) in The Tragedy of Richard III. Credit, Melissa Gordon Elsewhere, Belfast International Arts Festival saw the award winning Lyric Theatre again showing how it’s done. The heartfelt The Tragedy of Richard III, starring Michael Patrick and Zak Ford-Williams, pushing at several boundaries. Even so, Cork Midsummer Festival proved to be 2024’s Outstanding Arts Festival for serving up some decidedly brilliant treats. Including Landmark Productions Theatre for One , in which Una Kavanagh in Louise Lowe’s Bait proved simply breathtaking. A promenade through Cork’s Shandon district in the delightful Winter Journey was both clever and smartly executed. Yet the transformative, nighttime forest stroll that was Alter by Kamchàtka, was the star of Midsummer and, unquestionably, The Best International Production of 2024. Meanwhile, Galway again set standards high with Mark O’Rowe’s stupendously brilliant Reunion , the second of 2024’s Outstanding Productions. Dancing at Lughnasa. Image Ros Kavanagh Opera had some strong outings with Kilkenny Arts Festival premiering Irish National Opera’s Trade/Mary Motorhead by Emma O’Halloran, libretti by Mark O’Halloran. INO enjoying a busy year with Rigoletto, L’Olimpiade, Salome and La Traviata, the latter 2024's Outsanding Opera Production. Wexford Festival Opera maintained its unrelenting commitment to excellence with The Critic by Charles Villers Stanford, libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali by Donizetti. Lady Gregory in America , by Alberto Caruso, libretto by Colm Tóibín, was by all accounts, also a terrific production.  Ultan Pringle and Emmanuel Okoye in Boyfriends. Image by Owen Clarke If dance had a quieter year, there was still quality to be had, with Luail, the newly minted Ireland's National Dance Company raising hopes for things to come. Junk Ensemble’s superb Dances Like A Bomb and São Paulo Dance Company  by Dance Consortium served up early year threats. BLKDOG by Botis Sava and 13 Tongues by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan were highlights in an otherwise underwhelming Dublin Dance Festival. Hip hop artist Jessie Thompson’s hugely impressive Crawler took Edinburgh by storm, Thompson a rising star to watch out for. Hyperphysical, by Irish Modern Dance Theatre, was a wonderful, five star delight. Yet Coisceim’s Dancehall Blues takes Outstanding Dance Production of the Year for its irresistible grace and charm. Irish National Opera's La Traviata. Image, Ros Kavanagh 2024 was a year when independent artists and companies provided much needed freshness and excitement. Glass Mask Theatre, weathering the storm of hard knocks, enjoyed success with Simon Stephen’s Country Musi c and Stephen Jones’s From Eden. Whatever their teething pains Glass Mask addressed one of the most worrying aspects in contemporary Irish theatre: creating opportunities for emerging young talent, of which there is an abundance, most notably female artists. Jordanne Jones in From Eden , Pattie Maguire in Country Music, and Tara Cush in The Dole Wide World were each outstanding, even in instances when the show was not. Indeed, many artists redeemed what were lacklustre productions throughout 2024; Claire O’Leary in The Borrowers , Meghan Tyler in Aurora , Mary Murray in Cosima , Pattie Maguire again in Julius Caesar Variety Show , and Eavan Gaffney in Breaking, Children Of The Sun and A Streetcar Named Desire, each artist outstanding even when the work was not. Venetia Bowe, Cathy Belton, Simone Collins and Robert Sheehan in Reunion by Mark O'Rowe. Image by Kris Askey Just to say if you fancy pouring yourself a little top up, please feel free. We'll wait. Amanda Coogan in Possession. Image by Patricio Cassinoni Experienced performers were not to be outdone. Rebecca O'Mara and Fiona Bell were stunning in Children of The Sun. Catherine Walker and Cathy Belton both fabulous in Reunion , as were Ruth McGinn and Aoife Mulholland in The Borrowers . Maeve Fitzgerald shone in The Dead, Map of Argentina and The Pull Of The Stars, as did Sorcha Furlong in Tender Mercies and Happiness Then . Bríd Ní Neachtain agus Caitríona Ní Mhurchú lit up Na Peirsigh/Persians Le hAeschylus and Deirdre Monaghan was simply mesmerising in Madeira . As was Carmel Stephens in Mother and Child and Amy Molloy in The House . Ericka Roe in It’s Always Your Bleedin’ Own , Marty Breen in Bitch , and Eva O’Connor in Chicken cemented their reputations as formidable rising stars. As did Hannah Mamalais in Emma, Emer Dineen in 0800 Cupid , and Imogen Doel and Hazel Doupe in Circle Mirror Transformation . Still, Eavan Gaffney and Pattie Maguire shone, with both responsible for several Outstanding Performances this year. As did a brilliant Leanne Bickerdike in Jodie Doyle’s Hate F%#k. But if you insist on only one, that would have to be the indomitable Marie Mullen for illuminating The House, The Dead, Endgame and Audrey or Sorrow with a presence and elegance that's unsurpassed. Mullen's effortless effort exuding characteristic joy and conviction, enriching everything she does. Marie Mullen and Bairbre Ní Chaoimh in The Dead. Image by Patrick Redmond. Men, on the other hand, had a far quieter year as gender balance looked like a bad joke. The Abbey’s female focused season and shows like The Pull Of The Stars saw mostly experienced male performers catching the breaks. Hugo Weaving impressive in Thomas Bernhard’s The President , as was Stephen Rea in Krapp’s Last Tape . Louis Lovett delightful in The Maestro and The Mosquita . As was Jack Meade and Peter Gowen in Dancing at Lughnasa. Robert Sheehan, Stephen Brennan and Ian-Lloyd Anderson each terrific in Reunion and the comic stylings of Domhnall Herdmann set Emma alight. Yet Marty Rea stood out, excelling in The Dead , The House, and Circle Mirror Transformation, delivering several Outstanding Performances in 2024 Leanne Bickerdike in Hate F%#k by Jodie Doyle. Image Al Craig Other productions that brought something to the year include Amanda Coogan’s superb Possession with Theatre for the Deaf. Are Ya Dancin’ by Carol Gleeson and Helen Spring was a hugely successful attempt at an Irish musical focused on the showband era, one sure to make a comeback. Tina Noonan’s hard hitting The Island exploring men’s experience of institutional abuse proved a labour of love that brought much love to a sensitive topic. Throughout the year, tech and design were again executed to the highest standard, with Katie Davenport garnering Designer of the Year for Safe Hous e and La Traviata. And while you could argue for any number of seasoned directors who excelled, relative newbie Ois O’Donoghue warrants Director of the Year for the promise shown in Hate F%#k.  Ericka Roe in TKB's It's Always You Bleedin' Own. Image, Ste Murray Regards new plays, companies like Jaxbanded and LemonSoap Productions confirmed their reputations for interesting new work with Jodie Doyle’s Hate F%#k and Ultan Pringle’s Boyfriends respectively. LemonSoap Productions earning Best New Company. The hugely talented Joy Nesbitt, along with the equally talented Pringle striking out with a Gen Alpha vibe that’s irresistibly infectious. Indeed, Pringle’s Boyfriends was a cracking piece of work, as was his directorial work on the hugely impressive Beards . If Boyfriends was a contender for play of the year, that should probably go to Mark O’Rowe’s Checkhovian comedy, Reunion , which was superb on every level. But championing the young, TKB’s It’s Always Your Bleedin’ Own takes Best New Play of 2024 for being smart, sassy, sexy and socially astute. Some will argue Amy Kidd’s Breaking should be in the mix. But forty five moderately interesting minutes that are then played backwards with actors alternating roles leans too heavily into student level gimmickry. Leaving the jury out with fingers crossed that Kidd will deliver on sure signs of promise. Having worked with Fishamble’s illustrious Jim Culleton, she’s sure to have learnt a tonne. Eva O'Connor in Chicken. Image Paul Baker and Hildegard Ryan Approaching the finish line, we canter home with Louise Lowe for her Outstanding Contribution to Irish Theatre . The Dead, Pull of the Stars, Hammam, Theatre for One, Starjazzer , all delivered within a twelve month period and not a dud amongst them. With her partner in crime Owen Boss, Lowe and a dedicated team have made ANU into one of the most important Irish theatre companies of the past decade. Their production of The Dead , in association with the brilliant Landmark Productions, being one of the year’s theatrical highlights and the third Best Production of 2024, seeing Landmark responsible for two of the year’s three best productions. Lowe’s intimate, immersive, no pulled punches productions might not be to everyone's liking, but you can’t discount her brilliance as a writer, historian, or director, or deny how she has shaped much of what's best in modern Irish theatre. Dancehall Blues. Image by Ros Kavanagh What can we hope for in the coming year? With The Abbey’s programme still unclear it’s hard to know what to expect from the National Theatre. But with The Gregory Project continuing into 2025 with the political charged Palestinian play MILK مِلْك. , you wonder is the Gregory Project ever going to end? A project attempting to imagine our future through revisioning the past often at the expense of understanding our present. Steeped in overt gender bias wherein everyone is not equally represented. Meanwhile The Gate launches a rinse and repeat season as McBrinn doubles down on safety. A return to Dancing at Lughnasa and a touring revival of Erica Murray’s The Loved Ones dampening enthusiasm. Murray, without doubt, is one of our most exciting new writers. But most want to see what she does next, not what she did last, especially this early in her career. Leaving it to a promising Lear and Abi Morgan’s Lovesong to generate excitement. And to those independent artists, and those we have yet to meet, to set the theatrical world alight. Pattie Maguire and John Cronin in Country Music by Simon Stephens. Image by Wen Driftwood Whatever happens, theatre will remain in a state of crisis. The changing political landscape which ousted The Green Party after a disastrous term  means the departure of Catherine Martin as Minister for the Arts. Whatever her party’s considerable shortcomings, Martin was a true advocate for the Arts who will be sorely missed. Her departure leaving the industry to renegotiate policy, with some parties, like Sinn Fein, allegedly not even having an arts policy worth speaking off. Then there’s the distribution of funding which saw the Irish Theatre Institute clamouring for signatories to redress an imbalance which has seen theatre’s allocation, outside of the big two, remain fundamentally unchanged since 2008 despite soaring costs. That simply has to change. Jason Mcnamara and Jessie Thompson in Crawler. Image uncredited There are other challenges. Attracting an audience in a costly city with pathetic public transport and deserted bicycles lanes engender problems of access which theatre can’t directly address. Then there’s the challenge from live music, with gigs and music festivals providing that communal, cathartic experience theatre claims to deliver but too often fails to provide. Indeed, the Abbey’s PR celebration of its 120 years, Spreading The News , ended the night by ceding the stage to a musician. Ominous? Symbolic? Stretching the point? One thing’s for sure, you wonder what the future of theatre looks like? All you can know for certain is that shows like Alter, The Dead, The House, or Reunion , or emerging artists like Eavan Gaffney, Pattie Maguire, Ultan Pringle and Leanne Bickerdike, or seasoned icons like Catherine Walker, Marty Rea, Fiona Bell and Marie Mullen can still send your pulse racing, only to induce a stillness in which you don’t want to move, speak or breath. Theatre still has the power to take your breath away. It doesn't happen enough, but when it does, nothing compares to it. Bitch by Marty Breen. Imahe Sophie O'Donovan So here’s raising a glass to all those who bravely and insanely tried and inspired in 2024. We thank you. For the record, no one expects everyone to agree with everything said. But a good critic is like a trusted friend. They try inform the audience of what they can expect for investing their time and money and practitioners if the emperor is naked, semi-dressed, overdressed, or rocking the catwalk. You might think with friends like that who needs enemies? But a friend that says what some might not want to hear makes for a better friend and, hopefully, a better critic. Here’s wishing everyone every success in 2025.

Eavan Gaffney, Tishé Fatunbi and Sade Malone in A Streetcar Named Desire. Photograph: Olga Kuzmenko *** It’s one of Irish theatre’s cruelest ironies. Despite less theatres and opportunities to work, we’re producing more and more extraordinary young talents looking for work. A growing list of graduates from The Lir, Bow Lane and The Gaiety School delivering dynamite performances. Exemplified by the stunningly talented Eavan Gaffney. The best thing about the overhyped Breaking , Gaffney again illuminates the stage in an audacious A Streetcar Named Desire , playing the iconic Blanche DuBois. A woman whose age a gentleman never asks, even when he knows she’s lying through her thirty year old vanity. A Southern belle, who, like her Antebellum home, has seen better days. Gaffney concealing a multitude of sins in a production that, if it frequently finds its targets, is forever missing the mark. Narratively, nothing’s changed. The alcoholic Blanche, fleeing to New Orleans in the summer of 1947, crashes with her sister Stella and her unrefined husband, Stanley Kowalski, in their sweltering, two room apartment. As tensions brew, Blanche’s secrets come into focus and the paragon of virtue is revealed as anything but. Leading to a final confrontation and a denouement that is still argued about today. And an ending featuring one of the classic lines in all of theatredom. But that’s just the facts, the truth is far more complicated. Tennessee Williams’s classic play a sumptuous layer cake of competing metaphors and themes. Old America and the post war American dream. Beauty and ugliness. Civilised and animal behaviour. Desire and death. The real and imagined. Add your own. One of the hallmarks of a problematic Streetcar is that it sounds like Blanche delivering an interrupted monologue in which other characters serve as pauses and beats rather than flesh and blood engagements. As is frequently the case under Cathal Cleary’s direction, generating an overriding sense of a restrained ensemble all on the same side but not always on the same team. Focusing on language and individual character rather than scene and story, micro rather than macro elements come to dominate, feeling like a collection of scenes developed independently. Compounded by poor staging choices, aside from Stephen Wood’s texturally terrific lights. Maree Kearn’s prop heavy, elevated platform pushed away from the back wall falling uncharacteristically short on several counts. Facilitating a stiff, seated intro, with a disgracefully underused Stephanie Dufresne evoking P J Harvey dirging during a Goth phase; the costly pretension is echoed in Jack Baxter’s distracting music. Leaving the hardly used seating area pushing the stage area too far front, resulting in poor sight lines and an inordinate amount of back watching. Cleary showing a lack of appreciation for the compositional demands of Smock Alley's three side auditorium. Evoking little sense of the sweltering, cultural melting pot that is New Orleans. Less a sense of a collaborative endeavour, but rather of matched, mismatched, and half matched engagements. In which an invested cast pour everything into their characters, yet too often look as if playing complimentary monologues rather than the same scene. Or of looking into the darkness, but never venturing in. Take Jack Meade’s Stanley. While Meade’s imposing physical presence and man’s man authority captures one side of the coin, Stanley lacks the sexual charisma that drives Stella wild, reduced instead to a menacing, masculine misogynist. Those having seen Meade with Dufresne in Deirdre Kinahan's sparkling Tempesta know the problem isn't Meade who can certainly bring the charm. Yet lust and desire, the heat at the heart of William’s play, is mostly extinguished. Talked about by characters as if they'd heard about it somewhere else. A delightful Sade Malone as Stella, the colour blind casting raising questions about backstory given its Antebellum roots, plays the devoted housewife beautifully, yet is far less convincing as a sister or wild lover, the final scene falling flat as a result. The experience further lopsided as safe scenes trot along nicely between Stanley, Stella and Blanche, but anything requiring digging deeper feels like it's still in the rehearsal room. Meanwhile Gaffney’s Blanche is charged with such energy it feeds everything and everyone onstage; Gaffney not always getting the same energy returned to feed off. Gaffney diving in when connection is found, or retreating each moment they weaken; each syllable, eyebrow raised, or nervous smile excavating Blanche’s soul whilst trying to conceal its wounds. Hair choice far better in the second half as Blanche literally loosens her hair from Tee Baxter’s school marmish constraints and we finally see her desirous soul. Finding real connection with Kristin Phillips’s beautifully judged Mitch. Phillips terrific in the safer scenes, but not credible when Mitch comes to collect his due. Loré Adewusi, Tishé Fatunbi, Darragh Feehely, Morgan C. Jones, and Dean Landau rounding out a strong supporting cast whose accents are spot on. As Gillian Anderson's, and more recently Paul Mescal’s production made clear, A Streetcar Named Desire may seem dated in places, but it never goes out of date. Though clearly a labour of love, under Cleary’s direction A Streetcar Named Desire never quite ignites. Like a nun in a motel room at The Flamingo, a room haunted by ghosts of sins and lovers, it feels staid and puritan. The famous pyjama scene, Stanley’s animal call for Stella and their subsequent embrace lacking that raw, dangerous energy that makes Blanche, Stanley and Stella three of theatre’s most iconic characters. All that remains when desire is tamed is a streetcar. A place for people watching. Passengers in their separate space. Trotting along. A comfortable journey. Safe. Predictable. Nothing to trouble the soul. Still, there’s worse journeys. Indeed, Gaffney always, and Meade, Malone and Phillips often, do enough to make the journey interesting, offering glimpses of something deeper in unguarded moments. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, presented by Smock Alley Theatre and Cathal Cleary Theatre Company, in association with Once Off Productions, runs at Smock Alley Theatre till December 21st. For more information visit Smock Alley Theatre .

Jordanne Jones and Rex Ryan in From Eden. Image Irem Akay **** In the beginning there was Alan and Eva, talking about God in a bathroom in Eden. Not exactly how the Bible story goes, but in Stephen Jones' heart rending From Eden , there’s several similarities. Two forlorn souls find that fate, or God, has thrust them together. Hurting sinners in need of redemption. From Eden offering less a sentimental romance but endeavouring to explore a deeper kind of connectedness. Alan and Eva sharing a welter of accumulating confessions, each hoping that before the clock strikes midnight their Cinderella souls might find something truer than true love. Rex Ryan in From Eden. Image Irem Akay If Jones is too clever to play the opposites attract cliche, for a moment you almost wonder. Hiding in a locked bathroom at a New Year’s Eve party, Alan drinks wine from a glass whilst Eva drinks vodka from a plastic water bottle. He looks like an aspiring academic, she resembles the lead dancer in a hip hop troupe. He is recovering from a bereavement and a religious experience, she from a break up and a psychological breakdown. But there's similairites too. Both harbour secrets and share an intesne dislike for the organised in fun and religion. Those familiar with the original production, directed by the much missed Karl Shiels and starring Shauna Kerslake and Jones himself, will recall the utterly charming story that unfolds as these lost souls sail for harbour. Under Jed Murray’s compositionally astute direction, Glass Mask deliver a distinctly different experience. One with a little less charm but a much stronger spine as its two broken souls strive for connection. Jones’ binaries given greater distinction by Murray. Beginning with Rex Ryan’s Alan, looking like Ned Flanders pudgy, younger brother. Sporting an Asperger expression of unease in social situations, he desires human contact even as he finds it awkward joking or talking. Ryan’s understated performance superbly taking discomfort to a whole other level. Stiff movements and mannerism suggesting someone easily susceptible to being recruited into a cult, or of having survived one. Ryan showing huge smarts and generosity in having Alan play sidekick to the whirlwind that is Jordanne Jones’s Eva. A Cadillac of juicy pink, Eva is a storm raging inside and out, forever on the look out for the next impending fight. The dismissed bridesmaid sitting like a boxer, elbows on knees, leaning forward, preparing for the blows she’s sure are coming. Ready with a sharp tongue and cutting remark to counter. Except Eva’s no fighter. Just a puppy barking loud pretending she’s a guard dog. Eva’s heartbreaking confessions outbursts of self-hating vulnerability. Jones devastating and irresistible as a walking wound channeling pains all too familiar. Jordanne Jones in From Eden. Image Irem Akay It’s a paradox that speed can have the contrary effect of slowing things down. If pace lulls at times, a little reining in of haste in places would elevate From Eden into an even richer experience. In fairness, transfering from the Civic, where the production premiered, to the intimacy of Glass Mask Theatre involves a period of recalibration. Something Glass Mask themselves are going through having finally, and deservedly, received Arts Council support. Promising an exciting season of new work, both homegrown and from abroad for 2025. Like Alan and Eva, Glass Mask have weathered life's storms and are daring to hope what comes next? Like Glass Mask, what elevates From Eden into something that little bit special is what might initially feel unsatisfying; the subverting of obvious expectations. Building to a glorious final image perfect for the season, From Eden serves up a heart warming testament to all that’s best in us. From Eden by Stephen Jones, presented by Glass Mask Theatre, runs at Glass Mask Theatre until December 19. For more information visit Glass Mask Theatre

Ericka Roe, Lloyd Cooney and Cameron Hogan in TKB's It's Always You Bleedin' Own. Image, Ste Murray ***** Dublin 1 and its Northside adjacent residents. Little more than animal gangs pulling wheelies on Parnell Street. Or addicts shooting up openly in O’Connell Street next to children. And let’s not forget 2023’s Dublin Riot. Feckless, racist, thieving drug dealers, and that’s just the grandparents. Wouldn’t see that carry on in Ballybrack. The inner city’s response a socialist manifesto claiming disadvantage, deprivation, generational trauma or gentrification. Or romanticised claims at being the heart of Dublin. Salt of the earth Dubliners enjoying a singalong, a good bop, or a night at the bingo. Just like they did in the good old days. Except it’s not the good old days. It’s 2024. Hotels, like bicycle lanes, are cluttering the inner city and the flats are being torn down. Meanwhile a malignant energy is manifesting on what were once safe streets. In It’s Always Your Bleedin’ Own , the final instalment in The St Mary’s Mansions Trilogy, writer TKB (Thomas Kane Byrne) recognises all of the above yet insists it’s not the whole story. Cameron Hogan in TKB's It's Always You Bleedin' Own. Image, Ste Murray Trilogy fans familiar with Well That’s What I Heard and Say Nothin’ To No One , will find themselves only marginally better informed than those here for the first time. Action capable of standing alone, for the most part, as serial cheater Darren admits he’s having an affair with Amber Leaf Green no less. She of the Juicy Couture tracksuit, soon to be wed to Mick from the RA. A coffin dodger who can provide Amber with the respect and security she needs. But what she needs most is a bespoke wedding dress to stun her WhatsApp detractors. And who better than former neighbour, London based designer Cian Richards, to make it for her. A wannabe fashionista already looking like a has been; Cian is riddled with panic attacks, familial guilt, and third degree imposter syndrome following a failed collection. Reluctantly agreeing to help Amber in the hope of reclaiming his mojo, he returns to a vastly changed Dublin. Whisking up a whirlwind of jealousies, desires, drug fuelled bops and late night swims. Only for all three to arrive back where they started. But maybe now they’ll be able to say a proper hello, or goodbye.  Lloyd Cooney and Ericka Roe in TKB's It's Always You Bleedin' Own. Image, Ste Murray Despite sporting three incredible performances, not everything works as well as it might. Name associations overplay their hand and a machine gun spraying of lines means some humour flies overhead and misses its target. Then there’s an unforgivably lazy twist at the end that’s uncharacteristically poor. Yet while not perfect, it’s still rather brilliant, especially the manner of its telling. More character study than story; language, like fashion, denotes a performance of protest. Rhyming street slang, shared catchphrases, name associations, accents, rhythms and rhymes all facilitate a shared shorthand that refuses to endorse the status quo. Offering a shower of verbal fireworks in which insults rain down like sparks. A refusal mapped onto the body where authenticity and integrity are defined by the vagaries of fashion and pop culture conversations. Each character a physical, social, and artistic body strutting defiantly through life like it’s their personal runaway. Ellen Kirk’s catwalk set and fashion week costumes vibrantly defiant and expressive. Eoin Byrne’s lights and Lara Gallagher’s sound adding warmth, texture and energy. Ronan Phelan’s superb direction queering the pitch without lazily resorting to kitsch. Ensuring Lloyd Cooney’s tracksuit dim Darren, Cameron Hogan’s swaggering Cian, and Ericka Row’s inimitable Amber are each superb setting their collective catwalk alight. Bopping, swimming, shagging behind screens or heaving with anxiety; it hits like an assault on the senses and sensibilities. Meanwhile Kirk’s ever present scaffold silently evokes the once upon a time of the flats, along with their current demise.  Ericka Roe in TKB's It's Always You Bleedin' Own. Image, Ste Murray As stories go, Dublin’s inner city has been here before. Its people trapped between an uncomfortable past and an uncertain future. For Cian, Darren and Amber, that past lives in memories of the Q Bar. For an older generation it was previously known as The Harp. TKB’s dynamic trio might lament the demise of the flats, for his Nan and her generation it would have been the tenements. It’s a new spin on an old story infused with restless energy by Cooney, Hogan and Roe, each playing several characters. Most notably, there’s the divine Ms. Amber Green. With Amber Green TKB has given us a Molly Bloom for Millennials and Gen Z. A fiery, feisty, morally ambiguous Dublin woman with a quick wit, vicious tongue, and wild passions. Amber brought definitively to life by a superlative Ericka Roe in a career defining performance. And if you’ve seen Roe in Say Nothin’ To No One , that’s saying something. Roe has never been better. Nor, for that matter, has TKB.  Demanding to be heard rather than read, boasting three excellent performances, all exquisitely directed in cracking, meta-theatrical fashion, It’s Always Your Bleedin’ Own deserves to be in contention for best new play of 2024. Gerrup Helen, whoever you are, and get yourself a ticket. It’s Always Your Bleedin’ Own by TKB, presented by Breadline in association with Project Arts Centre, runs at The Project Arts Centre until December 14. For more information visit Project Arts Centre

Michael Chioldi (Rigoletto) in INO's Rigoletto. Photo Pat Redmond *** Rigoletto was considered groundbreaking when it first premiered in Venice’s Teatro la Fenice in 1851. Verdi’ s pacy melodrama about a lecherous duke, an over protective father and his innocent daughter breaking the mould by portraying royalty as scoundrels and a hunchback jester as an anti-hero. Musically, relying less on arias and more on the orchestra to convey emotional expression, along with a significant number of duets, it went against the popular operatic grain. Which is not to say arias were frowned upon, those included being simply stunning. As is its famous quartet, or double duet, which has aged gloriously well. Singing done fine justice in Irish National Opera’s Rigoletto . Which, alas, like its eponymous star, sounds far better than it looks. Rigoletto proving a vocally breathtaking, musically satisfying, visually hideous production. David Howes (Count Ceprano) and Michael Chioldi (Rigoletto) in INO's Rigoletto. Photo Pat Redmond Problems begin with Jamie Vartan’s set, evoking a Nativity crib minus the figures decorated with headache inducing, mauve flock wallpaper. Jean-Jacques Delmotte’s kitsch chorus costumes seemingly assembled from the discards of matching drapes and sheets. Venetian bird masks with bowler hats hinting of Magritte and Steampunk adding to the visual mess. Only the Duke, his closest cronies, the flirtatious Maddalena and assassin Sparafucile pull off anything credible. The innocent Gilda, meanwhile, presents like a half shorn, hospital patient out on day release. As for the hunchback jester Rigoletto, slouching about with a hobble, his hunch resembling an oversized boil; his inflated shorts and circular collar flesh out a creepy, Pennywise resemblance. We get it, we’re not supposed to like him; emotional resonance lacking subtlety throughout. Meanwhile, Nicole Morel’s movement sequences look like knock off Bridgerton with Rick Fisher’s wall of bulbs and depressive lights not helping matters, including an insecure spot endlessly seeking its performer. Rigoletto making a spectacle of itself in all the wrong ways. Michael Chioldi (Rigoletto) in INO's Rigoletto. Photo Pat Redmond The effect dampening the power of an opera whose libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1832 play Le roi s’amuse by Victor Hugo, thrives on high jinx. Betrayals, curses, assassins, revenge, lust and murder plumbing human depths to reach emotional heights. Much of which gets lost with director, Julien Chavez, seemingly unsure whether to play Rigoletto as a comedy, a tragedy, or a tragic-comedy; presenting something that's neither one thing nor the other. Struggling with Verdi’s no nonsense plot transitions that get rushed through. Forgoing character nuance, for the most part, aside from Gilda who looks like she didn’t get the memo or wisely tore it up. Flashes, as when the court surrounds the protesting Rigoletto, or Gilda's playful shooing away of the men in her life holding too many uneven moments to account. Niamh O'Sullivan (Maddalena) and Julian Close (Sparafucile) in INO’s Rigoletto. Photo, Pat Redmond An unevenness reflected in singing. Tenor Bekhzod Davronov’s licentious Duke, superb during arias, lacks power in duets and that famous quartet, struggling to be heard above the music and competing voices. Sounding less robust next to soprano Soraya Mafi's Gilda; Mafi's vocal prowesss showing a rich maturity that has Gilda sounding like the more adult character. Davronov’s duet with mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan’s mesmerising Maddalena far more successful; O’Sullivan’s singing clearly going from strength to strength. Bass Julian Close’s Sparafucile, and baritone Philip Rhodes’ Count Monterone both prove hugely impressive as, vocally, is Michael Chioldi as Rigoletto. Chioldi’s duets with Mafi stunning and fabulous, due in no small measure to Mafi pushing for emotional connection. Mafi conveying terrific range, emotionally and vocally, whilst providing a lynchpin for Chioldi to push against. Strengthening the case for those who believe the opera should be called Gilda . Soraya Mafi (Gilda) in INO's Rigoletto. Photo Pat Redmond If music, under conductor Fergal Shiel, suffered some uncharacteristic opening night issues, they were the least of Rigoletto’s problems. Music, occasionally inspiring, doing enough to suggest a solvable hiccup and deserveing of a little leniency. A little leniency also required from a modern audience given Verdi's misogynistic men and idiot women swooning at the first bad boy they meet. Looking like cast off Chaplin, with a chorus of Keystone Cops at times, Rigoletto’ s efforts at modernised staging look dated. Chaplin knew how to be funny, how to show pathos, and how to transition between both. Little of which is in evidence here. What is in evidence is a vocally impressive Chioldi and a blindingly brilliant Mafi. Rigoletto, by Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play Le roi s’amuse by Victor Hugo, presented by Irish National Opera in a co-production with Santa Fe Opera and Opera Zuid in association with Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, runs at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre December 1, 3, 5 and 7. For more information visit Bord Gáis Energy Theatre or Irish National Opera

The Dublin Riot - One Year On. Image uncredited.   Saturday, November 23rd, 2024. The first anniversary of the Dublin Riots. Reviewed in every Irish news and media outlet these past few weeks. An event that transcended its local impact and affected the entire country and our image globally. What makes the silence of Dublin’s two big theatres peculiar is that The Gate was right at the centre of the riot and both The Abbey and The Gate have been very vocal about representing their local, Dublin 1 communities. Yet both appear to have ignored the anniversary of the most significant social unrest in Dublin 1 in years. The question of whose stories are we telling, and who’s telling the stories, magnified by a recent interview given by the Abbey’s Executive Director Mark O’Brien in The Sunday Business Post. Talk of challenging elitism, curating real, authentic relationships with those who never thought the space was for them, about not reflecting the state back on itself but asking who do we really want to be begging the question, who is it that's doing the asking? TKB, Dublin 1’s most prominent playwright, has their new show opening in the Project next month. Which is not to speak poorly of the Project, or deflate enthusiasm for the Abbey’s delightful seasonal treat Emma . But with both The Gate and The Abbey silent in response to the riot, PR is starting to sound like a mission statement absent a vision. In the end it was not the National Theatre but the Axis in Ballymun, O’Brien’s old stomping ground, that attempted to articulate a response. The brainchild of writer Lisa Walsh, developed by writers group I Nua, The Dublin Riot - One Year On saw ten pieces trying to make sense of the senseless. Arts Council funded, the project featured many seasoned professionals, alongside rising stars, but was essentially a work of community theatre. If professional standards didn’t rigorously apply, some pieces far surpassed them. Even so, the approximately two hour show overran by an hour for no good reason. Video footage was so dark it bordered on pointless. And while the Axis’s floor staff were both informative and friendly, a tech operator on their phone seated in the audience in the middle of a performance didn’t make for a good look. By the time the end arrived you might well have been incandescent with rage. Not helped by some of the pieces. Efforts to seemingly justify (an uppercut against the oppressor), explain away (social media moguls from silicon valley), place the hands over the ears and pretend it was just an anomaly, that Irish people are better than that, felt hard to swallow. As was an over use of Northside working class, Southside bourgeoise cliches and an over reliance on socialist jargon. Indeed, some pieces felt more about the writers than the riot. Some never digging any deeper than the burning Luas, an image that recurred with such frequency you began to wonder had anything else happened that night? Yet there were genuine nuggets to be had amidst the silt and soil. The satirical And the winner is… by Susan Lynch, directed by Andy Crook, saw a brilliant Anto Seery eviscerate right wing notions of nationalism for a game show in the future, the recital of The Noble Call a trace of pure genius. Mary and Billy by Brian Walsh, directed by Lesley Conroy, proved wonderfully insightful in its examination of a Loyalist and Republican married couple. Mellisa Nolan and Charlie McGuinness terrific as old lovers remembering when their exception wasn’t the rule. Buzz , written and performed by Linda Teehan revealed a stunning talent in a show where self-centred ignorance proves a kind of bliss. Bright Yellow Letters by Melissa Nolan, performed by Leanne Bickerdike and directed by Kathleen Warner Yeates, making plain that when it comes to rioting, like domestic violence, there’s no excuse can justify it. Women again at the centre of Lisa Walsh’s Fanny Riot , directed by Kathleen Warner Yeates and performed by Kelly Hickey, and Those Flames written and performed by Mai Ishikawa, directed by Eftychia Spryidaki and Ezra Moloney. The latter an exquisite body poem about a woman hiding under a table, the former a pussy riot in which biography meets reflection. If you had to give an award, top prize would have to go to Pricks by Patrick O’Sullivan, performed brilliantly by Eric O’Brien, Jed Murray, Thúy Vine O’Sullivan and O’Sullivan himself. A tale that got right to the heart of the matter with superb simplicity and a beautiful twist, sensitively directed by Andy Crook. Similarly, if you had to give an award for socially relevant theatre that attempts to portray the Northside as more than a hotbed of violence or a working class Shangri-La, though neither are ever too far away, it would have to go to The Dublin Riot - A Year On . Flawed, messy, and unforgivably long, it features several standout pieces that deserve to be developed into stand alone works. Works telling those involved that they can keep their hand-me-down hatreds. We have something far richer than your violence. And we will find a way to make ourselves heard. The Dublin Riot - One Year On ran at The Axis Ballymun, Saturday November 23rd, 2024.

Toni O’Rourke, Hannah Mamalis and Domhnall Herdman in Emma. Photo: Ros Kavanagh . **** How shall we put this? In popular parlance Emma Woodhouse is what is commonly known as a bitch. A narcissistic egoist meddling in other people’s affairs for her own amusement whilst being indifferent to the cost on others. She'll tell you it's because she's bored, her uniquely clever mind meddling for lack of anything else to apply itself to. Indeed, self proclaimed matchmaker Emma will tell you lots of things. Yet even allowing the story is set at a time when women were raised to be uneducated wives, given that Emma can't see what's plainly obvious to everyone, even those who haven't read Jane Austen's Emma , and that all Emma's plans only make God laugh, her brilliant mind argument starts to feel like a stretch. And even allowing that she is really clever, Emma is still a bitch who thinks she's a celebrity influencer. A spoiled, entitled, self-centred, vivacious, utterly delightful and irresistible bitch. Who’s about to have an epiphany. Adapted from Austen's novel, American playwright Kate Hamill serves up an Emma for Gen Z. Hamill’s cinema styled, magpie script a hybrid of Bridgeton revisionism, Fleabag’s meta-theatrical direct address, and Barbie’s up front feminism. Tempered by a smidgen o f Bridget Jones’ Diary and a Calum Scott moment, a la Robyn, serving as the cherry on top. Patrick Martins in Emma. Photo: Ros Kavanagh. If director Claire O’Reilly elicits eight top drawer performances, they can suffer from Emma trying too hard to be funny. The first half relying on so much camp and kitsch it starts to look like a Royal Variety Performance sketch from the 1970s. O'Reilly failing to tap into the underlying pathos, going for the easy laugh. Emma’s relationship with Mr Knightley showing hints of The Taming of the Shrew with none of its tension or passion. Her efforts to find a better class of husband for the lovestruck Harriet hinting, but never exploiting, issues of class, power and position. Austen’s comedy of class and manners seeing its class reduced to little more than a reference and its manners downplayed. O’Reilly trying to fill the vacuum with comedy when often it needed heart so we could feel deeper and laugh louder. The situation resolved somewhat in the second half where pace quickens and a reversal at a party introduces much needed pathos. There’s also a door into somewhere truly interesting during a pillow fight that swings open only to slam immediately shut. Leaving us with a predictable, happy ever after that falls more than a little flat, especially in light of the road not taken. Ciara Berkeley in Emma. Photo: Ros Kavanagh. In between there’s lots of fun of varying quality wrapped in a heightened sense of the cartoonish. Molly O’Cathain’s set juxtaposing Victorian curtains with images of lovers against a garish colour scheme like an exploded box of crayons. Coupled with a bridge and bedroom to facilitate Hamill’s endless cinematic scene changes. Colour again gone wild in Catherine’s Fays cartoon costumes, majestic in Sinéad McKenna’s clever wash of lights. Performances also lean into the cartoonish with Liz Fitzgibbon and Clare Barrett stealing scenes whatever their roles without even trying. Similarly Damian Kearney whether being a gruel obsessed curmudgeon or super smooth dancer. Patrick Martin’s also excellent as the old, old friend zoned Mr. Knightley. Along with Toni O’Rourke as the eponymous, squealing, self-serving Emma. It’s a testament to O’Rourke’s talent that a character often reduced to one dimension is made utterly present and engaging. Yet it is three Abbey debutants who really stand out. Ciara Berkeley mesmerising as Emma’s nemesis Jane Fairfax, along with playing other roles. A brilliant Domhnall Herdman as the camp Mr Elton and kitsch Mr Churchill shows exquisite comic flair. As does Hannah Mamalis as the love hungry Harriet, an awkward, biscuit loving, obsessive dog of a soul given vivid expression by Mamalis. So brilliant is Mamalis the play might well have been called Harriet. Toni O’Rourke and Emma Mamalis in Emma. Photo: Ros Kavanagh. If its engine sputters for much of the first half, once it kicks into life Emma proves a lively, joyous affair with a little song and dance thrown in for the sheer heck of it. Some might argue it reduces Austen’s classic novel to the level of a cartoon, but Emma aspires to genuine girl power, to bringing laughter to the Christmas season, and to always moving forward, onward and upward. Emma by Jane Austen, adapted by Kate Hamill, runs at The Abbey Theatre until January 25, 2025 For more information visit The Abbey Theatre

Maeve Fitzgerald and Marty Rea in The Dead. Image by Patrick Redmond ***** You are cordially invited to a select gathering at the residence of The Three Graces of the Dublin Musical Society. An annual evening of song, dance, music and merriment to celebrate the festive season. Your hosts advise that their permanent residence at Ushers Quay has fallen into disrepair (a result of successive governments neglecting to preserve it for posterity), compelling them to relocate this year’s celebration to lavish rooms in the Museum of Literature Ireland, number 85 St Stephens Green. Hansoms and cabs are available for those inconvenienced. It will be a themed evening. Inspired by Mr James Joyce’s 1914 short story The Dead , from his esteemed collection Dubliners . Adapted for stage and capably directed by local impresario, Ms Louise Lowe . No RSVP required. This immersive, site specific, promenade event sold out weeks before its opening. However, you might try obtain returns, join the waiting list, or urge the kind people at ANU, Landmark and MoLI to extend the run. I would urge you to do so. For The Dead is one of those singular productions you cannot afford to miss during this, or any other season. Marie Mullen and Bairbre Ní Chaoimh in The Dead. Image by Patrick Redmond. For those unfamiliar with Joyce’s most popular, and longest short story, or the excellent 1987 film version by John Houston, The Dead follows Gabriel and Gretta Conroy as a revelation following a song heard at a respectable, if rather tedious Christmas party challenges the very fabric of their lives. The party’s hosts, socialite spinster Aunts Julia and Kate, the beautifully paired Marie Mullen and Bairbre Ní Chaoimh, and their excitable niece, Roseanna Purcell’s adorable Mary Jane, dodder in anticipation of Gabriel and Gretta’s arrival. The audience greeted in the hallway by the excellent Pattie Maguire whose flustered and flushed Lily is on the look out for the couples arrival. Maeve Fitzgerald utterly divine as the charming and vivacious Gretta, a stylish Galway woman about Dublin town waltzing in like a breath of fresh air. Warmly whisking the audience upstairs, followed by the man of the hour Gabriel; Marty Rea wonderful at saying it all when saying nothing, or hiding in plain sight when speaking. Ushered into a large room, the ever brilliant Michael Glenn Murphy’s ebullient Mr Browne regales all present with verve and gusto. The recital the first in a series of leitmotifs about ghostly old loves. This being the world of the sing song, the singalong, the formal dance, the party piece. John Cronin in The Dead. Image by Patrick Redmond. What follows is a whirling dervish of delight as stories are told, songs sung, dances danced and characters reveal their personalities and peculiarities, their peeves and passions. Billie Traynor’s superb Mrs Malins dreading the arrival of her son Freddie, a harmless drunk tolerated by the paragons of social virtue brilliantly realised by John Cronin. A superb Oliver Flitcroft as intolerant Bartell Darcy, a renowned singer with a sore throat and an easily bruised ego, and Matthew Williamson as the unflappable Kerrigan, there to ensure the party is always in full swing. Beneath which tensions brew between a married couple, a mother and son, political rivals, and all manner of egoists and eccentrics. Sat at a sumptuous dinner table for a post dinner toast, it all flips in an instant. A song overheard off stage, like a ghost singing across the distance of time, sees Gretta frozen at the door before fleeing back to their hotel room at The Gresham with Gabriel in pursuit. But a little more entertainment before we join them. The bad tempered Darcy singing badly, the party animal Kerrigan dancing like a vaudevillian entertainer, Williamson again stunning with his signature stylings. Even as the moment belongs to Mrs Malins embarrassed rendition of Love’s Old Sweet Song , the leitmotif repeated once more before the party ends in exhausted reverie. Action shifting from a public to a private space, the audience retreating behind the veil of spectators as we enter the twilight bedroom. Almost scandalised to see Gretta in her undergarments; it is the early twentieth century after all. Made witness to a quiet revelation leading to a profound realisation. The couple, backs to each other on the marriage bed, snow falling on the living and the dead, a final image of despair, loss, or perhaps, just perhaps, hope. Rea’s monologue asking if he, and us perhaps, is too afraid to really live or die, being little more than one of the living dead? Roseanna Purcell, Bairbre Ní Chaoimh and Marie Mullen in The Dead. Image by Patrick Redmond. Throughout, the juxtaposition of opposites, such as private moments glimpsed in public, evoke the shallowness of social obligation and the largesse of the heart. A heart  often wounded and bleeding. The audience oscillating between spectator and participant. Good natured guests enjoying a toast or a recital, then silent witnesses, like Scrooge accompanied by the Ghost of Christmas past, overhearing Una Kavanagh’s superb nationalist, Molly Ivors, challenge Gabriel over being a West-Brit as they dance. The other dancers reduced to unnatural slow motion, the effect almost cinematic. The sheer scale of Lowe’s vision and direction astonishing given the insane number of moving parts. A flawless ensemble matched by an equally flawless tech. Owen Boss’s understated set, Joan O’Cleary’s extraordinary costumes, Ciarán Bagnall’s mood defining lights ensuring we never enter a museum piece but a living, breathing reality; the past made present. Carl Kennedy’s sound design wonderful, even as his contemporary compositional flourish in the final scene might not be to everyone’s taste for seeming out of place. Marty Rea and Maeve Fitzgerald in The Dead. Image by Patrick Redmond. Whilst its timing and setting make it an obvious seasonal attraction, it's easy to forget that what’s being offered is a strikingly brilliant adaptation of Joyce’s The Dead . A story where little happens, where people are petty, where social mores suggest an exhausting game, and where even the best dinner parties have an element of tedium. Something Lowe is unafraid to embrace, knowing it’s an essential part of the audience experience, and of what propels Gabriel to ask what life is for. If the production creaks at the seams in places, it never bursts even if it might come close. The haunting song played off set might see the pivotal scene lose something of its import as Gretta stands with her back turned to the audience and blurred by lights, but it makes the ghostly distance palpable and focuses on Gretta and not the singer. Again, Fitzgerald might tilt towards the histrionic in the bedroom scene risking easy emotionalism or Dickensian exaggeration, but it’s saved by Fitzgerald’s animal howl of grief. With a production of this scale, there will always be issues of balance, of preference, of what might have worked better, Gretta’s exit being a case in point. But to see such comprehensive welding of such disparate ingredients into such a magical whole is simply astonishing. Like your mother’s Christmas Pudding made to her own secret recipe, The Dead is a succulent, scrumptious, multi-layered production of inexpressible delight. One which achieves the miraculous in that it brings The Dead to life. The Dead by James Joyce, adapted and directed by Louise Lowe, presented by ANU and Landmark Productions in association with MoLI, runs at MoLI until January 12, 2025. For more information visit The Dead

Leaning on Gates by Seamus O'Rourke **** It’s been a day since I last wrote a book review. But it’s not everyday you receive not one, but two books written by one of the country’s best loved theatre makers. The re-release of Seamus O’Rourke’s debut autobiography Standing in Gaps , and his latest publication, its follow up, Leaning on Gates. The first two instalments in what appears to be an ongoing memoir. The inimitable O’Rourke taking a stroll down memory Leitrim in the 1970s and 80s. In which a gormless giant with aspirations of GAA immortality negotiates family, school, work and growing up in a county full of the maddest, wildest, most endearing characters. The maddest, wildest, and most endearing being O’Rourke himself. With Standing in Gap s, O’Rourke lays the foundation, beginning with his auspicious birth and carrying on through schooldays as an inside outsider and his passion for Gaelic football before culminating in his late teens. Offering an episodic daisy chain of connected events and characters held together by chronology. O’Rourke’s understated tone, humour-filled observations and deceptive opaqueness proving irresistible as he talks about family, friends and local misfits. Indeed, O’Rourke doesn’t like the spotlight, more often glimpsed as he shimmies past in unguarded moments like an embarrassed shadow. Hidden behind a rich colloquial language and a cast of wild, exuberant characters. Like his delightful grandmother. O’Rourke happy to direct your attention to the community so you won’t look too closely at him. His awkwardness, shyness, his wanting to fit but not sure if he does. His taciturn Father, from whom the absence of criticism passes as praise. Their love unspoken, as likely to wound as to help. Their relationship a through line threading everything together, with O’Rourke’s mother knowing and seeing all. Leaning on Gates and Standing in Gaps by Seamus O'Rourke Narratively there’s no great events or plot twists. The life of a Leitrim farming family having few great upheavals. But upheavals eventually arrive in the form of the 1980s. Booze, work, women and New York peppering Leaning on Gates with something akin to unrest. Traversing through his early twenties and his beginnings in theatre, O’Rourke’s sequel is a much more robust affair. The writing stronger, the observations more layered and nuanced, its humour and anecdotes richer than ever. The conversational tone slipping into confessional as he describes his relationship with drink, with women, with being utterly lost be it in a bedsit in Dublin, a construction site in New York or back home with his family. Truths hidden behind laughter becoming clearer, more heartfelt, more visceral, even as sentimentality is never overly indulged. Emotion a luxury neither he nor his Father subscribe to, even as it wants its pound of flesh. O'Rourke's mask slipping, but never coming off. No surprise when you think about it. What comic hasn’t used comedy to hide behind? Like the exaggerated characters in his superlative shows, O’Rourke fashions himself into a larger than life character. A relatable, no nonsense, bemused and bewildered wise man without brains, or so he’d have you believe. One who loves Gaelic football, working with his hands, and who tells a great story and tells it well. Like fellow Leitrim local Michael Harding, behind the veil of bemusement there’s something honest, vulnerable, wild and longing that fuels it all. If McGahern’s reputation as Leitrim’s finest writer won’t suffer too much in comparison, similarities aren’t as far fetched as you might think. A love of Leitrim, its people, places and peculiarities are richly rendered with some impressive turns of phrase. The colloquial rich language ensuring readers are elected, whether remembering oft forgotten phrases or marvelling at the poetic and supple way language was once used; O’Rourke’s mastery and memory impressive. But you need a community for that kind of language, the fragmenting of which underscores O’Rourke’s bitter sweet sense of encroaching modernisation even if it does mean a bigger house.  Seamus O'Rourke Like Tarry Flynn, written by that neighbour up the road, Standing in Gaps and Leaning on Gates capture a fading world and a young man’s changing relationship with himself as he faces into a dreaded, exciting and uncertain future. If you belong to that community you’ll find much to enjoy here. If not, you’ll still find much to delight. Especially, but not exclusively, if you’re from Leitrim. Showing hints of the richness of McGahern, the probing of Kavanagh and the insights of Harding, all wrapped up in O’Rourke’s seanchaí stylings, you’d have to be mad to miss out. Treat yourself, or a loved one, and buy both. Roll on the third instalment. Leaning on Gates and Standing in Gaps by Seamus O'Rourke published by Gill are available from all good booksellers.

Claire O'Leary and Aoife Mulholland in The Borrowers. Image, Ros Kavanagh **** Fun fuelled feel-good forgives a flurry of failings in the Gate Theatre’s ham-fisted musical, The Borrowers . A seasonal offering to delight the kiddies even as Scrooges, Grinches, and more demanding musical aficionados might be less impressed. Róisín McBrinn’s clunky direction, Fionn Foley’s gauche tunes, Charles Way’s screenplay structured adaptation struggling for footing beneath a technical avalanche. A reminder that even in the midst of a visual maelstrom what matters most is the presence of the performer. The Borrowers a stunning success in terms of its superlative cast, with Claire O’Leary looking every inch a musical theatre megastar. For those unfamiliar with Mary Norton’ s tales from the 1950s, it’s all about the little people. Tiny, cautious outsiders who live beneath floorboards, behind fireplaces, in badger setts, or under a grandfather clock. Surviving by borrowing items from human "beans" which are then repurposed for their own needs. Like the Clock family, whose adventurous daughter Arrietty dreams wide eyed and big, longing for the outside world. Pushing her luck, she’s discovered by an ailing human boy, Tom, leading to a mad dash for the wilds as their home is destroyed. Alone, with nowhere to live, the immigrant family endure many dangers as they search for other Borrowers, hoping they’re not the last of their kind. Ruth McGill in The Borrowers. Image, Ros Kavanagh While May switching the setting from England to Ireland delivers some playful gags, structurally it all plods along like a multi-scene novel badly adapted for the screen. Something McBrinn’s direction never successfully negotiates, with tension hampered by ho hum pacing and clunky staging. From digital ingenuity to Bosco level basics, a barrage of tech delivers a visual food fight of uneven quality, employing everything from projections to puppetry. Paul Wills’ overworked set proving hard work whilst working hard to achieve cinema level standards, with its earthy colours evoking a depressive dullness. If the point was to offset a colourless banality with Wills’ clever and colourful costumes it’s a hollow victory, even as TK and Tayto outfits, along with crayoned hair, prove a wonderful touch. Sarah Jane Shiels lighting far more successful in establishing mood and tone. As is Dick Straker’s hit and miss video design leaning into low budget cinematic as often as it proves theatrically inventive. Róisín Whelan’s movement sequences might be full of playground antics, but dances never excite. Nor do Fionn Foley’s songs, which show huge promise, most notably the feel-good finale. The bulk sounding as if written in the style of musical theatre for a sketch on Whose Line Is It Anyway , against which singing sometimes struggles to be heard. If its kitchen sink approach to visuals feels as cluttered as a Borrowers backpack, the experience is made infectiously enjoyable by an infectiously entertaining cast. David Rawle showing impressive range as the feeble Tom and wild boy Spiller. As is Marty Beanz Warde in a variety of contrasting roles. Ruth McGill proves utterly terrific as the pantomime villain, Mrs Driver, along with Aoife Mulholland as the snobbish Homily. The Mrs Bucket of The Borrowers world, Mulholland frequently mesmerises just as she did in the forgettable Piaf. Ben Morris as the paternal Pod is excellent doing what paternal Pods do. But the night belongs to Claire O’Leary, a little miss dynamite of talent, presence, exuberance and energy. O’Leary’s adorable Arrittey the fulcrum holding it all together. Standing out in a superb ensemble, her star in the ascendant and sure to keep on rising. Ben Morris, Claire O'Leary, Aoife Mulholland and David Rawle in The Borrowers. Image, Ros Kavanagh Like Arrietty, and probably O'Leary, The Borrowers is a feisty little thing that dreams big. Unlike Arrietty, it’s never as big as its dreams. Its pantomime theatrics suggesting less a musical so much as an early morning, pre-school TV programme at times. One that trots to a standing ovation whilst looking like it belongs in The Ark rather than the West End. If guaranteed to evoke joy on young children's faces, like seeing presents Christmas morning, for some musical theatre lovers The Borrowers might feel like receiving socks. Fancy, funny, colourful socks, but nothing too exciting. Still, young children everywhere are sure to enjoy the fun and the mayhem. The Borrowers by Mary Norton, adapted for the stage by Charles Way, runs at the Gate Theatre until January 12, 2025. For more information visit the Gate Theatre .

Charlie Hogan and Lauren Larkin in Everything Falls. Image, Ste Murray **** Everything Falls, written and created by Feidlim Cannon and Gary Keegan of Brokentalkers, along with Shaun Dunne, relies on a tried but not always to be trusted formula. Dunne’s Ted Talk, Survey Monkey format yielding a slanted tale. One garnered from real life interviews with those having lived experience of family care. The ever likeable and eternally boyish Dunne directly addressing his audience. Clever wordplay on the word care muddying the waters, suggesting a lot more going on than is actually going on. For what Dunne’s really thinking about is the carer, often at the expense of the cared. Dunne’s narrative alter ego, a sensitive Creative Writing facilitator, endlessly asking questions as if questions were answers. His questionnaire curiously narrow in its scope. Sean Millar’s superlative soundtrack played live onstage by the excellent Dan Fitzpatrick, Maud Lee, Bryan O’Connell and Kim Porcelli providing warmth, depth and texture not always present in facts substituting for truths. The whole elevated into something deeply moving by a stunning Lauren Larkin and dancer Charlie Hogan. Centring around a middle aged couple, beautifully rendered by Larkin and Hogan, a husband approaching sixty succumbs to some unnamed illness leaving his wife to care for him and, more importantly, unable to manage her own self care. But as soon the point is made, the case begins to unravel. What illness? No idea, but one making it seemingly impossible for Larkin to take one hour a week for an Online Creative Writing course she signed up for. Why can’t she attend? We’re never entirely sure, or rather, convinced. There’s grown up children along with talk of available professional support, but the children don’t appear to have been asked and her husband is too proud to take help. All suggesting not so much an unsupported carer as a woman for whom marriage is a Stockholm Syndrome of obligated habit since she was fourteen. Carer allowances, medical expenses, dignity, hygiene, job loss; none of these are adequately addressed. The devastation of caring and the outrage at the estimated 20 billion euro a year saved by the government via unpaid family care reduced to a cry for an hour of “me” time. Yet if  Everything Falls risks devaluing the case for the carer, it practically eclipses the cared. The carer rendered as victim; the cared for, or dying, resembling inconvenient flies in the carer’s self-care ointment. The cared for’s lived experience muted. Their fears, their shame, their concerns and worries at the impact on their loved one's lives given little voice A deafening silence that haunts the heart of Everything Falls. Charlie Hogan and Lauren Larkin in Everything Falls. Image, Ste Murray If thematically troubled, theatricall y Everything Falls proves far more successful. Even so, whilst repetition evokes the unending loop of an unchanging everyday, and questions reveal the constant need to be reminded of what’s been forgotten, the over reliance on such entry level techniques deadens the claustrophobic isolation being aimed for. It takes Millar’s wonderfully evocative music serving as a near constant companion to reveal the invisible heart pulsing with emotion. Echoed in some simple choreographic moments and a handful of excellent songs. Music and movement merging beautifully in a slow duet in which remembering and forgetting, and the handling of exposition, are marvellously managed. Hogan and Larkin swaying like late night lovers in a honky tonk after closing time, dancing seductively to a half drunk guitar. Larkin tremendous as the harried, matter of fact carer with a sense of obligation, enlivening what are primarily answers to limiting questions when not repeating the same lines endlessly. Hogan, an accomplished dancer, saying so much with so little. Movement director Eddie Kay’s short, choreographed passages of putting on a coat, emerging from a fridge, rearranging cups and plates or shuddering as Larkin confesses she’s considered leaving see Hogan stirringly reveal glimpses of what remains hidden. Ger Clancy’s superb two level set adorned with the accoutrements of care - washing lines, beds, shopping bags - cleverly lit by Dara Hoban’s lights. Sarah Foley’s costumes adding the finishing touches to a visual representation rich in reference and suggestion. Often, it’s when it breaks from sounding like a social workers evaluation form that Everything Falls catches your breath. Larkin’s shouted answer in her duet with Hogan elevating the experience to a living reality. Likewise, drummer Bryan O’Connell’s public address about caring for a child and an elderly father. Like a series of creative writing exercises Everything Falls feels like prep work but never the full story. Focusing on one character even though two are onstage. Yet the chemistry between Larkin and Hogan is palpable, as is the alchemy of movement and music. All framed by Brokentalkers’ theatrical ingenuity. Elevating this flawed meditation into something genuinely moving and heartfelt. Everything Falls by Brokentalkers and Shaun Dunne, written and created by Feidlim Cannon, Gary Keegan and Shaun Dunne, runs at The Project Arts Centre until November 23. For more information visit Project Arts Centre.

Tara Cush and Neill Fleming in The Dole Wide World. Image uncredited. *** Something’s clearly not right. An upturned chair in a cubicle in Parnell Street’s Intreo Office should have security clamouring through the door. Instead, the diminutive Relieving Officer behind the glass continues to converse calmly with the frustrated man sweating in his ill fitting jacket. So begins an hour plus conversation in which the unreasonable argues with the irrational. Rex Ryan’s latest play, The Dole Wide World , like his two characters, suffering a plethora of problems. Ian Toner’s direction compounding matters, even as it disguises a multitude of sins behind some energised and enjoyable moments. Why a dole office is anybody’s guess? All that matters is Vivienne, a smoker with a secret, is confronted by Justin, another smoker with a secret. Justin’s impassioned pleas falling on curious ears as Vivienne engages despite the risk of physical threat. Tension minimal as we realise Vivienne isn’t playing with half a deck so much as too many decks. Not that Justine is holding Aces either. A diatribe that’s essentially a vaccination conspiracy theory takes up an inordinate amount of time as Justin, a negotiator who can’t negotiate, pleads with the unprofessional desperation of an addict needing a fix. And this before sampling Vivienne's laced cigarettes. Justin less a character so much as a straight man setting up Vivienne’s deluded rantings. And Vivienne loves to talk, even as Justin can barely string a sentence together; this man out of his depth whose only concern is his reputation. The introduction of a knife, a hostage, and an ineffectual bottle of Brasso, each substituting for a plot, yields less thrills so much as incredulity when we finally learn what’s really at stake. That events would have been allowed drag on under such circumstances defying belief in any world. By the time its non explosive ending arrives, Ryan’s irredeemable characters have failed to make you care whether they live or die, whatever their mental health issues. For whom children are their real victims, pawns in their sorry justifications of self-worth. Tara Cush and Neill Fleming in The Dole Wide World. Image uncredited. Visually, civil service lighting, despite the occasional psychological flicker, adheres to naturalism even as Ryan’s text proves a mishmash of stylings. The result similar to a ham, salmon and cornflake pizza in which competing flavours cancel each other out. The naturalist set also proving something of a pyrrhic victory. Sight lines comprised depending on position, ensuring the televisual glass as mirror is hit and miss as a stage effect. The office reassembled for the final image looking odd rather than captivating. The physical divide between characters as much a psychological divide, even if the divide being frequently traversed undermines its metaphorical and literal significance. Leaving dialogue to do the heavy lifting and not being up to the task. In sustained dialogue between two people nuance is crucial to depicting the complexity of a character’s inner states and attitudes. Little of which is evident as both Tara Cush and Neill Fleming pitch their tents on a one dimensional landscape under Toner’s direction. Toner treating the whole like a single, energised scene rather than a complex play. Cush’s smarmy Dublinese delivered with unchanging pace even as Vivienne’s self-awareness grows. Fleming’s desperation a one trick panic attack. Vivienne and Justin less characters so much as mouthpieces for the author's musings. The silver lining being Cush, a criminally strong talent weaving so much out of so little. Fleming, having a lot less to work with and being restricted to the one tone of desperation, makes the best with what he has. Both performers showing they’ve much more in the tank. Especially Cush, whose presence, detail and energy predict great things to come. High in energy, but lacking tension, suspense, or real thrills, The Dole Wide World’s cleverest thing is arguably its title. Lately, Glass Mask have been involved in lots of promotional spin and myth making. While no one can blame them promoting themselves, not everyone is buying the PR they’re selling. PR for The Dole Wide World also suffering from curious spin. Neither character is trying to save the other’s life, only their own. The play doesn’t explore motherhood, meaning, violence and the state's handling of individuals on the edges of society so much as exploit them. With little real thrills, calling this a thriller seems moot. Also, talk of Tarantino creates a comparison which The Dole Wide World doesn't remotely live up to. In the end, The Dole Wide World never squares with the terms it sets for itself and gets impaled on its own ambitions. Here’s hoping Glass Mask don’t do the same. With The Dole Wide World Glass Mask again deserve applause for producing new work and introducing exciting young talents like the hugely promising Cush. No one else has had the vision, the guts or the lunacy. But this isn't their first rodeo, and with the honeymoon period over expectations are rising. Can they deliver? Can they rise above being a dressed up, A Play, A Pie and A Pint venue? I, for one, still believe they can. The Dole Wide World by Rex Ryan runs at Glass Mask Theatre until November 23 For more information visit Glass Mask Theatre

Brendan Dunlea in Áine Ryan's Paddy Goes To Petra. Image by Steve Gregson *** Wherever you go, there you are. Whether holidaying in Ballybunion, enjoying threesomes in Marrakech, or finding yourself in a cave in Petra, there’s no escaping what you’re running away from. Paddy and Eilish, together by habit, find themselves separated by grief. Couch surfing the world to get away from the farm, the memories, and to salvage what remains of their threadbare marriage following the death of a son. Aine Ryan’s lopsided, one man meditation, Paddy Goes To Petra , landing somewhere between a cozy afternoon TV programme for those of an older persuasion, and a thrilling interrogation of an older man with nothing left to lose except himself. One steeped in the belief, unconsciously at least, that behind every moderately interesting man there's a far more interesting woman. Inspired by Ryan’s solo visit in 2018 to the jewel of Jordan, there’s an overwhelming sense of a younger sensibility being imposed on an older model. The cuckolded Paddy living a lifestyle alien to many of his age and rural background being a curious juxtaposition. If Brendan Dunlea’s Paddy talks the talk of a sexually tolerant, international couch surfer, he walks the walk of an innocent who couldn’t find porn on the internet. But we play along, due in no small part to Dunlea’s soft spoken ease, more Grandad than great adventurer. Dunlea’s Paddy an honest, decent farmer you’d happily share a pint with. But just the one, before he bores you to death with his meandering, ‘sure would you credit it” tone whether talking of affairs, suicide, or wise Bedouin tour guides. Paddy regaling about his wife's sexual adventures like a man realising a bottle of milk cost more than a euro, stretching credibility even as it heightens his emotional numbness and risks Eilish being the more interesting character. The payoff Paddy's soft despair, which slips beneath the guard like an assassin’s blade. Ryan's simple “what ifs” proving powerful, even if she doesn’t do them justice. What if I stopped wandering and stayed here, alone, in Petra, facing my demons? What if I stopped letting Eilish call the shots? Ryan's smart meditations on the male psyche in pain building towards a denouement of terror only to cop out with a claptrap ending. One opting for a status quo, bow and ribbon wrap up, like a warm buttered scone. Making Paddy Goes To Petra another nicely, nicely, afternoon TV programme to be forgotten as soon as you switch channels. If thematically adventurous, theatrically Paddy Goes To Petra proves far less so. Ryan’s direction competent, even as other characters are reduced to signature gestures. Yet she never really develops Paddy and lets him, and herself, off scot free by the end. Constance Comparot’s sheeted set cleverly evoking Petra’s dusted facade and carpets, with Colm Maher’s lights, originally designed by Alex Corey, adding tone, texture and temperature. Even if some overly long musical interludes by Cáit Ní Riain & Eyal Arad overplay lights for trying to over emphasise atmosphere. Yet again Pamela McQueen raises questions about the role of the dramaturg. As storytelling theatre, Paddy Goes To Petra plays like an abridged novel being read aloud, its weak ending dissolving like an emotional slow puncture with too many things, structurally, allowed go unchallenged, like Eilish eclipsing Paddy as the more interesting character. Things that might have elevated this from a cozy afternoon by the fireside into a singularly interesting work, leaving us with a nice play rather than the great one it might have been. The Jordanian tourist board might be a little disappointed given you leave with fractionally more information about Petra and its people than when you came in. And with no great desire to visit. Yet Ryan’s sketched details prove hugely successful in conveying Petra as Paddy’s emotional Shangri-La. Quaint, charming, its hard questions might get smoothed down, or walked away from, but Paddy Goes To Petra has moments of genuine insight as it explores an older man's struggle with emotional pain. The generous would say middle aged. Like most of its target audience. A darling of the London pub scene, Paddy Goes To Petra marries an understated performance with a refreshingly ambitious character study to make for a delightful afternoon of theatre. It might not deliver on all its promises, but it signals Ryan as a writer to watch. Paddy Goes To Petra by Áine Ryan, presented by Bewley’s Café Theatre with Studio Perform, runs at Bewley’s Café Theatre until Nov 23. For more information visit Bewley’s Café Theatre

Beards. Image Owen Clarke **** The Decameron meets Book of Mormon in LemonSoap’s hugely impressive musical revue, Beards. An improbable tale set in the Middle Ages about two gay couples and one immaculate conception. Cracking songs, stirring performances and some first rate singing see music by HK Ní Shioradáin , with book by director Ultan Pringle , gallop along in this hugely entertaining and irreverent production. One which, when it takes its fun seriously proves seriously funny. But once it starts taking itself seriously looses a little of the fun. As if The Life of Brian suddenly turned into a tragic opera with Spartacus level gravitas. For those unfamiliar with the term, a beard is someone of the opposite sex that a gay person marries, or has a relationship with, so they can pass as straight. A popular pastime during oppressive times. Of course, if a beard didn’t know they were being used as a beard it could prove problematic. No problems here though as siblings Daryl and Erica each marry the other’s lover with all living happily ever after under the one roof. Forgetting that if you want to make God laugh tell Her your plans. God clearly having other plans when Erica’s lover and Daryl’s wife, Nelly, suddenly becomes pregnant and God tells them their unborn, Janet Christ, is the Second Coming. A hard ask for atheists to swallow. So begins the search for another reason as to how Nelly became pregnant. Meanwhile Nelly and Erica have begun preaching the Queer faith to the pitchfork wielding masses. Throw in a hard to believe betrayal, a contrived fleeing, and more deaths than a rat infested plague and hope is made manifest against all odds. Well, sort of. None of which captures the infections hilarity and wild irreverence of Beards . Ní Shioradáin’s harpsichord heavy score divided into six scenes, each showing impressive levels of musical sophistication. Ní Shioradáin’s red haired storyteller, playing live onstage, unifying the whole. Tapping into Gregorian Chant, Gospel, along with Ní Shioradáin’s unique twist on musical theatre song structures. Pringle's book a sterling piece of lyrical writing, matching rhyme, rhythm and pace to Ní Shioradáin superb score. Pringle again proving hugely impressive as director. Deftly negotiating Jack Scullion’s clever, if restrictive set; one evocative of Shakespeare’s Globe. The era echoed in Scullion’s delightfully playful costumes (I knew Crocs had been around forever) and Owen Clarke’s light design. Pringle showing brilliant compositional awareness and elicting four strong performances. Ensuring the night belongs to Sean Landau, Shane McCormick, Tierra Porter, and Orla Scally as four queers pretending to be straight, whose singing and comic timing frequently raises the roof. Like Oliver Cromwell Is Really Very Sorry , Beards is an irreverent look at the past through the lens of the present. But it would be unfair to call it a full fledged musical given that its shift into more sobering scenes undermines its cohesion. Needing An Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life ending, one marrying humour to pathos, it descends into tragic opera and ends as a different play. Leaving Beards looking less like a musical (though there is a musical here looking to mature) but rather a musical revue. One similar to Cambridge Footlights or The Oxford Revue that launched the careers of many wacky, daring risk takers who have since become household names. As will many in LemonSoap. For most, queering a show means being camp and kitsch. So much so that everything starts to look like another episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race . In contrast, Beards ' brilliant and irreverent queering shows a surprising level of dramatic and theatrical inventiveness from so young a company. One whose towering talents far surpass the learning curve they're currently on. LemonSoap, one of the most exciting young companies in Ireland today, delivering a show of such hilarious, unholy irreverence it's practically spiritual. Beards , music by HK Ní Shioradáin with book by Ultan Pringle, presented by LemonSoap Productions, runs at The New Theatre until Nov 6. For more information visit The New Theatre

Meghan Tyler in Aurora. Photo, Ciaran Bagnall ** Cass feels connected to the lonely tree. Both the book she read with her mother as a child and the actual tree her mother claimed inspired the story. When gold is discovered in Ireland Cass senses the tree might well be in danger. Chaining herself to its trunk she sets up a livestream as a challenge to the money grubbing company Golden Shire who are looking to mine the area. The company her brother Conn now works for. Aided by their childhood friend, Drew, and a talking Anarcho-communist badger, Cass dishes out more spin than an attack of vertigo. Dominic Montague’s Aurora trying to sell you a three legged theatrical horse, making claims that almost sound credible. Like it can run faster for being lighter without the extra leg. Or that Aurora is a modern myth. Or that working in conjunction with the University of Ulster’s School of Art it looks to marry the world of gaming and animation with theatre. None of which is remotely true, even as, theatrically, there's moments to admire. Take myth. A cursory glance at John Moriarty, Joseph Campbell, Irish, Greek or Norse legends sees all speak of patterns, of journeys, of trials and transformations. Cass, tied to the tree, goes nowhere, does nothing transformative only talk incessantly from her superior, self aware heights. No mythic journey here, not even a fairy tale’s worth, just a half baked children’s story hidden behind some grown up curses. One in which endlessly dull diatribes on the artificial value we place on gold is punctured by lame jokes and the bare bones of a story, one easing towards a Hallmark ever after full of self-vindication. Meghan Tyler and Thomas Finnegan in Aurora. Photo Ciaran Bagnall As for the interface of gaming, animation and theatre, you wonder if anyone involved had ever played a game? Been on a simulation ride? Seen visual projections at theme parks and at festivals? What’s offered, graphically, looking passable at best, as in the final image. More often, like the foul mouthed badger, it’s cringingly embarrassing. Enough to make a Punch and Judy puppet look like a technical advancement. Graphics and animation so far below pre-alpha levels they make retro look modern. Meanwhile story, built on an interrogation device, lectures us on the environment and how we’re all made of stardust. The beauty of science connecting us all. Then there’s magical trees. How science equates with magical trees is anyone’s guess. Fortunately Emma Jordan keeps pace peppering along and Ciaran Bagnall’s set, unlike graphics, is visually impressive. Jordan also makes some brilliant casting decisions. Meghan Tyler proving herself a gifted storyteller; her gutsy Pippi Longstocking styled character just adorable as she regales. Tyler could recite a phone directory and make it invigorating. Thomas Finnegan’s wild man Drew and Conor O’Donnell’s corporate Conn also turn in sterling performances. But Tyler has that star quality that magnetise and seduces. In the end, live visceral bodies and physical staging hold the centre. Graphics adding too little whilst claiming too much. Thomas Finnegan and Meghan Tyler in Aurora. Photo Ciaran Bagnall There’s no doubt Montague is sincere and his concerns genuine, but I have to call emperors new clothes here. Sincerity is an empty virtue. The audience were promised a new myth, yet Aurora barely rises to the level of fable. Promised explorations at the interface of theatre, gaming and animation, yet visually it looks thirty years out of date for eighty nine of its ninety minutes. Falling painfully short of its own ambitions, Aurora doesn’t deliver on its promises. Indeed, if saving the environment means listening to more of Cass’s juvenile ruminations, you might well wish they’d hurry on the Apocalypse. Only that would mean the end of Tyler. And that’s not good. When it comes to unforced talent and presence, Tyler’s in a league of her own. Aurora by Dominic Montague, presented by Prime Cut Productions, runs at The MAC as part of Belfast International Arts Festival 2024 until November 2. For more information visit Belfast International Arts Festival 2024 or The MAC

Zak Ford-Williams in The Tragedy of Richard III. Credit, Melissa Gordon **** The play’s the thing. So sayeth Hamlet in, eh, Hamlet . Yet as Hamlet rightly knew, sometimes the players are also the thing. As is the case with Lyric Theatre’s unique production of The Tragedy of Richard III . Inspired by a throwaway comment by Michael Patrick when first going public earlier this year with his diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease. A comment about playing Richard III that saw the always up for it Jimmy Fay at The Lyric contact Patrick saying, ‘let’s see if we can make that work?’ So began a process resulting in The Tragedy of Richard III , adapted by Patrick and his brother in arms Oisín Kearney , in which Patrick plays Richard and Kearney directs. A production that risks being as complete a car crash as you can possibly get without actually crashing a car. Yet like a car crash, it leaves you stunned and reeling. Placing death and disability front and centre in this brave, bold, heartfelt interrogation. Let’s first address the elephants in the room, because there’s a herd of them. Michael Patrick doesn’t have a manageable or survivable disability, he has a fatal disability. Kearney and Patrick openly state this but neither attempts to sentimentalise or emotionally manipulate for easy sympathy. To them, Richard III isn’t a gimmick and Patrick is not his condition. He’s raging against the dying of the light so that the light might shine more brightly and challenge expectations of what’s theatrically and socially possible. This informs everything from the creation to the framing to the staging to the plays reception. There’s no point pretending otherwise, or judging it by any standards other than those it sets for itself. For this is an attempt to break new ground, and such attempts are often messy, often the usual rules don’t always apply even as standards of excellence do. Also, the role of Richard III is rotated between Patrick and disabled actor Zak Ford-Williams who has Cerebral Palsy so, like an ANU production, whatever you see might be vastly different to what someone else got to see. I saw Ford-Williams’ performance, but Patrick’s shadow loomed over everything, especially the final, devastating coup de théâtre. Still, Ford-Williams has a manageable disability so how death and dying are being beautifully addressed throughout will likely play different to Patrick’s performance. Yet if Patrick brings something Ford-Williams does not, including, by all accounts, an older, drier Northern Irish sense of humour, it’s equally true that Ford-Williams reveals things Patrick does not. Also, it doesn’t take much to make an imaginative connection between Ford-Williams and Patrick. The Tragedy of Richard III. Credit Melissa Gordon That out of the way, Richard III sees Kearney beginning as he means to continue. Putting disability front and centre with deaf performer Paula Clarke, hugely captivating as the assassin Tyrell, signing to the audience and realising they haven’t a clue. The distance between the able bodied and disabled lived experience simply and effectively acknowledged in this shared space. Clarke asks for an announcement outlining some basics about the story, setting up the Lancaster and York families vying for the throne of England so we're all on the same page. Getting us on the same page returned to many times from performers speaking from the auditorium, direct address breaking the fourth wall, to a clever rallying call for Richard to take the throne. Arriving onstage in a wheelchair, now begins the winter of Richard’s discontent. The operative word being winter. For Kearney and Patrick’s adaptation foregrounds that life is not the only journey. Death, or dying, is also a journey. Richard, entering into his final season, feeling he has unfinished business. Feeling his life half lived, his destiny unfulfilled, robbed of what could and should have been. Some resign themselves to it, some look to go out swinging. Some do so by becoming heroes. Richard decides to become the villain. As familiar monologues and scenes are made unfamiliar, tone and interpretations become transmuted. Shakespeare repositioned and made new yet again. In contrast with Niall McKeever’s set and costumes which might look new, but they’re not. McKeever’s backstage set and hybrid outfits creating less an imaginative or modern space so much as a space for the imagination to engage with. Ably supported by Jonathan M. Daly’s superb light design, exploding with sheets of colour in key moments, yet otherwise unobtrusive. Austin Gallagher’s percussive rhythms, with a variety of drums used throughout, looking like band rehearsals but sounding like battle cries, a military march, a raging heartbeat. The whole collectively looking like a student production of Our Town done on the cheap right after a frat party. Michael Patrick in The Tragedy of Richard III. Credit, Melissa Gordon Against which Ford-Williams, looking like the boy who would be king, initially makes for a tough ask; the young actor’s youth playing against him. Reinforced by Allison Harding’s defiant Duchess of York looking like she just stepped out of Alice’s Wonderland, and an excellent Charlotte McCurry as Queen Elizabeth, dressed like a Goth bride on the way to Blitz in ’79. Both characters strong, powerful women looking like they’re bossing the man-child around. Compounded by Patrick McBearty’s opportunistic Buckingham, whose machinations suggest Richard as a weak willed puppet king. And so it goes until intermission when, finally having attained the throne, absolute power begins to corrupt Richard absolutely. So begins the end. With a second corruption starting with something as insignificant and innocuous as a cough. The last journey commencing just as life is being finally lived. You might well forget Patrick and Ford-Williams rotating roles post-intermission for wondering if Ford-Williams has an evil twin. A gloriously transformed Richard post-intermission sees Ford-Williams give a monstrously strong performance as the man made monster, rising in viciousness even as his body is hurriedly declining. No longer do you doubt the power or the danger. Nor do Michael Curran-Dorsano’s Hastings, Chris McCurry’s Stanley or Ciaran O’Brien’s Clarence. The cast, collectively, under Kearney’s direction, less a cohesive Shakespearian ensemble so much as shattered fragments of styles when it comes to delivering the bards lines. Some, like Charlotte McCurry, tearing up the stage with diva like dominance, setting the words alight. Others, like Ghaliah Conroy as Lady Anne and later Richmond, not always looking comfortable despite having a strong stage presence. Ford-Williams landing somewhere in between. Raging war on the tyrant time, facing ghosts of murders past, Richard’s inner strength and fading energy is palpably felt. The final, breathtaking moments allowing poetry replace play in one final address to the audience. Ford-Williams’ soft spoken tenderness catching you with a gut punch. This young man. This boy. Speaking to our fleeting, glorious, journeys. Rarely will you experience a moment of such poignant and profound immediacy. The Tragedy of Richard III. Credit, Melissa Gordon While Kearney and Patrick’s adaption remains true to Shakespeare’s play, you could make the case that a little more abridging wouldn’t have gone amiss, along with a little more playing at the boundaries of poetry to further explore their chosen emphasis. Still, this is unquestionably a creditable Richard III on the terms with which we usually recognise him. Like Deirdre Kinahan’s An Old Song, Half Forgotten , the performer (Bryan Murray) and their disability might seem to be the focus, but there’s bigger fish being fried. We are all alive and dying. We are all disabled. It’s just a question of time and degree. None of us get out alive and none of us know how much or how little time we have. Best use that time to the fullest. With The Tragedy of Richard III Patrick, Kearney and all involved most certainly do. Theatrically, it’s still a car crash at times; messy, awkward, both a little too much and not enough. But like the Tibetan Book of The Dead , The Tragedy of Richard III speaks to unsettling things in a settling way, ensuring you come away enriched. The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare, adapted by Oisín Kearney and Michael Patrick, presented by Lyric Theatre, NI, runs at Lyric Theatre as part of Belfast International Arts Festival 2024 until November 10. For more information visit  Belfast International Arts Festival 2024 or Lyric Theatre, Belfast

Paolo Bordogna, Giuseppe Toia in Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali. Image by Patricio Cassinoni **** David Bowie was famously keen on cut-up technique. In which an existing text, or a selection of texts, are cut up and rearranged to create a new text. One senses Geatano Donizetti would have approved. His patchwork dramma giocoso (a drama with jokes) Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali from 1831 a composite of musical, narrative and operatic ideas cobbled together and rearranged over time. Leaving a glaring hole where a definitive version should be. A difficulty resolved by director Orpha Phelan in Wexford Festival Opera’s chaotic production by an “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach. Phelan leaning into the chaos by tossing a veritable kitchen sink of busyness onto Donizetti’s comic opera creating a visual wildfire. Less a spectacle so much as a whirling dervish of visual distraction that often competes for the audience’s attention. Yet when aria and movement are selectively married, like music videos, rather than unfocused and hectic Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali proves wondrously entertaining. Donizetti’s tale of duelling divas displaying some first rate singing, and several stand out performances, in Wexford Festival Opera's joyous revival. Miryam Tomé, Luisa Baldinetti, Andrea Carlotta Pelaia, Sharleen Joynt, Charles Riddiford, Ivan Striuk, Andrea Carozzi in Le convenienze ed inconvenienze  Image by Patricio Cassinoni. Someone wisely said you want your audience to think about your production not wonder what it was about. When it comes to the rehearsal in Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali, the cast, never mind the audience, are always wondering what it’s about. One singer believes he’s in The Sound of Music . All anyone can say with certainty is that an opera is being rehearsed in which Prima Donna Daria is facing a challenge to her authority from Agata, the helicopter mother of Seconda Donna Luigia, ready to set the world to wrong for the sake of her daughter’s career. As the battle commences chaos ensues once Agata decides that if you want a job done properly, do it yourself. The self-declared Prima Donna, also a self-declared Prima Ballerina, taking on a singing role when a singer pulls out. As does Daria’s husband Procolo, leading to a catastrophic end in which an impresario’s deepest fears and greatest fantasy are finally realised. Miryam Tomé, Andrea Carozzi, Paolo Bordogna, Charles Riddiford, Andrea Carlotta Pelaia in Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali. Image by Patricio Cassinoni If trouser roles saw men playing women throughout the centuries, in the 21st century drag has become mainstream kitsch, which Phelan leans into with gusto. Ru Paul stylings making for a camp take offering easy pickings of low hanging fruit. Even as baritone Paolo Bordogna’s Agata is sensational as a drag brunch styled pantomime dame exhibiting the loudness of a Dr Frank-N-Furter. Equally sensational is Sharleen Joynt as the divine diva Daria. Joynt executing vocal pyrotechnics of such power and beauty they’re a joy to the ear. Daria’s posturing might scream “look at me” but, like Bordogna, you can’t tear your eyes or ears off Joynt even if you wanted to. Tenor Alberto Robert as guitarist Guglielmo Antolstoinoff, the singer in the wrong show, announces himself as a talent to watch. What he currently lacks in power he richly compensates with the most mesmerising tone, capable of soothing demons during his aria immediately following the interval. Singers Giuseppe Toia, Matteo Loi, Paola Leoci, Hannah Bennett, William Kyle, Philip Kalmanovitch and Henry Grant Kerswell rounding out a terrific ensemble. Though dancers Miryam Tomé, Luisa Baldinetti, Andrea Carlotta Pelaia, Charles Riddiford, Ivan Striuk and Andrea Carozzi risk stealing their visual thunder with some eye catching routines. Alberto Robert in Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali. Image by Patricio Cassinoni Like Donizetti’s two act opera, Phelan opts for a pick and mix approach when it comes to staging. Madeleine Boyd’s set a standard enough stage and backstage area, even as her costumes evoke an 1980s Fellini movie. Amy Share-Kissiov’s playful choreography suggesting a Magic Mike moment, even as Joynt’s delicious aria evokes traces of Marilyn Monroe’s dance sequence from Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend . Both making a strong case for dance to be forever included in comic opera. Even Casta Diva makes a momentary appearance, but given the comic stylings of Domenico Gilardoni’s quirky libretto you could be forgiven for wanting to hear its hilarious high points instead. Throughout, Danila Grassi conducts with spirit and verve, knowing when to hold back to let the line, laugh or moment land. Grassi always in complete control of the music and, by extension, of everything onstage. Andrea Carozzi, Ivan Striuk, Charles Riddiford holding Sharleen Joynt in Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali. Image by Patricio Cassinoni Translated as conventions and inconveniences of the stage, Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali walks a thin line between opera buffa and just plain silly. Like The Critic , it also parodies opera. But where The Critic satirised opera’s conventions here cast and creatives are held up for ridicule. Reiterating a self evident truth, that it’s the company who are always at fault, never the much maligned critic. It's true. Go see Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali if you don’t believe me. Its superb singing, drag brunch comedy style and memorable dance routines ensure you'll be richly entertained. Wexford Festival Opera yet again setting the bar high. Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage) by Gaetano Donizetti, with libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, runs at O'Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, Wexford as part of Wexford Festival Opera 2024 on October 25 and 28, and November 2. For more information visit Wexford Festival Opera 2024

The Critic by Charles Villers Stanford, libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Photo Patricio Cassinoni. **** Long before The Producers, A Night at the Opera, or The Show That Went Wrong, there was Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Critic . A parody from 1779 poking fun at the vagaries, vanities and foibles involved in putting on a theatre production. Adapted in 1915 into a comic opera of sorts by Dublin born Charles V. Stanford, with Sheridan's text arranged for the opera by L. Cairns James, The Critic pokes fun at the practices, pretensions and exaggerations of operatic convention. Especially the sumptuous ostentations of Grand Opera. The dramatic, musical and vocal conventions; the unstable hierarchy between music, singing and libretti; the formulaic contrivances of mad scenes, death scenes, dramatic asides and grand finales all playfully satirised. An opera perfectly in keeping with Wexford Festival Opera’s theme of Theatre within Theatre featuring, as it does, a play within a play and a stage within a stage. Rory Dunne, Gabriel Seawright, Meilir Jones, Henry Strutt, Cathal McCabe, Gyula Nagy, Christian Loizou, Arthur Riordan, Michael Ferguson, Oliver Johnston, Lawrence Gillians in The Critic. Photo Patricio Cassinoni Or rather an opera within a play, leading to the alternative title An Opera Rehearsed . One set against the historical backdrop of the Spanish Armada’s invasion of England called, imaginatively, The Spanish Armada. The improbable tale of a Governor’s daughter Tiburina, a superb Ava Dodd, and her doomed love for Spaniard Don Ferolo Wiskerandos, an equally terrific Dane Suarez, portraying a passion so…passionate it’s worth dying twice for. Throw in the historical Sir Walter Raleigh (Ben McAteer) and Sir Christopher Hatton (Oliver Johnston), the Governor (Rory Dunne), a love lorn beefeater (Gyula Nagy doubling up as Earl of Leicester) and some amorous nieces (Hannah O’Brien and Carolyn Holt) and all the ingredients are set in play for the grandest of grand operas, minus the ballet. Including an underplot about a fainting family reunion and a sumptuous mise-en-scène of the Thames to ensure all’s well that ends well. Except for the lovers of course, who both die. And that’s just the opera. Though the play proves a lighter affair. In which a critic, the composer and the librettist director sit in on a dress rehearsal and comedically comment as it all unfolds. Tony Brennan, Mark Lambert, Arthur Riordan and Jonathan White in The Critic. Photo Patricio Cassinoni Under Conor Hanratty’s masterful direction, The Critic receives a brave and rather brilliant revival that’s hilariously funny, walking a tightrope between comic subversion and operatic excellence. Yet it suffers from it being impossible to take a joke seriously if it’s milked for too long. Or to care about the characters a joke satirises. Especially when its primary focus is parodying operatic conventions. Pompous libretti, deadly divas or the inclusion of spoken dialogue all fair game. To those who say opera should only employ singing or recitative, that spoken word doesn’t belong here, Stanford suggests music alone might be all we need as an old man moves silently with the expressive gravitas of Methuselah to a score redolent of a silent movie. Yet spoken dialogue makes its appearance. Arthur Riordan’s critic Stern, Mark Lambert’s librettist Puff and Jonathan White’s composer Dangle all spoken roles. The opening scene evoking a music hall sketch that initially feels odd. But Riordan, Lambert and White, along with Olga Conway, lure you in. Even if, once music arrives, it becomes an uphill battle to make speech heard. Ava Dodd and Hannah O’Brien in The Critic. Photo Patricio Cassinoni Music exercises a curious spell, being a sequence of musical tropes purposely designed to highlight and mimic an effect. Stanford, a respected music teacher, knew conventions and how to replicate them. Yet Stanford inadvertently hits on some vibrant passages, with music composed to the highest standards even if mainly for comic effect. Singing is also treated seriously, even as spectacle borders on the slapstick. It’s a smart move, leading to some glorious moments musically and vocally that might have been completely undermined by broad comedy, tempting as that might have been. A male chorus singing to Mighty Mars hilariously deflates conventions even as singing and choral arrangement is sublime. The divinely diva-ish Dodd deliciously lampoons the pastoral, Disney innocence of a young woman whilst also being vocally mesmerising. A spellbinding lovers duet again sees singing undercut by humour, but never undermined. Ciarán McAuley’s superb conducting releasing the romance and comedy in Stanford’s technically impressive score, evocative of the emotional excesses of the Hollywood silent era. By intermission you are helplessly won over. And might have remained so had it ended there. But post interval it’s rinse and repeat. This time to the obligatory mad scene, death scene and grand finale. All beautifully and cleverly done. John Comiskey’s layered set, Massimo Carlotta’s lush costumes and Daniele Naldi’s defining lights providing for a sumptuous mise-en-scène. Yet it’s hard to stay emotionally invested in a serious of sketches wherein the same joke is essentially replayed. Funny, and gorgeously entertaining as that is. Gyula Nagy and Dane Suarez  in The Critic. Photo Patricio Cassinoni Marking the centenary of Stanford’s death, The Critic gives pause for thought about this oft forgotten composer. Given Stanford’s reputation for being behind the times, The Critic shows a subversion wildly ahead of its time and a meta-theatrical awareness that borders on the postmodern. Though you never take The Critic seriously you can’t but seriously love its singing, music and performances. Indeed, you have to be seriously good to write an opera this bad. The legendary comedian Foster Brooks, renowned for playing drunks, once said he never played a man trying to be drunk but a man trying to be sober. In a similar vein Stanford, and Hanratty, never play The Critic for easy laughs but as a highly serious affair. A comedy about a tragedy, The Critic might overplay its hand, but it makes for terrific entertainment executed to the highest standards. The Critic by Charles Villers Stanford, libretto by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, arranged for the opera by L. Cairns James, runs at Wexford Festival Opera 2024 on October 24, October 27, and November 1. For more information, visit Wexford Festival Opera 2024

Ray Yeates, Fionnuala Gagyx and Donna Anita Nikolaisen in Home, Boys Home. Image by Ste Murray. ** On the evidence of Dermot Bolger’s Home, Boys Home , the 80s and 90’s didn’t age so well. A fact embodied by Shane, a sixty three year old Bohemians supporter who thinks he’s still got it when it comes to the ladies. When all he’s really got is a failed marriage, a career cut short and a life in Holland that went down the toilet. Shane doing what he always does, running away to where he hopes things will be better. Why he runs to high rent, gangland Dublin beggars belief, but back he comes looking for home only to find a new normal. The third in Bolger’s trilogy about the Irish diaspora and Irish international football, Home, Boys Home’s meditations on a changing Ireland sees Bolger’s trilogy end on a whimper. In which Ireland remains as it was, in the beginning, is now, and, with little to suggest otherwise, most likely ever shall be. Showing hints of the vastly superior Looking for Eric , there’s a half decent story here trying to find its feet. One whose irregular injections of tension and humour sustains interest. Shane, discovering a daughter and a black grandson he never knew he had, the latter with the prospect of an international football career, finds himself facing down an old acquaintance, now a gangland figure, to strike a deal that will free his grandson of a debt. Underdeveloped, relying on working class cliches and making for contrived narrative asks, story buckles beneath an excess of exposition, unnecessary backstory and wordy details. Information an actor might use to create a character but which the audience doesn’t need to know. Slowing everything down to facilitate a plethora of Reeling In The Years styled soundbites whilst also ensuring the only voice we ever truly hear is Bolger’s. Indeed, even when Shane is speaking dialogue, it still feels like Bolger delivering a monologue. Under Raymond Keane’s direction several moments achieve visual poetry, as when Shane’s daughter stalks him like a femme fatale in a film noir movie. But it’s hard to make longwinded, belated backstory interesting, and humorous interludes aren’t enough. At its best, Home, Boys Home establishes a link between gay bashing in the 80s and racism today. Mostly, its trips down memory lane prove too old for nostalgia and too young for history. Like a derelict building somewhere between still habitable and ready to be torn down. Reflected in performances which, if bright on occasion, look generally uneasy. Ray Yeates’s one tone Shane being so laid back he’s practically horizontal. Which plays well at times, but not in significant moments. Fionnuala Gygax looking stiff and strained as Lisa plays to the Handbook For Generic Abandoned Daughters. Only Donna Anita Nikolaisen shines consistently as Lisa's caring friend. Looking less convincing, along with Gygax, as a gangland menace. Both providing cringemaking, cartoon caricatures that crossover into embarrassing. In Home, Boys Home, Ireland aspired to great things, flourished for a time then became multicultural. Only to end up a lonely, old has been who never really was; out of touch and out of time. Home, Boys Home another version of the almost great Irish success story. Regurgitating the Obama delusion that our best days are still ahead of us, like they supposedly were for Shane in the 80s. Espousing family is still everything, even though it never was, with more and more young people not wanting to have families. That thriving, gangland criminals are old friends who can be reasoned with. That a shared sense of Irishness lies in memories of football and hopes for its future, even as rugby is where contemporary collective connectedness converges these days. The country’s way forward to replay the same old tune remixed, hoping of a different outcome. Fool me once, as they say. As the embodiment of the past forty years, Shane arguably hits the nail on the head. Speaking to the next forty, his hopes might be sincere, but it looks like wishful thinking. Irish art owes Dermot Bolger a huge debt of gratitude for his immeasurable contribution over many decades. Yet in this instance, when compared to the works of Tom Murphy on the Irish diaspora, or Bolger’s own earlier plays, Home, Boys Home speaks to a sentimental sugar rush rather than the challenges facing a modern Ireland. Home, Boys Home by Dermot Bolger, runs at The Viking Theatre until October 26. For more information visit The Viking Theatre

The Acting. Image uncredited *** Hi diddle de dee, the actor’s life for me. Yet following your star is no easy path. In Jarlath Tivnan ’s madcap comedy, The Acting , you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t when it comes to pursuing life in the T-ate-her. The ignominy of Dramasoc. The shame of having to come out to your parents. The sneers from those who followed the sensible road. The humiliation of your only line being taken away in a Nativity play, along with your teacloth, and bestowed upon a lesser talent. It’s too much for any anxiety ridden ack-tor to bear. Especially Charlie, Roscommon’s newest success just waiting to happen. Even if, at thirty four, he has neither an acting gig nor a driving licence. Yet Charlie has talent. Commitment. He’s made sacrifices for his art. Just ask him, he’ll tell you. What he doesn't have is anything resembling an acting career. So what do you do when nothing you do is good enough? Herein lies the terminal flaw in Tivnan’s car crash tale. A hotchpotch of comic scenes ranging from weak to terrific in which Charlie pleads his innocence but the evidence finds him guilty. ‘I wasn’t good enough’, his defence. ‘You never properly tried’, the jury’s verdict. A parody bordering on pantomime The Acting is full of hilarity. It’s just not hilarious enough of the time and, when it is, it doesn’t always do its comedy justice, relying too often on broad strokes when a delicate touch was needed. Director Rex Ryan never adequately addressing the issues in Tivnan’s script, compounding matters with comedy not looking like his strongest directorial suit. Set-up, pace, timing are all unevenly handled, leaving a broad range of gags to stumble rather than land. Relying too much on Tivnan’s explosive performance, all frenetic, unfocused, upstaging energy; Tivnan needing to work smarter rather than harder. His two tone performance of exuberant highs and exuberant lows contrasting with scene stealing support from Shane O’Regan and Eva Jane Gaffney in a multitude of roles, each showing balance, range and timing. Especially Gaffney who delights as Ve-wonica, she of the unpronounceable R’s, or a sultry, stern librarian, or a kind hearted Mom. Perfectly matched by O’Regan’s loving father or as Charlie’s insecure frenemy. The image of O’Regan in a fetching little stetson and Daisy Duke shorts likely to give you nightmares. Or not. Visually, with everyone in black attire, a sense of an acting class is ever present. Further undermining The Acting’s suspension of disbelief. The belief that Charlie’s training options were exhausted and that sitting around, writing failed plays and waiting for work constitutes work. No one is buying that. Nor can you buy Charlie’s wild eyed naivety about the nature of the profession, even if he is from Boyle. In the end, given how ripe this field is for humour and insight, The Acting falls short for offering low hanging fruit. Looking as if Tivnan had a dramatic scene he wants to play rather than a funny story to tell. It’s a grand scene, a come to Jesus moment when a tear strewn Charlie, beautifully wrought by Tivnan, accepts he isn’t good enough. But it’s a truth based on a lie. The delusion that Charlie gave it his best shot. Self acceptance looking like more self sabotage, or self pity, even as it all ends with deja vu, history repeating itself, or another chance? Charlie, like Tivnan, clearly showing talent, even if it is in its raw, unprocessed state. Ensuring there’s some serious soul in The Acting, and some priceless comic moments. Moments that hold the rest to account. Like Paul Mescal, receiving yet another award. Is he really that good? Tivnan certainly could be. The Acting, by Jarlath Tivnan, runs at Glass Mask Theatre until October 19. For more information visit  Glass Mask Theatre

A Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem. Image by Wael Abu Jabal **** Act normal. So Mariam says repeatedly. Living in Gaza at the outbreak of yet another war, Mariam is preparing for the knock on the roof. A warning bomb Israeli’s drop on the roof of buildings giving inhabitants five to fifteen minutes warning that missiles are coming. Living on the seventh floor of a building with an unfit mother, a son who sleeps heavily and no elevator Mariam undertakes training to improve how fast they can escape. She’s a little forgetful to say the least, and her husband calling from his studies abroad only interrupts. Yet the injustices of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is not the story Khawla Ibraheem sets out to tell in her daring, one woman show A Knock On The Roof , even as they provide context of Kafkaesque proportions. Its primary tale concerns a wife and mother for whom the horrors of war have become normalised, yet for whom normal, as a woman, is an unbearable act. A Knock On The Roof a subversive tale told with devastating honesty. Crushed to within an inch of its life beneath a rubble of endless repetition. Normal makes for a curious state of affairs in Gaza. Mariam funny, charming and engaging when talking of her son, her marriage, the details of her day to day life speaks of rationing electricity and water, or her son’s day at a sewage strewn beach, as if popping out to the shops. Devastating as she shelters in a demolished building and speaks of her son, her marriage, the details of her day to day life. Acknowledging the abnormality of an enforced normal. Mariam’s visceral honesty occupying too little time amidst a series of five minute relays from her apartment at night, carrying a pillow filled with her favourite things to conjure carrying her sleeping son. What follows being mostly rinse and repeat showing Beckett levels of humour and absurdity. Forgetting to set her alarm, to wear her prayer robe when she showers providing excuses to do it all over again. By the time the inevitable knock arrives you’ve been through the procedure so many time times the terror is normalised for the audience. A victory, true, but a pyrrhic one. Yet Ibraheem has a Freudian twist in the tale of such devastating power you almost forgive her. If Oliver Butler’s direction allows Ibraheem freedom to express, some judicious slowing of pace would help moments of poor diction and the bullet-like barrage of droning text especially near the end. Throughout, Muaz Aljubeh’s lights work overtime to create mood, with Hana S Kim’s shadowed projections proving hugely affecting. But calling Frank J Oliva’s single chair a set is a little rich. By the end you might feel angry. Not just at the current, real time conflict which informs everything ontsage, but at Ibraheem for not doing sufficient justice to Mariam. For Mariam has the potential to be one of the most significant characters of recent times. This woman who is a Palestinian and not just a Palestinian woman. A woman who, in the words of Hengameh Hoveyda; They have exiled me in myself. Instead, we get Run Lola Run . Even so, A Knock on the Roof will knock you off your feet. A testament to its strength lying in the fact that even if the horrors of the current conflict were not informing it, A Knock on the Roof  would still make for a devastating piece of theatre. A Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem, presented by Piece By Piece Productions (USA), runs at Smock Alley Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 12. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024  or Smock Alley Theatre

The Jesus Trilogy. Image credit, A Worthy Cause *** As avid festival goers know, by mid October there’s a serious risk of burnout. Warning signs include thinking that the last production you saw was The House by Enda Walsh, directed by Louise Lowe at The Project Arts Centre. That you might have a significant partner somewhere. At least that's who the person you’re living with keeps insisting they are. That you go straight to the running time when looking at information about the next show. Dear God, no. The Jesus Trilogy by J.M. Coetzee. Adapted for the stage by Eoghan Quinn and Annabelle Comyn . Three hours, fifteen minutes. Is anything worth sitting through for three hours, fifteen minutes short of an opera? Now, now; deep breaths. Of course there are shows worth sitting through for three hours, fifteen minutes. Not many, but some. Unfortunately, The Jesus Trilogy isn’t one of them, even though it has several standout moments. Those familiar with the trio of novels by J.M. Coetzee ( The Childhood of Jesus, The Schooldays of Jesus and The Death of Jesus ), which allegorically explore the ultimate questions of life, fall into two categories; those who believe Coetzee was sincerely onto something but can’t prove it, and those who know he wasn’t and can prove it. You don’t have to look further than Coetzee himself; Disgrace, Elizabeth Costello, to name but two, being far more cohesive and insightful. Coetzee’s story of a precocious boy, David, raised by surrogate parents, Simon and Ines, echoing aspects of Christian myth whilst also advocating for reincarnation falling neatly into three sections. The first, Simon and David’s arrival at Novilla and their search for David’s mother. The second, David’s time at a special dance school where he meets the demented Dimitri. The third, David’s interminable death that drags on so long you’d happily administer the coup de grâce just to put yourself out of his misery. A twee, on the nose epilogue and you’re very much ready for bed. And that's after the matinee. Whatever his credentials as an original playwright, one suspects Quinn must have missed the Adaption For The Stage module at NYU. And Comyn didn’t get the notes. Dialogue proving a trudging affair. The show-not-tell essence of storytelling theatre letting too much of the good stuff fall through the cracks, even as visual support is often excellent. Practicising economy with the wrong things or, as with the cinematic soundbite ending, in the wrong way at the wrong time. The whole feeling like having to listen in on another person’s laboured parent and teacher meeting when you really want them to move it along. Incidentally, you will be required to listen to a parent and teacher meeting. As director, The Jesus Trilogy is arguably Comyn’s greatest triumph. Taking a dramatic and thematic mess and making it theatrically engaging way past the point it should be. Characters, for the most part, are totally disagreeable. David a spoiled, petulant brat who, five minutes in his company, would have you voting to bring back corporal punishment. Comyn’s choice of David as an absence mimed to when there are young cast members onstage, or when Colin Campbell ostensibly plays him via his voice, looking like a forced, meta-theatrical choice of convenience. Even as Tom Piper’s set and costumes are top drawer. Sliding wooden doors evoking everything from a train carriage to a stage within a stage, allowing for endless reframing. Megan Kennedy’s cramped choreography with scene stealing young dancers also enlivening. Performances working hard to perform miracles and make unlikable characters likeable. Malcolm Adams unnervingly unsettling Dimitri; Alexandra Conlon’s cool, matter of factness in a trio of roles; Tierra Porter’s sensitively insensitive Rita; Raymond Scannell’s gormless Alvaro; Fergal McElherron’s half tramp, half lost soul, talking down to everyone Simon, all terrifically realised. With Elaine O’Dwyer on a whole other level as the complex Ines, turning in a terrific performance. ‘I am the Truth,’ David says, but that sounds like a lie. Without our stories we are doomed to forget. If these are the stories that might not be a bad thing. In the end The Jesus Trilogy doesn’t live up to its justifications for itself. Life is too short for bad theatre. On the evidence of The Jesus Trilogy , it might be too short for long theatre. Not that The Jesus Trilogy is bad per se, but it in no way justifies its interminable running time. Like the much referenced Don Quixote, The Jesus Trilogy tilts at thematic and dramatic windmills telling us they’re monsters. But all we see is an old man talking to an invisible boy who isn’t there. For three hours, fifteen minutes. Thankfully, Comyn's direction whisks things along. The Jesus Trilogy by J.M. Coetzee, adapted for the stage by Eoghan Quinn in collaboration with Annabelle Comyn, presented by Hatch Theatre Company, Once Off Productions and Mermaid Arts Centre, runs at Project Arts Centre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 19. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024   or Project Arts Centre

Kate Gilmore in Safe House. Image, Ste Murray **** Even Enda Walsh, writer and director of Safe House , co-created with composer Anna Mullarkey , admits he has no real idea as to what it is. It’s not theatre in the conventional sense, nor is it a concert. All you can say with a high degree of certainty is that it’s a one woman musical. The story of a girl called Grace and a handball alley. Then there’s her childhood growing up in Barna in Galway, a trip to Dublin, a menacing boyfriend, sex, Snow White and chasing dragons. You can also say that it’s bold, brave, a tad longer than it needed to be, and a technical tour de force. Delivering a visual and musical journey through a personal hell Dante would have envied. All built around a crowning performance from an illuminating Kate Gilmore . Kate Gilmore in Safe House. Image, Ste Murray Musically, Safe House is a song cycle; Mallarkey’s one tone, dark hymns making for a durational ask on account of overplaying their hand. Visually, Walsh’s direction suggests a graphic novel. An Alan Moore mash of music, madness and mayhem. Images breaking out of the frame; Gilmore, with her child cassette recorder and microphone, utterly haunting as she sings in the aisles. Or frames within frames; TV monitors, a safe room, or Snow White’s coffin where Gilmore stretches out, replete with rose. Grace’s life a puzzle unfolding as an endless performance. A fallen princess singing her heart out to escape her past and present into fantasies of a future. Maybe, someday, her prince will come and take her away from the booze and drugs and sex for money. Except Barna boys aren’t princes. More hyenas surrounding a wounded animal. Kate Gilmore in Safe House. Image, Ste Murray A story told through song and images, Safe House makes for a dark tale not likely to appeal to anyone in search of a happy ending. Innocence crashing in an unsafe world and shattering into a million pieces. Grace’s Princess gown traded for a streetwise tracksuit as she tries hold on to the last shard of hope. The tender ending bittersweet; heartbreaking, speaking to what should be, perhaps too late for Grace, but not for others. Set and costumes by Katie Davenport a masterclass in brilliance creating a rabbit hole you fall helplessly into. Echoed in Adam Silverman’s superlative lights, Jack Phelan’s excellent video design, and Helen Atkinson’s superb sound design. Together creating a wonderland of hell with many moving parts, each executed with on point precision. Kate Gilmore in Safe House. Image, Ste Murray Mostly, it’s Gilmore. Her natural expressiveness restrained to reflect a painter's model as much as a living performer. Her performance more a Coppélia come to life. Relying not on text, or lyrics, but on body language, eyes and facial expression to craft images more akin to poetry than prose. Walking a tightrope between realism and abstraction. Gilmore’s singing showing an undercurrent of power that has you wanting it to break free from Mullarkey’s sometimes restrictive register. Her heartfelt Grace, quirky, unsettling, a doll child trapped in a woman's body striving to live amongst the stars. Haunting, vulnerable, wildly passionate. Just like Gilmore’s outstanding performance. Safe House, by Enda Walsh and Anna Mullarkey, runs at The Peacock Stage of The Abbey Theatre as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 12. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024  or The Abbey Theatre

Exit, Pursued By A Bear. Image by Ros Kacanagh *** Ask people what s prings to mind at the mention of A Winter's Tale , and you'll likely get David Essex’s ballad from 1982. Followed by Shakespeare's problem play of the same name. Which is perhaps why Pan Pan's boundary pushing  Exit, Pursued By A Bear, a humorous, meta-theatrical interrogation of Shakespeare’s play, opens with a bear choir singing an unabridged version of Essex’s Christmas classic. Pan Pan’s abridged version of Shakespeare’s tale of jealousy and redemption, with textual additions, paying exaggerated attention to a stage direction that lends its name to the production. Why? I’m not sure even Pan Pan knows. There’s lots of reasons given, but it all starts to sound like that lady protesting too much. Trying too hard to convince and persuade when the truth appears rather different. Such as Exit, Pursued By A Bear being a performance. Gavin Quinn's direction suggests it’s really a rehearsal. Outcomes outlined by Salma Ataya’s small bear with a small voice addressing the audience via megaphone. Humorously providing background and everything you need to know about Shakespeare's story, aided by a note given to the audience. Some last-minute casting decisions and drive-by auditions see John Scott remind the world of his powerful tenor voice. As the play begins, Bruno Schwengl’s bear costumes are shed for something more Shakespearian, and with them goes most of the fun. What follows looking like a rehearsal where a newly minted cast are just about off book, ready to take it to the floor and put it on its feet. Showing no real shape or semblance of a whole, echoed in Aedín Cosgrove workshop set. Performers frequently standing motionless facing the audience, delivering lines at a level a shade above a read through. Meanwhile, a bear ambles by, or Faith Jones plays with an electronic, skull shoving spider. The visuals funny, the acting passable. Manuel Zschunke as Leontes, trying his best to portray his character, looks like he's overacting when contrasted with the others. And so it goes until intermission; a lot of heavy handed delivery interspersed with the odd visual gag. If the first half suggests a tragedy with its imagined betrayals, operatic deaths and an abandoned orphan, the second-half embraces comedy. A sense of fun reintroduced as every conceivable, half baked, hare brained theatrical possibility is indulged in to see what might spark or what might stick. Scott hidden behind a bouquet of flowers, Anne Gridley’s carb fest baguette, a dance interpretation of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time. Mollyanna Ennis’s Perdita dancing to a dance floor banger adding grace to the mayhem. A rendition of Dire Straits Romeo and Juliet introduces yet another 80’s classic, with one more to come. Showing more contrivances than a Trump affidavit, it all slides towards a meandering monologue by a resurrected statue, so mind-bogglingly, numb inducing you hope the statue will return to stone. Proceedings ending with a whimper rather than a bang. More of an apologetic cough. Like trying to strike up friendly conversation with a frostbitten, cold shouldered glare, Exit, Pursued By A Bear tries to make friendly connection but it never quite works out. Even so, Exit, Pursued By A Bear is a vivid reminder that Pan Pan are true theatrical innovators always seeking to surprise and experiment. Of course, not all experiments work, but they open pathways for new discoveries. Such is the case with Exit, Pursued By A Bear . An admirable effort with its fair share of laughs, Exit, Pursued By A Bear is less a rehearsal so bad it’s good as one genuinely striving to be all right on opening night. Which only adds to the humour and the charm. You have to applaud the effort but…yeah. About that opening night. One final caveat. The pop up bar charges an exorbitant three euro for a two gulp glass of water. Six for wine you can live with. But in our current, high cost of living climate, you might want to bring your own bottle of water. Exit, Pursued By A Bear, by William Shakespeare and Pan Pan, presented by Pan Pan, runs at The Royal Irish Academy as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 13. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024

Breaking by Amy Kidd. Image by Publicis Dublin *** If asked to suggest the source materials for Amy Kidd’s debut play Breaking , your likely answer would be the movies Gaslight and Groundhog Day , and Harold Pinter's play Betrayal . Kidd's twenty something couple in an abusive relationship also evoking a myriad of TV relationships. TV reflected in Kidd’s scene structure and Alyson Cummins set design. A living room where half sketched characters play out scenes of control and abuse to a predictable outcome, even as the outcome isn’t always convincing. Sam and Charlie negotiating violence, manipulation, gaslighting all made manifest as the story goes nowhere. Fizzling out midway. Leaving the feeling that, theatrically at least, those most likely being gaslit are the audience. Eavan Gaffney, Curtis-Lee Ashqar, Matthew Malone and Jeanne Nicole Ní Áinle in Fishamble's Breaking. Image Anthony Woods. A study of control and abuse, Breaking offers a series of shallow scenes with some strong emotional punches wedged between two theatrical gimmicks. The first, a flip midway to facilitate a mirrored retelling with events told backwards, adding little of worth and making for a gruelling second half. The second, two characters played by four cast members alternating roles. The latter proving more successful; Kidd cleverly highlighting that control and abuse recognise neither race, gender, nor sexuality. Yet the visual distractions are not enough to compensate for endless bouts of verbal tennis. As the flip occurs midway and the relationship is relived, what follows looks like student scene studies or audition call backs. In which a competent cast hold their own, particularly playing the villainous Charlie. Villains always having the best lines, and Charlie has a lot of them; relentlessly bombarding Sam to the point of surrender. The victim Sam looking less fleshed out. Curtis-Lee Ashqar, Matthew Malone and Jeanne Nicole Ní Áinle all turning in invested performances, especially as Charlie. Only Eavan Gaffney manages to make both characters fully credible, relying on detailed subtextual analysis for articulating her abuse victim’s response. Something Kidd’s energetic script never really gets to grips with. Eavan Gaffney in Breaking. Photo Anthony Woods In the hands of a lesser director, Kidd's characters could well be reduced to generalised abstractions. Jim Culleton ensuring pace ticks along nicely and performances yield up powerful moments, even as not all pairings are equally successful. Marxists would have a field day exploring the parasitic poor abuser feeding off the successful, middle class worker, even as we never really get to understand why either is as they are. Kidd’s labour of love revealing its truths only in glimpses. And mostly through Gaffney. A star in the making turning in a superlative performance. Breaking by Amy Kidd, directed by Jim Culleton and presented by Fishamble: The New Play Company, runs at Draíocht Blanchardstown as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 5. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024  or Draíocht Blanchardstown

Aoife O'Sullivan and Ruth Berkeley in Dream Factory. Image by Olga Kuzmenko ** What do a parent-and-toddler story and a Lords of Strut sketch have in common? They're both best when kept short. Why is this relevant to Lords of Strut’s musical Dream Factory ? Because Dream Factory is a parent-and-toddler story stretched to a two hour pantomime. Even with the best will in the world wanting it to work, it makes for hard work at times. Redeemed by a big finish, some bigger musical numbers, and the biggest musical superstar of them all. A scintillating Ruth Berkeley as a pantomime Mum and a psychotic sheep who steals every scene and holds everything else to account. In Cian Kinsella’s corporate kitsch tale, a money making corporation, Dream Factory, is sucking Paradise’s resources dry. Creating useless stuff to sell to people. The sheep Moo, intent on world destruction, brainwashing people into being mindless consumers. Leading to a disproportionate amount of time telling us how bad the world is and how we need to save it rather than telling a worthwhile story. Aoife O’Sullivan, like a gutsy, pre-teen Brittney Spears, uncovering Moo's plan having sneaked into the Dream Factory to find her father. Throw in a talking bee, some modest aerial, trampoline and floor routines, and an endless barrage of on the nose messages and by intermission you might well be eyeing the exit. Post intermission, music cranks up as songs move front and centre, by far the best thing about this production. Garry McCarthy’s foot tapping compositions injecting verve and gusto into proceedings. Enlivened by Deirdre Griffin’s energised if sloppy choreography, with cheerleading lifts risking near misses. Compensating for Ellen Kirk’s low budget, two stairs and a trampoline set, Sarah Foley’s Crayola costumes, and director Jennifer Jennings eliciting Jackanory level performances. Ultimately, the story goes where you expect the story to go, the final part of the journey made fun and memorable as we all stand up to get down. Still, Dream Factory over does overkill, overstays its welcome and overplays its weak hand. It has its moments, and a divine Ruth Berkeley, but as its feel good, send off quickly wears off you’re left wishing it had aspired to Berkley’s standards and kept itself short rather than selling itself short. Dream Factory making for a modestly good outing for the undiscerning young, but not near as good as Lords of Strut are capable of. Dream Factory , by Cian Kinsella, additional writing by Jennifer Jennings, presented by Lords of Strut, runs at The Civic Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 5. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 or The Civic Theatre

Agreement by Owen McCafferty. Image Carrie Davenport ***** Give My Head Peace meets The West Wing in Owen Mc Cafferty’s playful political parody Agreement . An historical account, with a generous dose of satire, interrogating the days leading up to the Good Friday Agreement in April, 1998. The personalities, the politics, the pettiness as key players strove to negotiate peace without giving anything up. Charlotte Westenra’s superb direction releasing a maelstrom of mayhem as tables, chairs, urinals and unshakeable convictions are whisked endlessly about. The hand of history urging men with huge mandates to try fashion a future free of the past. A stunning cast of Ruairi Conaghan (David Trimble), Sean Kearns (George Mitchell), Dan Gordon (John Hume), Martin Hutson (Tony Blair), Andrea Irvine (Mo Mowlam), Ronan Leahy (Bertie Ahern) and Aaron McCusker (Gerry Adams) playing a stunning cast of historical figures lauded as much as lampooned in Mc Cafferty’s hilarious tale. If we know how it played out, it's scary to see how it nearly didn't happen. Conor Murphy’s Civil Service set with its rectangle of night sky a cauldron where British and Irish counterparts look to put an end to decades of violence. Under pressure Unionist, David Trimble, the primary obstacle. Like the kid who owns the football sitting on it so others can’t play, Trimble has his heels dug in so far he seems to start at the knees. Gerry Adams watching as the game plays out might commit, might not. Shining light Tony Blair, believing his own messianic press, arrives to add guidance and wisdom, proving about as effective as an umbrella in a hurricane. Even as his steely side is eventually brought to the table. A grieving Bertie Ahern the light of reason and compromise, as is an impassioned John Hume. Overseer George Mitchell, as bewildered as a teacher on their first day at St. Trinian’s, nudges and steers from the wings. As does a demoted Mo Mowlam. The tragedy of her terminal illness compounded by the impression that had she been left at the helm the deal would have been struck in half the time. Agreement , like the Jack Charlton era, pays a price for the last twenty six years. What once kept a nation on the edge of its seat and signalled unparalleled change can seem like a soundbite moment from Reeling in the Years . The euphoria, the thrill, the choices relived by those who were there lost on those who weren’t. The nostalgia of the older making for a younger generation’s history. Yet Agreement is a brilliant piece of political theatre, succeeding on the terms it sets out for itself. Mc Cafferty’s comedy sweetening the political pill by puncturing notions of self-seriousness. Showing sworn enemies finding a way to live together in the same, shared space. A lesson that never gets old. Agreement by Owen McCafferty, presented by Lyric Theatre, NI and Gate Theatre, Dublin runs at The Gate Theatre as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 13. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024   or The Gate Theatre

Julie Sharkey in An Ant Called Amy. Image by Emma Brennan **** The upshot of simplicity is that it gives shoddy work nowhere to hide. The downside is that great work can seem almost effortless. Even as simplicity requires a phenomenal amount of effort. Like Julie Sharkey’s touchingly clever An Ant Called Amy . The story of an award winning ant who constantly busies themselves so they don’t have to think about…, well, let’s not think about that right now. Sharkey’s sharp tale showing little in terms of surface extravagance. But scratch that surface and there’s a whole world underneath. One asking its young audience about slowing down and self-care. About scary brown spiders. About fame almost going to your head. About sad things too. A woman, a ladder and a story. Mostly it’s the woman. Olyn Wrynn’s set design and Sarah Jane Shiels’ mood shifting lights ensuring Amy, looking ready for a hard days work in Deirdre Dwyer’s overalls, is always the focus. The ladder an anthill climbed endlessly as Amy delivers leafs and wins her employee of the month award. The audience participants at the award presentation ceremony. Amy’s life an endless rush until one fateful night she meets the brown spider. Sharkey’s puppetry simply superb, as is her performance. Leading her young audience into imaginative engagement. By the time their special message is sent out at the end the audience is totally won over. If some of its themes are likely to pass over the heads of the very young, Sharkey’s tale serves as a launching pad into post show discussions on the way home. Even as the show itself is a thing of joy. Sharkey, an impressive children’s performer, is made even more so by the impeccable direction of Raymond Keane. A master of physical theatre, Keane’s influence is clearly evident. Sharpening everything from pace, to composition, to expression. An Ant Called Amy stepped in Keane’s unhurried calm. The end result a simple tale simply told making for a joyfully delightful, A plus experience. An Ant Called Amy by Julie Sharkey runs at The Ark as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until September 29. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 or The Ark

0800 Cupid. Image by Eoin Greally with Niall Sweeney **** Misery loves company, but company’s decided it’s time they broke-up. In fairness, you wonder what took them so long? It’s not that Emer Dineen’s drag persona, Cupid, isn’t fun. It’s that Dineen’s self-absorption could set Olympic records. Her girlfriend breaking up with her mid-set at the dive that is Pinky’s is, admittedly, a genuine complaint. As is her struggle with Tourettes, her father’s growing dementia, and the bees squatting in her wall. But if that constitutes a post pandemic, pre apocalypse existential crisis, we’re all fucked. Still, if we have to go out, let Dineen throw the party. She may moan at a world class level, but with 0800 Cupid she shows she knows how to have fun. Joy, not so much, but she’s certainly a fun host. And let director Phillip McMahon set up the party. Anyone who can transform Dineen’s monologue of moan into a feel good, foot tapping musical deserves to be organising every party. Though let’s not have the party at Pinky’s. A drag bar that gives dive bars a bad name. Where Dineen and her fabulous backing singers and all round paragons of fabulousness Carl Harrison and Isabel Adomakoh Young strut their stuff. Performing live with musicians Osazee Aiguokhian, Tom Beech and Michael McCarthy, Dineen’s Cupid persona - one part Elvis, one part Liberace, and one part Magnum moustache - sets the stage alight with their song and dance routines. Until the breakup sends Cupid crashing and Dineen spinning off to find herself. An encounter with some bees, her cowboy Dad, the universe, and a man dealing with bereavement might shift her focus off herself. But will it be enough to save her? Despite being a musical, structurally 0800 Cupid is a ready made play. A one person, woe is my life monologue finding redemption by facing hard truths courtesy of a quirky outsider. Under McMahon’s astute direction, a multitude of narrative sins are concealed behind a shoestring of cabaret kitsch that’s gorgeously good fun. Most importantly, Dineen’s songs and singing are genuinely great. Co-composed with Beech, Dineen's ballads tug the heart strings, talk to God, or become foot tappers that get you dancing. In the end, Cupid proves to be a mask hiding a genuine treasure. For Dineen is an unparalleled talent. Forget Cillian Murphy, Cork’s real superstar is Dineen. And the world is going to know it. A talent this big can’t possibly be contained. Dineen is simply phenomenal. 0800 Cupid by Emer Dineen, presented by THISISPOPBABY, runs at The Project Arts Centre as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 5. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 or Project Arts Centre

Liv O'Donoghue in Starjazzer. Image by Patricio Cassinoni **** Midnight. An old Georgian building. A woman points at the brightest star in the night sky. Her mother once told her angels rested their feet on stars. Depending which way you promenade through ANU’s profoundly moving Starjazzer you may also encounter the bells of St George or a dance floor banger. Starjazzer’s mirroring of two abused women as they once were meeting themselves as they are now asking if the past has been bettered or has the song remained the same? Its diptych of stories by two of Ireland’s most important dramatists, Louise Lowe and Sean O’Casey , exploring inherited trauma and domestic abuse. O’Casey’s short story serving as a jumping off point for Lowe into a searing exploration of heartbreak and resilience. Ciara Byrne in Starjazzer. Image by Patricio Cassinoni Under Lowe’s loving direction, it ultimately doesn’t matter which way you promenade. Chronologically, it begins in the yard of a tenement as an exhausted woman waits at night for water to trickle into a bucket. Climbing hundreds of steps every Tuesday for water and washing. Liv O’Donoghue, frayed in body and soul, on the verge of physical and mental collapse. Remembering that on Christmas Eve the stars supposedly danced. She used to dance. Used to be attractive, this girl trapped in a woman’s body trying to protect her childlike self, six other children and survive eight years of abuse called marriage. Sex on demand, saying no not an option morally or legally. Momentarily, she dances beneath the stars in an exhausted frenzy, as if too ashamed to dream, too terrified not to. Pummelling her chest as if trying to reawaken her soul. The intimate audience made complicit witnesses, standing bare inches away, hoping this stunning glimpse of a vibrant, beautiful, powerful woman will…but there’s the washing to be done. Inside the building, faltering on the candlelit stairway, she leads us to her room. Owen Bosses' white washed walls evoking a time closer to today. Liv O'Donoghue in Starjazzer. Image by Patricio Cassinoni For a brief time a powerful duet plays out as O’Donoghue’s world is mirrored by a contemporary, single mother. A familial victim of abuse housed in low budget accommodation of some impersonal State service. A fireball of defiance and tears vividly realised by Ciara Byrne. She too speaks of angels and gets the willies having to go down darkened stairs for water. She too likes to dance beneath the stars. But where O’Donoghue dances to remember, Byrne dances to forget. Where O’Donoghue’s voice cracks under the strain of hopelessness, Byrne’s swaggers with defiant confidence born of an expectation that she deserves better. The legacy of the bed as a prison sees O’Donoghue trying to sleep, her arm pressed against her back as if held there against her will, the inevitable taking place. Trauma normalised, even as its consequences prove horrific. O’Donoghue battered in body and soul, Byrne no longer able to speak. As always with ANU, tech doesn’t simply frame the action, its informs it. Ciaran Bagnall’s lights adding emotional depth, along with Rob Moloney’s sound and Saileóg O’Hallorahan’s costumes. O’Hallorahan’s superb attention to detail evident in O’Donoghue’s threadbare blouse with a hole in the back. O’Donoghue’s excellent performance evoking a time when women could only scream helplessly. Byrne superb as a defiant woman in a child’s body forced to grow up to soon. Ciara Byrne in Starjazzer. Image by Patricio Cassinoni As a theatre maker, Lowe is one of a kind. Crafting works where details and narrative are fingers pointing towards an experiential moon. Occasionally, though, the fingers don’t point clearly, or clouds get in the way. Creating a lack of clarity exacerbated by Starjazzer’s confined, claustrophobic intimacy. One that risks a rushed incoherence early on. As if being challenged by a wild, oversharing stranger not quite making sense. Yet, as always with Lowe, Starjazzer operates on two levels; social and personal. The thwarted needs of the individual offering a keyhole view onto the larger society. Reminding us that politics should always be about people. It either saves them or does nothing. But Lowe won’t argue the toss. She allows her powerful women to speak for themselves. To howl and roar. Starjazzer offering a compelling, powerful and deeply moving interrogation of normalised abuse. It’s run justifiably extended. Grab a ticket if you can. Starjazze r, by ANU Productions, runs at The Royal Society of Antiquaries, Merrion Square, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 19. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024

Amy Molloy and Marty Rea in The House. Image, Ros Kavanagh ***** Tom Murphy's enduring classic from 2000, The House, is not an easy play to stage. Like Rachmaninoff's piano concertos there's layers of complexity and endless moving parts beneath its straightforward melodies. Hit the wrong note and Murphy’s classic tale about the immigrant diaspora of the 1950s returning home for the holidays rings dull and dated. It’s clash of memory and reality, of belonging and rootlessness making near impossible demands. It’s not enough to possess a sterling cast and first rate tech, nor a company sensitive to the Murphy oeuvre such as Druid. It requires a central vision of unadulterated genius to marshal its complex components into a unified and effecting whole. A genius of the calibre of Garry Hynes. Evident in Druid's superlative production currently gracing Dublin Theatre Festival. Liam Heslin, Colm Lennon and Marty Rea in The House. Image, Ros Kavanagh If Murphy’s story is paramount, the manner in which his story is told is equally important. With a painters eye and a musicians understanding of emotional complexity, Hynes proves a master storyteller. Before a word is spoken Hynes’ genius is conspicuous in the opening image. Francis O’Connor’s astonishing set, his costume designs with Clíodhna Hallissey, James F. Ingalls extraordinary lights and Sinéad Diskin’s sound design collaborating to produce a painterly image of extraordinary power. O’Connor’s expressionist set a hybrid of pub and house, as was often the case in the 1950s. Its floating glass shards, like shattered memories, and its broken mirror like a jigsaw with key pieces missing evoking bad luck, faulty perceptions and a subtle undercurrent of violence. Marty Rea and Marie Mullen in The House. Image, Ros Kavanagh Against which a story of a returning, immigrant diaspora in the 1950s during their builder’s holidays serves as a commentary on a time and a place and a people. Like Marty Rea’s Christy Cavanagh, a man in awe of the family in the big house who cared for him as a child when his mother died. A man lost in memories of yesteryear. Devoted to the matriarchal Mrs de Burca, a commanding Marie Mullen. Rae and Mullen providing the emotional lynchpin around which everything revolves. Mullen representing a sense of home, of mothering, of place and belonging. Something Christy is desperately in search of. Hynes showing compositional brilliance as Christy sits on stairs at the top of the landing, or peering around corners, a child and man at one and the same time trapped in the present and the past. Donncha O'Dea, Darragh Feehely, Amy Molloy, Andrew Macklin in The House. Image, Ros Kavanagh Like Liam Heslin’s superb Peter, and Colm Lennon’s brilliantly articulated Goldfish, Christy possesses a mongrel soul that renders him a breed apart. Too English or American to be Irish, too Irish to be anything else, separated from soil and rootless abroad, money, sex and same old stories become their blow hard currency. Men who took to the building sites, or, like Christy, or Amy Molloy’s delightfully seductive Susanne, undertook questionable ways to survive and make money. Traces of A Whistle in the Dark reverberating in the criminal darkness that follows Christy about. Learning the de Burca’s house is up for sale, Christy decides to buy it at a fair price. Marty Rae extraordinary as a character whose emotional complexity sees him shift from young boy to calculating criminal, from womaniser to violently dangerous with ease. Rae transitioning seamlessly in an utterly compelling performance. Cathal Ryan, Donncha O'Dea, Liam Heslin, Colm Lennon, Marty Rea in The House. Image, Ros Kavanagh Indeed, performances across the board prove simply superlative, each achieving three dimensional characters possessed by a singular, driving impulse. Jessica Dunne Perkins as the brutalised Louisa, Darragh Feehely’s Kerrigan a solicitor with a conscience, Cathal Ryan as the local loudmouth, Donncha O’Dea as the scene stealing pub owner Bunty, Andrew Macklin as police office Harley and a divine Rachel O’Byrne as Marie are each extraordinary. As is the treasure that is Marie Mullen. Immaculate as Mrs de Burca, whose joyous luminosity visibly shrinks under the burden Christy places on her as the end approaches. It’s indicative of Hynes’ genius, and Rae’s impeccable performance, that as the final scene plays out Christy is both indecent villain and a man trying to do the decent thing. Left with a house, but not a home. Hynes’ interpretation of Murphy’s The House one the best and most important revivals of the year, yielding endless interpretive riches. A production not to be missed by anyone serious about great Irish theatre. The House by Tom Murphy, directed by Garry Hynes and presented by Druid, runs at The Gaiety Theatre as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until October 6. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 or The Gaiety Theatre

Lorcan Cranitch and Ella Lily Hyland in Grania. Image: Ros Kavanagh *** There’s a famous statue by Giambologna in The Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. The Abduction, or Rape, of a Sabine Woman. The 16th sculpture depicting three nudes; a cowering old man, a virile young man, and a distressed young woman being whisked away from the old man by the younger. A statue that references a particular story whilst also being symbolic of other things; old age and youth, power and desire, and women as property in the world of men. Themes echoed in Lady Augusta Gregory’s Grania from 1912, receiving its first professional production. Gregory’s tale also referencing a far older tale, one featuring an aging man, a virile youth and a young woman. The legend of Grania and Diarmuid given a sly twist that makes for too many big asks. Leaving director Caitríona McLaughlin struggling to address the tensions in Gregory’s unwieldily and unconvincing script. One in which binaries such as realism and fairytale, women and boys, desire and duty are left unresolved. If visually pleasing, Colin Richmond’s wheat and lily set, Sinéad Wallace’s amber lights, and Catherine’s Fay’s time neutral costumes evoke a liminal nowhere steeped in Celtic twilight; neither now nor long ago whilst aspiring to both. Grania’s bumbling start referencing contemporary Dublin’s immigration crisis as Seán Boylan and Laura Sheehan sing around a makeshift fire like a Greek chorus. Not for the last time will Carl Kennedy’s compositions wear on the ear, serving up unnecessary distractions. Into these fields of gold Grania, the King’s daughter, arrives to meet Finn, Ireland’s greatest warrior. Meeting for the first time the day before their wedding. Ella Lily Hyland’s self-assured Grania, a girl with (sugar) daddy issues and a thing for dangerous boys, is happy to wed Lorcan Cranitch’s much older Finn, resurrecting love in his rusted heart. Though whether love for Grania as woman or possession is up for debate. Niall Wright and Ella Lily Hyland in Grania. Image: Ros Kavanagh Until Niall Wright's Diarmuid arrives; a man women find easy to love, allegedly. The bloodstained hero and the bride to be realising they’re wild about each other. Only he prefers celibacy to betraying Finn’s trust. A late night incident with an uncooperative candle finds Grania confiding her love to Diarmuid believing him to be the man with his back turned to her. Bedlam ensues, demanding a double measure of suspension of disbelief as her love is found out. Diarmuid’s oath of celibacy and his promise to keep Grania safe from Finn’s wrath finding us drifting from legend into fairytale into farce, laughing as tragedy becomes comedy. An annoying, two song intermezzo by Kennedy drags on as a rain swept, snowstorm landscape sees figures constantly moving across it. If the point was to convey the passing of seven years in the wilderness, it succeeds in that it feels like seven years when the action recommences with a simple, powerful stage image. One doing more in ten seconds than all the music torn thundering that preceded it. Making it clear that Grania and Diarmuid were never a star crossed Romeo and Juliet. They were Adam and Eve hiding in the garden from a jealous God at the beginning of the world. Or the beginning of Ireland. Grania swimming naked as a naked Diarmuid spears fish capturing the beauty, the vulnerability, the tenderness and passion that Gregory points to but rarely harnesses. Grania, having finally slept with Diarmuid, already planning to rearrange their lives to one more in keeping with her tastes. A see through disguise sets Diarmuid off to seek vengeance on a lusty king following a ruse by Finn, leading to recriminations, a complicated death scene, and a compromised future that, if it speaks to a new vision of Ireland, might well leave you feeling we were doomed from the start. Lorcan Cranitch , Niall Wright and Ella Lily Hyland in Grania. Image: Ros Kavanagh If many of Grania’s political and moral concerns sound hollow to modern ears, efforts to modernise the work only make matters worse. Connecting the wanderings of Diarmuid and Grania unable to return home with the plight of refugees via recurring images shoehorned in looks forced and weak. Then there’s Grania. Portrayed as a confident, sexually assured young woman playing off weak men with the sexual assurance of schoolboys undermines tension. Their confrontations less arguments so much as boys being bossed to bed by their bullish older sister. Duty, found in notions of male codes of honour, sounds like childish, comic book heroics. Leaving Grania's patience, given she looks like she wouldn’t deny herself for seven minutes let alone seven years, making for a hard sell. Even as she feels like the only flesh and blood creature amongst a pair of male anachronisms. Finn and Diarmuid’s father-son relationship unsettled by what might be considered a homoerotic kiss. Their connection never properly explored but rather serving as fuel for an unconvincing reversal. Grania is a historically significant play, making its first professional production historically signifiant. Lending the occasion a degree of gravitas as many delight in picking through its historical references. Arguing about Gregory’s own life and her relationship with an older husband and younger lover, about how this production corrects a wrong many feel should have been addressed long ago. But another argument as to why Grania has never been produced is that, as a three act play, it doesn’t satisfactorily come together whatever its offstage curios. What lingers is not Gregory’s outdated tale cobbled to meet her ideological views, but Lorcan Cranitch’s impressive performance and Ella Lily Hyland’s no nonsense, self assured Grania; strong, brave, commanding and mesmerising. Like Hyland herself. Owning the stage and making this historic, inaugural Grania her very own. Grania , by Lady Augusta Gregory, runs at The Abbey Theatre as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until Oct 12, continuing its run until October 26. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 or The Abbey Theatre

Nobodaddy by Teać Damsa. Image by Fiona Morgan. **** Less a set so much as a convenience. Like a warehouse, or a backstage area. A figure stretched across three chairs sleeps like a fallen angel, her white wings tarnished. Looking like rejects from Reservoir Dogs , two men enter and engage in a little spit and polish. A dull tale ensues as the angel falls to the floor and both men refuse to pick her up. A bad back, a cheese sandwich, she’s got the wrong health insurance. Meanwhile, grey suited musicians sit in line near the wings looking like The Rubberbandits auditioning for the next Kneecap movie. So begins Teać Damsa’s latest production Nobodaddy , the name referencing a repulsive character by William Blake. A metaphor to speak to the horror of modern times and to hope for the future. An energised production that, well, you’ll likely like it, but you might not like-like it. And if you came for dance you probably won’t love it. It’s opening plainly foreshadowing that dance isn’t the primary art form of this interdisciplinary hybrid. When dance finally arrives, it’s already on the back foot. Some repackaged routines playing with forms suggest ballet and line dancing. There being more variety in music than dancing. Onstage musicians, along with dancers at times, delivering a wide range of songs and styles. Ballads, bluegrass, trad and folk dominating, with folk singer, Sam Amidon, playing front and foremost most of the time. So much so Nobodaddy frequently resembles a Sam Amidon concert with choreographic support. Fine if you’re a fan, otherwise it can feel like an Amidon curated song cycle. Or a bubble chain of music videos linked by notions of death. Echoed in Doey Lüthi’s showband costumes evoking the 1970s. The murder of The Miami Show Band in 1975 and the recent passing of director Michael Keegan-Dolan’s mother underscoring Nobodaddy's jukebox of musical delights. Visually, images prove at their best when seeming to come from left field; unique and individual dance movements, leaps from a ladder to a mattress a la Amanda Coogan, endless climbing on top of a large box, or a routine giving the phrase “butter him up” a whole new meaning. As always with Teać Damsa, dancing is the thing. An ageless, androgynous, endlessly energised Rachel Poirier once again sublime in every instance. Even as others look a little predictable in a company where the unpredictable works best. Some spectacular group work contrasts with patchy flashes that tempt and tease as often as they deliver. A superb duet between Ryan O’Neill and Jovana Zelenović, in which the distraught O’Neill screams whilst Zelenović manipulates his resistant body being a joy to behold. Reminding you of what Nobodaddy didn’t have enough of. As the end nears, following some controlled, punk chaos, a number of plaintive tunes about bargaining with death, the prodigal son, and the horror of the world precede a pleading recital from Blake's Auguries of Innocence which tries too hard to tug the emotional heart strings. As if sensing the job has been left undone and trying to overcompensate. Sending us home in a sea of bubbles. All fine and feel good, unless you were hoping for a little more substance and a little less kitsch than bubbles. Still, if less wild and more disorderly, less about dance and more about music, Nobodaddy , at its best, reminds you that Teać Damsa create moments that can take your breath away. Nobodaddy by Teać Damsa, an An Droichead for Belfast 2024, Dublin Theatre Festival, Abbey Theatre, and Sadlers Wells co-production, runs at the O'Reilly Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until Oct 5. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024

Shades Through A Shade. Image by Ewa Figaszewska **** It sounds a little daunting, and a tad dull. Gare St Lazare’s intertextual and interdisciplinary Shades Through A Shade . An academic delight referencing Melville’s Bartleby The Scrivener, Beckett’s Belacqua from his short story collection More Pricks Than Kicks , and Dante’s Beatrice and The Divine Comedy where Belacqua first appeared. Add a sprinkle of text from St Augustine, a jigger from Julian Of Norwich, a whisper from Hildegard Von Bingen and some Jean-Luc Nancy to name the major culprits, and you might feel a doctorate in The Religious Significance of Literary Characters Whose Names Begin With The Letter B would be helpful. But the truth is The Divine Comedy , like Ulysses , and some would add Beckett and Moby Dick , is something more people claim to have read than have actually read. And those who have usually never got past Inferno . In other words, you don’t need to know all the references. For Shades Through A Shade pulls them apart, selects what it wants, then reassembles them loosely after its own unique fashion. Theatrically, Shades Through A Shade is a genuinely fun production. Puncturing seriousness by resembling the worst auditions for The Play That Went Wrong. Lines lost, awkward tableaux, overacting, the line between stage, performer, musician and usher endlessly erased sees excerpt follow excerpt in humourous fashion. Performers Natasha Everitt, Simon Jermyn, Conor Lovett, Lux Lovett, Trey Lyford, Seán Mac Earlaine and Julia Spanu taking meta-theatricality out for a spin against a steady musical score. Music by Benedict Schlepper Connolly, played live, a fusion of flavours ranging from Persian folk to religious choral channelling the laid back guitar stylings of Bill Frisell with Norma Winstone styled vocal accompaniment by Spanu. A healthy interruption of Grunge serves as a palette cleanser, as does an Alleluia Gospel moment replete with arm swaying backing singers. Set design by Judy Hegarty Lovett and Simon Bennison, with original artworks by Morgan Doyle, lighting by Simon Bennison and costumes by Valentina Gambardella might not push the visual boundaries, but screen curtains constantly being whisked across stage sees energy flow and the space constantly charged and changing. Meanwhile, extracts from letters, devouring shards of paper, rerunning the play’s highlights inject playful delight into the wild, visual mix. Shades Through A Shade. Image by Ewa Figaszewska If, theatrically, Shades Through A Shade is not so heavy after all, thematically it’s still pretty dense, and its one hundred minute running time can be a challenge. Large chunks of text endlessly recited risk becoming about as exciting as a train spotting AGM being recounted by a stickler for detail. Seeming to weave a circular theology, juxtaposing religious with the atheistic, the anxious and the absurd, and both against the spiritual, even as terms are never clearly defined. Defying faith or faith as defiance? The happy life or the impossiblity of happiness? We’ll let you decide. Directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett, and co-created with Conor Lovett, Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, Sebastian McKimm and Morgan Doyle, Shades Through A Shade might not make for light going, but it’s forever light hearted. When it comes to life, or art, we’re all just strutting and fretting our hour upon the stage, getting our lines wrong, missing our mark in both sacred and profane moments. Wondering in what state shall we die? When perhaps the more pertinent question is, in what state do we live? All up for discussion in this playful, fun and thought provoking production. Shades Through A Shade by Gare St Lazare runs at The Samuel Beckett Theatre as part of  Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 until September 28. For more information visit Dublin Theatre Festival 2024

Sorcha Furlong in Tender Mercies. Image Al Craig. **** Poetry and prose collide in Colette Cullen’s hugely affecting Tender Mercies . Cullen’s prosaic tale a character study of hairdresser Mary concealing a knife up its sleeve. For Mary is an alcoholic on enough prescribed medication to supply an A&E unit on a Saturday night. Cullen’s tale inspired by the true life story of a woman whose body wasn’t discovered until a year after she died. A fact that frames Mary’s story with hidden poignancy, like watching a car crash as it happens. Mary’s life, a litany of banalities trying to hide the truth from us and herself. A life leaning heavily into secrecy. The truth hidden in plain sight; the pharmacy’s paper bag tucked beneath the table, the cardboard wine carrier covered with a cloth. Tales of once regular clients, like Rita, wanting to change her hair to red interspersed with mentions of Mary’s ex-husband Johnny, her twin brother Barry, her adoring Dad and a mother who took tough love to a whole other level. All supplying weak backstory and weaker justification for why Mary thinks she’s a ten time loser. Or why she can’t shake the monkey some call depression. The overcooked sympathy risking her truth disappearing like the last dregs in the bottle. A truth revealed in Sorcha Furlong's poetic and brilliant performance. Furlong impeccable as a lonely, isolated woman, so wounded even her smiles have scars. Even though director Caroline Fitzgerald elicits ten of the best performative minutes to be had anywhere, from the outset Tender Mercies struggles with its identity. Like its uncredited set, Cullen’s text is a contrived mess of convenience. As with alcohol and pills, its I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles , street games, Bunty readers nostalgia doesn’t mix well with its grim realism. Leaving Tender Mercies speaking clearest to women of a particular generation. And so it goes for about forty minutes, rambling through old references, backstory and exposition, none of it particularly gripping. Furlong guiding us through Mary's days of wine and rose coloured glasses. Lulling us into wondering where this might be going and a false sense of thinking we’re witnessing a performer doing an impressive job. But this is meat and potatoes for Furlong. Impressive is coming, and you’ll know it when it gets here. In the hands of a lesser performer, Mary’s breakdown could play like a cheap gimmick. A gut punch to the emotional buttons for easy effect. With Furlong, we get layered nuance, subtleties within subtleties, flashes of truth that burn only for an instant, being too painful to look at any longer. Furlong reaching in and scooping truth from its pain dark depths. Mary, like a parent watching their child fight for their life, helpless to do anything. Her hope an unrequited lover’s last kiss. All her worlds imploding from sheer emotional force. The diminutive ending, with its darker suggestions, offering slow release from the whirlwind in which everyone, including Mary, has failed her. Typecasting carries penalties. In Tender Mercies , Furlong reminds you she can deliver to standards few attain. Timing could have been better though. With Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 running in tandem, it’s naturally going to attract the bulk of theatre goers. But if you want to check out a top class performance, Furlong at The Viking is a sure fire certainty. In the end, you might remember Mary, but Furlong you'll never forget. Tender Mercies by Colette Cullen, runs at The Viking Theatre until Oct 12th. For more information visit The Viking Theatre

Cortisol. Image, Simão Nogueira. *** When it comes to a sinking script, a good director can steer it to shore. A great director can find enough of its heart to show you what could've been. Such is the case with director Jeda de Brí whose impressive work on debut play Cortisol , by sisters Megan and Shannon Haly conceals a multitude of sins. Its ready-made formula of traumatised heroine suffering life in her twenties foregrounds two impressive performers who, alas, make for two second rate writers. For no matter how much de Brí dresses it up, there’s very little meat, and less originality, on this cliched, bone dry skeleton. A lopsided, radio play passed off as story telling theatre, Cortisol follows childhood friends Sam and Izzy through Sam’s mother's death, diverging life choices, separation at college, Sam moving to Berlin, and Sam’s endless self-pity which she calls her twenties. Simply put, it’s all about Sam. Izzy, like Sam’s mother, grandmother, or her girlfriend Sophie, little more than walk on parts in Sam's self-induced victimhood. Cleverly switching characters between performers strives, but fails, to enforce a degree of intimacy that simply isn't there. Wanting us to believe this relationship flourishes when everything suggests it died ages past. Its continued existence little more than habit that breaks down under the barest scrutiny. As when Izzy announces her exciting news. Sam turning it into yet another excuse as to why she’s so unhappy. Salvaged by a neat twist at the end that, if psychologically trite, proves dramatically sweet. With its short scenes and televisual structure, Cortisol resembles Tik Tok theatre. Emotional soundbites and dramatic flashcards overlaid by cliched Hallmark text. What keeps it interesting is the manner in which de Brí composes the space, allows energy to flow and performances rise above the script, highlighting Megan and Shannon Haly as having considerable presence and talent. As writers, not so much. Jenny Whyte’s three podium set, Dara Hoban’s lights and Fiona Shiel’s sound design going a long way to compensating for Cortisol’s dramatic and emotional shallowness. Joan Didion famously said, “I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be.” In Cortisol , clinging to those people fails to deliver and fails to convince. Even as the Haly sisters turn in valiant performances and de Brí cements her reputation as one of the best directors around. Cortisol, by Megan and Shannon Haly, directed by Jeda de Brí, runs at Smock Alley Theatre as part Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 until Sept 21. For more information visit Smock Alley Theatre or D ublin Fringe Festival 2024.

Dancehall Blues. Image by Ros Kavanagh **** Entering CoisCéim Studio for Dancehall Blues, directed and choreographed by David Bolger, you might find yourself wondering if you’re at the right show? Double checking your programme, you discover the word you might have glanced over; dystopia. But this is CoisCéim Dance Theatre and David Bolger . Responsible for some of the most uplifting and beautifully crafted pieces of the past three decades. Works defined by joy, hope and tenderness. In fairness, even when doing dystopia CoisCéim craft it beautifully. But somehow it doesn’t look right. Hazmat boiler suits suggesting workers in a black roomed abattoir. A large disco ball swinging like a wrecking ball set against an industrial soundtrack. The walls replete with fascist images set against a German sounding villain from the 1940s. Meanwhile, two masked dancers conduct a dialogue without a conversation. Bodies, like passive, mechanical meat suits get pulled, pushed, prodded, rolled. All very inhuman. All very 1984 . All a little bit cliched. But fear not. As wall curtains are pulled and the world outside overheard, light and something rather crucial enter the space. In no time you’re on familiar, if bittersweet ground. Dancehall Blues serving up a poignant reminder that, at heart, CoisCéim and Bolger are forever hopeless romantics. What enters the room is humanity, given shape and form by dancers Stephanie Dufresne and Alex O’Neill. An operatic aria sees Dufresne undertake a slow, gentle striptease to peel away the outer skin of the boiler suit. The body humanised is suddenly made more expressive. Meanwhile, O’Neill performs with mechanical rote till the mask is slipped, the human peers out and a similar shedding follows. Now begins a conversation without dialogue. Or series of conversations. Dufresne and O’Neill, like Adam and Eve trapped in their garden of Eden, look through the windows at a joyous street song playing outside. Movement, both natural and curated, crafting exquisite moments in solo and duet. O’Neill’s stuttering, often jerking physicalty mesmerising. Offset by Dufresne's sweeping elegance whether dancing, walking or climbing on chairs. Romance ever present in their flirting stand-offs, their shared playfulness, their gentle oneupmanship. In If You Go Away sung like a French torch song in a 1940s movie. Cork pulled by the teeth then spat to the floor as wine is guzzled from the neck. The penetrating gaze. The stylish, black Fedora. The eternal cigarette… actually, scratch that last one. Yet dystopia is never far away. The locked door. Voices from outside. The cautionary voice overs. At one point the phrase The Great Reset is written in lipstick on a mirror. Whether referring to the World Economic Forum’s recovery plan post Covid, or something more open ended, the answer is left unclear. What’s clear is that the dancers might be safe in their prison cell, but it’s still a cell. In which their sketchy narrative of short scenes, like album tracks, suggests hope but also whistling in the dark. Dialogue, when it enters, shapeless and weak when addressing too big, too open ended questions. Dufresne and O’Neill’s physical conversations far more beautiful, insightful and heartfelt. As the end arrives, poignant and bittersweet, it’s left to us to wonder if perhaps this is all we have? Moments, dancing together in our prison cells beneath sparkle and starlight. The world gone to riot outside as we wait, and wish, for the best of us. Perhaps. But at moments it looks more than enough. At moments it looks a little like heaven. Dancehall Blues by CoisCéim Dance Theatre runs at CoisCéim Studio, Fairview Strand, and part Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 until Sept 21. For more information visit CoisCéim Dance Theatre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024

Hyperphysical, by Irish Modern Dance Theatre. Image Patricio Cassinoni ***** Passion and play. Individuality and the collective. Old and new. Vital opposites necessary for the creation of dance. All evident in Irish Modern Dance Theatres double bill Hyperphysical . A yin yang, diptych of contrasts and harmonies making for a rather unique whole. With The Future is on the Way by American choreographer Abby Z and the New Utility , five dancers undertake a punishing, durational performance, pushing the body to its physical limits only to keep on going. Rigour constantly maintained. Synchronicity, sharpness of articulation, never allowed waver. Even when tempo changes, tension never lessens. Opening with martial arts horse stance, rising arms are imbued with tai-chi grace. A descent to the floor sees street and hip hop elements added. Pace quickens. In no time the hybrid of forms evolves and intensifies. Dancers grunting, calling, encouraging each other to keep going, to press on. The choreographer calling out from the auditorium like some invisible drill sergeant. Solos, duets, and duets of duets feeling like a military parade ground drill. Pummelling bodies pushed to their limits to become the troop, the battalion, the unit, the company. The indiviudal subsumed into the whole. Keep going, don’t quit, don’t slacken. A strategy as old as the hills often condemned for promoting elitism in the name of weeding out the weak. Or of finding the very best. Like Inez Berdychowska, Roberta Ceginskaite, Boris Charrion, Rosie Mullin and Adam O’Reilly, each astonishing to watch. Repeating patterns and movements till it's impossible not to be impressed by their stamina, dexterity, commitment and resilience. The five becoming one. Five fingers making a fist. In contrast John Scott's revival of Actions [now] offers a shorter, calmer, more playful duet featuring two male dancers; O’Reilly and Charrion returning for more. If less physically demanding, Actions [now] is imbued with hyperphysical searching. Its apparent randomness suggesting a feeling out of form rather than setting its course by something already determined. Here, two do not become one, despite the duet. Rather, like individual soloist, they learn, share and evolve through a process of mirroring, imitating, synchronising and playing together. Children showing off, collaborating, calling to each other to follow me, or asking instruction from the audience of what they'd like to see them do. Running, spinning, ballet and explosions sees the stern focus of the driven adult complimented by inclusiveness, openness and vulnerability. Its playfulness and charm simply irresistible. Full of John Scott's signature stylings and a love of collaborative endeavour, Hyperphysical is Irish Modern Dance Theatre at their best. Individually, each work makes for a remarkable whole. Seeing both side-by-side is to get a rare view of both ends of the dance spectrum simultaneously. Hyperphysical making for a sensational production, doing exactly what it says on the tin. Hyperphysical , by Irish Modern Dance Theatre, ran at The Lir as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2024. It transfers to Dance Cork Firkin Crane for Sept 20 and 21. For more information visit Irish Modern Dance Theatre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024.

Julius Caesar Variety Show by Joy Nesbitt. Image by Eti *** There’s an urgent need for a play about the black lived experience in Ireland, with particular reference to black people’s experiences engaging with the arts. Alas, Julius Caesar Variety Show isn’t it. What it is, is a first year, Drama Soc experiment that misses as often as it hits. Disappointing given it features two rising stars of Irish Theatre; writer and director Joy Nesbitt and performer (but also a writer and director) Ultan Pringle. Nesbitt’s premise is simple. Three actors, a pianist, and a director from hell are workshopping an upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar . The building they’re in, a once venerated theatre, is about to be knocked down to make way for a Direct Provision Centre. Outside, a hostile, far right mob are loudly protesting, keeping the company trapped inside. Set-up laboriously established, what follows is a series of on the nose, subtle as a brick polemics via dull diatribes and dubious acting exercises, all designed to highlight the changing, and unchanging face of Irish society. Taking a scattergun approach, Julius Caesar Variety Show throws endless theatrical mud hoping something of worth will stick. Unfortunately, very little of worth does. Take the cliched characters. Three of whom are aligned with once famous actors. Pringle’s director and Daniel Mahon’s fawning Laurence Olivier clearly representing a white, male patriarchy. Even as Loré Adewusi’s Sidney Poitier and Pattie Maguire’s Marlene Dietrich speak to a liberal, pronoun positive women and immigrant cohort. Conrad Jones-Brangan’s musician sitting somewhere on the fence. Dropping more names and cultural references than a wannabe influencer, explorations of power structures between men, women and people of colour in the arts lead to an inevitably predictable ending whilst offering too little of insight on the way. Julius Caesar Variety Show , wanting to be of the moment, evokes the feeling of the moment likely to be long over by the time its endless discussion are done. Its dream of pronoun appropriate behaviour creating a new dawn looking more like power still corrupting even as it changes hands. Nesbitt and co reaching for low hanging fruit, the richer fruit seemingly out of reach. Yet every so often something drops from the higher brances, reminding you of what might have been. A pity, given Julius Caesar Variety Show is a labour of love that makes some important points. About colourblind casting, white male privilege, how right wing hatred might be a TV soundbite for many, but for black people it’s a viable threat to their lives. But it makes its points in juvenile fashion. ’But this is the Fringe, an opportunity to experiment with new ideas.’ Were this their first outing, you might tend to be more lenient. But Pringle and Nesbitt have a track record of far superior work. Like wearing your communion clothes on your first day of college, Julius Caesar Variety Show doesn’t fit anymore. They’ve outgrown this kind of student level production. One positive takeaway. Pattie Maguire’s passionate performance is a revelation. Like Nesbitt and Pringle, Maguire has the talent to be one of the best. She shows it here. You’ll have to look elsewhere to find Pringle and Nesbitt at their best. Julius Caesar Variety Show by Joy Nesbitt, runs at The New Theatre until Sept 14 as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 For more information visit The New Theatre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024.

Bitch by Marty Breen. Imahe Sophie O'Donovan ***** If you don’t pick up on the subtleties in Bitch early on, it’ll likely tear your soul out. Even if you do Marty Breen’s  one person, musical monologue is likely to emotionally eviscerate you. It all looks innocuous. A cross between a show tunes singalong at Marie’s Crisis alternating with a stand-up comedy routine. Visually, it’s a little juvenile. Suzie Cummins’s cabaret pink lights for the piano and masculine blue for the comedy reinforcing Breen’s gender switching throughout. But hesitation as the cymbal fizzes and outbursts of excessive rage hint at bravado. At dark, unsettling themes. Themes that eventually come to the forefront. But by the time they become clear, it’s too late. Bitch has trapped you in a vice like grip you will not be able to escape from. Nor will you likely want to. Like a twenty-first century, R-rated Victoria Wood, Breen’s impressive musical and vocal skills sees them setting to song a variety of ideas and experiences. Juxtaposed and complimented by a stand up routine in which an incel looking, needs-to-be-more-masculine comedian talks about his love life. For a time, it feels like little more than a showcase reel to attract agents, highlighting Breen’s considerable musical, vocal, comedic and performative talents. But those early subtleties come back to haunt. Director Jeda de Brí doing a sterling job creating a safe space for Breen to flourish, and facilitating that challenging transition from lightweight to soul stirring. Bitch becoming a powerful exploration of sexual abuse, and of how women are conditioned to internalise blame especially for things they’re not responsible for. True, it follows the Netflix redemption formula with insight provided by an all knowing pain in the ass. Yet as the a cappella finale brings it all home, with its head nod to Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run with the Wolves, the hairs on the back of your neck rise as Breen bears their soul. Bold, brave, and oft times brilliant, Bitch is a blisteringly breathtaking experience. But Breen is even better. Not to be missed. Bitch, written, composed and performed by Marty Breen, runs at Bewley’s Café Theatre until Sept 15 as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2024. For more information visit Bewley’s Café Theatre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024.

Illness as Metaphor. Image by Edit Jason Booher **** Illness as Metaphor. The 1978 book by Susan Sontag exploring the difficulty we experience talking about illness. Written in response to Sontag’s own experience of dealing with breast cancer. Diseases like TB and cancer often romanticised or mythologised as barometers of personal worth. Illness a metaphor for punishment, self-inflicted injury, for weakness, secrecy or shame. Or spoken of through military metaphors; invasive, attacking, terminating. Dead Centre adapting Sontag’s book to speak to six people currently living with serious illness. Cabrini Cahill, Eamonn Doyle, James Ireland, Conor Lenehan, Una Mullally and Megan Robinson, along with director Brian Kidd, recounting their true life experiences as they try unpack Sontag’s musings. Lots of sickness and pain involved, suggesting it’s not a show that’s big on laughs. Except… Illness as Metapho r is very big on laughs, offering an intriguing interrogation of the biggest metaphor maker of them of all; theatre. What Illness as Metaphor is not big on is cheap sensationalism and lazy sentimentality. Its seven strong cast, gathered in response to a callout by Kidd, giving a no frills account of their personal experiences and their responses to Sontag’s book. Kidd, along with co-director Bush Moukarzel, keeping things thematically grounded even as theatrically things go through the roof. Throughout, metaphor is defined as one thing explained in terms of another. Facilitating a delicious conceit as each performer plays the person to their immediate left; acting being the greatest example of one thing playing at being another. Allowing stories to be told with detachment, puncturing the personal without ever denying it. Allowing for some hilarious moments of self-deprecation. Meanwhile, Kidd, as a chain smoking Sontag, reads from her book whose pages are projected onto the back wall. Soon to become a blue screen. Blue both a multi-layered metaphor and a device which allows bodies disappear, horses to appear, and an endless fall from the sky to magically occur. As videos go, Kilian Water’s DIY, shoestring style wouldn’t be Dead Centre’s best work by any distance. But it’s all part of a makeshift, meta-theatrical, self-awareness. Asking why do we need metaphor? Why can’t we just say what’s wrong with us? In the end, Illness as Metaphor is affected by the very disease it diagnoses; being unable to talk directly about illness. For this is never illness in its raw, unvarnished state. This is illness sanitised into art, avoiding difficult issues like the right to die, even as art is recognised as completely ineffectual in saving lives. Art might ease symptoms, but it cures nothing. Also, all language is metaphor, and literalism is the lowest level of meaning. Metaphor, at its best, is about saying more, not less. Of conveying something beyond the limit of language rather than being restricted by it. And some metaphors ring true, even in relation to illness. The metaphor that people managing illness are nicer, kinder, wiser human beings. On the evidence of the cast of this meta-theatrical delight, that very much seems to be the case. Not Dead Centre’s best work by any stretch, but Illness as Metaphor is arguably its most moving. Illness as Metaphor, by Dead Centre, runs at The Project Arts Centre until Sept 14 as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 . For more information visit Project Arts Centre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024.

The Maestro and The Mosquita. Image Ros Kavanagh. **** Lights, music, sound, action. Core elements of any Louis Lovett performance, crafted and curated through an alchemy of magic and hard work. Like Bryan Burroughs, Raymond Keane and Mikel Murfi, Lovett is one of Ireland’s great physical performers. His signature style marrying clowning and tones of Commedia to facilitate unforgettable theatrical experiences. If you thought he couldn’t possibly get any better, think again. The Maestro and The Mosquita by Carmel Winters sees Lovett breaking through to even higher ground. Leaving mere mortals to look on in wonder as his irresistible spell seduces and enchants. Even if it slightly overstays it's welcome. In fairness, his collaborator’s must take some of the credit, and a little of the blame. Winters tale of a man, a mosquito, and the testing of their relationship is built around an impressive economy of text. Language riddled with hints and suggestions, saying very much more by saying so much less. Allowing Lovett’s Germanic tones, expressions and physical mannerisms convey humour, heart and deeper truths. Yet beginning with direct address to the audience, then shifting to a story that checks in with them now and again sees proceedings stumble at the gate. Not helped by the story being initially confusing and longer than it needed to be. Leaving Lovett’s expertise as the only thing to connect with for a time. No great suffering there, but good stuff slips through the cracks as you try to work it out. Directors Muireann Ahern and Stephen Warbeck managing visuals beautifully, but narrative not so successfully at times. Still, things eventually settle and in no time Lovett has you eating out of the palm of his hand as the maestro and his mosquito set about defining the nature of their special relationship. If Lovett is master of his craft, Sarah Jane Shiels is similarly so. Shiels possessing the ability to eclipse herself and allow the personality of the show or artist shine through. The only hint of her presence hiding in the sheer excellence of the work. Here clothes, shadows, footlights and mosquito flights are infused with Lovett’s boyish charm. Echoed in Warbeck’s stunning score and Carl Kennedy’s perfectly executed sound design. By the time the final lullaby arrives you are helplessly, eternally transported. Feeling like an improv exercise that goes on a tad too long, or a fairytale trying to be a novel, The Maestro and The Mosquita is at its best when less is doing so much more. Even so, Lovett’s performance is a source of such joy you never want him to leave the stage. The Maestro and The Mosquita by Carmel Winters, presented by Theatre Lovett, runs at The Project Arts Centre until Sept 15 as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 For more information visit Project Arts Centre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024

Eva O'Connor in Chicken. Image Paul Baker and Hildegard Ryan **** Aardman Animations get the live action treatment in Eva O’Connor and Hildegard Ryan’s award winning Chicken . A darling of the Edinburgh Fringe, this hugely inventive piece of storytelling theatre is surpassed only by the manner of its telling. Charting Don Murphy’s rise from mysterious birth to Oscar stardom via Michael Fassbender’s appendage. Followed by Don’s plummet from grace courtesy of Colin Farrell’s bad boy influence. Too much Special K and not enough self-respect finds Don shacking up with a performance artist. The first step to recovery as he returns home to star in Martin McDonagh’s latest blockbuster. Only to discover the glaring secret of his mysterious birth resulting in a rousing call to arms. Less Braveheart so much as Wallace and Gromit , Chicken is an absurd delight speaking to a plethora of themes. Made anthropomorphically marvellous by the fact Don is an actual chicken. Or rooster to be exact. One big, Irish cock. O’Connor’s one woman monologue playing with every chicken pun, and then some, as the aspiring ack-tor tells his story. A story funny, absurd and inventive, if not for all of the time. Relying on its magnificent visuals to carry the day which, though they do, come close to being a one trick pony. But oh, what a pony. O’Connor strutting and fretting her hour upon the stage in a superlative chicken costume. So convincing you begin to believe O’Connor must have chicken DNA in there somewhere. Cluckings, flicks, pecks and head bobs executed in the round under delicate lights delivered with unadulterated brilliance. O’Connor exuding a bold, confident authority, physically and vocally, and an undeniable presence that commands the space and everything and everyone in it. Even her je na sais quoi has je na sais quoi. Physically, vocally, O’Connor operates at a whole other level and is simply glorious. Chicken suggesting she might well be the next big, international breakthrough. Chicken delivering one of the outstanding performances of this years Dublin Fringe. Chicken by Eva O’Connor and Hildegard Ryan, presented by Sunday’s Child, runs at The Project Arts Centre until Sept 15 as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 For more information visit Project Arts Centre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024.

Ebby O'Toole-Acheampong, Sophie Lenglinger, Kate Stanley Brennan in Afterwards. Photo by Patricio Cassinoni **** A polemic on abortion post Repeal The Eight, Janet Moran’s Afterwards resembles an educational, public information broadcast from the 1980s. Moran’s cookie cutter, tick box, stay on message script quickstepping around women still seeking abortions abroad. Narratively, little of interest happens; three women receiving aftercare in an abortion clinic in England relay personal histories and political highlights during an overnight stay. A rape victim, a one night stand, and a mother who doesn’t want any more children ensure all groups are represented. Like a twenty piece jigsaw puzzle, Moran’s neatly cut pieces are then assembled to match the prepackaged picture. History, activism, Ireland post Repeal the Eight, the various reasons and responses to abortion all discussed with no surprises, shocks, twists or really fresh insights. Not even the anti-abortion lobby protesting outside the clinic can raise a genuine stake. Slack action interspersed by Shadaan Felfeli’s Carry On orderly whose campy dispensing of bad scrambled eggs with a side of encouragement elicits a few giggles. Moran’s world one where male advocates of women’s choice are either gay or utterly gormless. David Rawle’s cringe inducing young man looking like he’d struggle to hold a conversation with a woman over the age of eleven. With stakes at a minimum, conflict barely present, the end always assured, the story goes the only place it could ever really go; nowhere. Yet all is rescued by three stunningly brilliant performances. Everything Moran reduces to cliche, Kate Stanley Brennan’s Cork mother, Sophie Lenglinger’s English woman and Ebby O’Toole-Acheampong young woman resurrect and revitalise. Each owning the stage at key moments, making humour richer and the dark undercurrents of pain, shame, judgement and despair keenly felt. Even if Brennan’s ‘Roman’ accent roams from Cork to Trenchtown and across the Yorkshire Dales you forgive it given the integrity of her performance. Throughout, the camaraderie and chemistry of three strong women signify where the play’s real heart lies. Dialogue whisked along by Conall Morrison’s direction, with Moran credited as co-director, foregrounding character over story, where Moran's humanity and humour is best realised. Even as Laura Fajardo Castro’s functional set and Suzie Cummins’ lights look like an easy day at the office. Along with Neil O’Driscoll’s pale projections which suggest aspirations towards a movie. If Afterwards , theatrically and themeatically, frequently underwhelms, its three central cast pump blood, sweat and tears through the plays clogged arteries. Moran’s song remaining the same even as Brennan, O’Toole-Acheampong and Lenglinger sing it beautifully. Still, it always feels like a child coated in bubble wrap riding a tricycle on astroturf; playing it safe whilst thinking itself brave. The result a three star play elevated to a four star experience, courtesy of its five star performances. Afterwards by Janet Moran, a Once Off production, co-presented with the Abbey Theatre and Dublin Fringe Festival runs at The Peacock Stage of The Abbey Theatre until Sept 14. For more information visit The Abbey Theatre or Dublin Fringe Festival 2024

An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World. Image by Neil Harrison **** When Freud first posited the idea of infant sexuality, he was roundly dismissed by most of his contemporaries. An experience Anna Newell might well relate to. Take An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World, premiering at Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 before undertaking a national tour. A work that describes itself as ‘playful up-close dance, intriguing immersive sound and light, and many, many ping pong balls…for infants 3-12 months.’ Are we seriously expected to take this seriously? Infants as a target audience for artistic work? Even Freud might have struggled with that one, surely. Or not, as it turns out. For An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World is rigorously crafted, utterly engaging and of significant artistic merit. Newell, like Freud, proving herself to be something of a genius. Which is not to say you’ll necessarily subscribe to everything Newell and her collaborators are selling. But so you’re clear, what An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World is not selling is drama therapy, theatrical play dates, twenty minutes of creche activity or an adult and baby bonding session, even as it achieves all of the above as incidentals. No, An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World is a genuine attempt at art. At prompting curiosity and creativity. At striving for human connectedness. And succeeding beyond its own expectations. An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World. Image by Neil Harrison Which might be difficult to see at first given how simplicity often looks much simpler than it actually is. Newell’s dramaturgical rigour concealed beneath Sinead Lawlor’s darkened set containing six individual pods set in a circle, like lily pads around the edge of a pond. Each accommodating one adult and infant who, collectively, form a theatrical round. Overhanging each pod a soft, glowing globe softens the dark; Archer Bradshaw’s illuminations spellbinding as planets, plants and wisps of magic. The circularity of the pond, pads and globes a pattern repeated as ping pong balls, illuminated orbs, and several movement sequences describe circularity in flow. In which choreographer and dancer Hayley Earlam and dancer Jess Rowell interact, breezing in and out with swirling, soft motions like half feathered signets; Lawlor’s costumes also showing a deft touch. Throughout, movement set to an astonishingly impressive score and sound design by Isaac Gibson sees Harry Potter styled jingles juxtaposed with ambient grooves. Each scene an alchemic burst of light, sound and movement; always unhurried, ever moving yet never rushed. No forced concentration or demanding of the infant’s attention, but rather a cultivated fascination that endures the entire twenty minutes till it all explodes in baubles of delight. Throughout, there’s something of ANU’s immersive approach at play here. A challenge to notions of audience and participation and of the spectator’s relationship to the work. If, for infants, a show has no marked beginning or end Newell achieves constancy of engagement through inconstancy, by constant changes in sound, tempo and visuals. The now forever being refreshed. Key concepts, including beauty, the defining ingredient in Newell’s work, needing to be reframed. For this is no cold, Aristotelian notion of beauty, but beauty as experience. As aesthetic arrest. Opening out into awe and wonder, then curiosity, and from there to creativity. An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World’s true aim revealed immediately after the show. Adults, infants and performers gathered together on the floor in an unforced act of human connectedness. It being near impossible to tell who are the children and who the adults as they play together. Play the foundation of all great art. Forget the beginning of the world. An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World engages whole galaxies. Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 faciliating a truly unique work of art by a truly remarkable artist. An Attempt To Talk With The Beginning Of The World by Anna Newell Theatre Adventures, co-produced by Riverbank Arts Centre, co-presented by Draíocht Blanchardstown, ran at Draíocht as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 until Sept 11. It now tours to The Network For Extraordinary Audiences. For more information visit Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 or Anna Newell