●●●●● Set in an unnamed South Dublin town, Sauce was a show about two of the town’s residents: Mella (Ciara Elizabeth Smith), a pathological liar and Maura (Camille Lucy Ross), a well-heeled kleptomaniac married to a personal finance lawyer … Continue reading Dublin Fringe Festival: Sauce // Review
●●●○○ Evan McMillan’s The Lovers’ Guide to Losing Your Mind is directed by Ellen Fitzgerald. It is a dark comic love story which explores themes of love, hate, and the memories of the protagonists. The plot is about Andy … Continue reading The Lovers’ Guide to Losing Your Mind A dark comic love story exploring themes of love, hate, and memory.
I always preempt the experience of attending the Dublin Fringe Festival by making a commitment to myself to maintain a level of contrived ignorance. It’s a protective measure to preserve an element of the unknown that I feel parallels the … Continue reading Dublin Fringe Festival: The Epic, Definitive Review Fourteen shows, sixteen days.
●●●○○ Dublin’s Fringe Festival is a safe space to test the murky waters of audience participation in theatre. Towards the end of what has been a stellar festival of exploration, Smock Alley’s audience felt decidedly content and enthusiastic. The creators … Continue reading Dublin Fringe Festival: “The Friday Night Effect” at Smock Alley Three young housemates, Jamie, Sive and Collette, embark on a night out in Dublin. We know from the beginning that Colette will be dead by the end of the night.
●●●○○ Katie Roche (Caoilfhionn Dunne) is a confident young woman keen to elevate herself beyond her current station as a housekeeper. She considers joining a convent; she fancies herself a potential saint. She becomes briefly convinced that she has aristocratic … Continue reading “Katie Roche” at the Abbey Theatre – Review While some people may find this contemporary take on “Katie Roche” jarring, it is worth seeing what Byrne and Dunne’s daring does to this underrated play.
●●●●● With Dublin Fringe Festival coming to a close this weekend, theatre-goers have had their pick of the eclectic and cutting edge performance art that makes September in Dublin an utter delight. After spending these last two weeks or so … Continue reading Why Everything Now Was the Highlight of Dublin Fringe 2017 I have seen many a thing at Dublin Fringe; triangles being dragged across a stage, a heartfelt personal monologue on cancer, and the Kerry Babies. Yet nothing – and I mean nothing – I have ever seen, both at Dublin Fringe and nationwide, has affected me as much as “Everything Now.”
●●○○○ Westeros isn’t the only place winter has come. Polar Night transports the audience from the New Theatre in Temple Bar to a desolate Arctic landscape. The one-act play explores family ties and the burden of motherhood against the backdrop … Continue reading Winter Comes to “Polar Night” “Polar Night” transports the audience from the New Theatre in Temple Bar to a desolate Arctic landscape.
This summer Sugarglass Theatre takes residence in TCD’s own Samuel Beckett Theatre, carrying their production of David Greig’s Outlying Islands across the pond from its 2016 run in New York. The play tells the story of two Cambridge-educated naturalists who … Continue reading “Outlying Islands” is an Outlier Beautiful, visceral and sensual, balancing severe sexual tension with themes such as isolation, youth and institutionalism.
●●●○○ Crestfall is a play that caused disgust and protestations when it was first performed at the Gate Theatre in 2003, and this new performance by Druid on the Abbey’s Peacock Stage perfects that beautiful outrage. Crestfall abandons the glorious … Continue reading “Crestfall” – Vulgar, violent but visually stunning Crestfall abandons the glorious Kathleen Ni Houlihan and provides a darker and more insidious image of women in Ireland dealing with domestic abuse, prostitution, animal cruelty and extreme violence.
●●●●○ Jimmy’s Hall is the theatre adaptation of Ken Loach’s 2014 film, relaying the true story of Irish communist James Gralton, and his plight to avoid deportation from post-Civil War Ireland. His crime? Setting up a dance hall, a safe … Continue reading “Jimmy’s Hall” at the Abbey Theatre – review Running in the Abbey after a short stint in Leitrim, “Jimmy’s Hall” lavishly immerses the audience into Irish culture, matching the bleak with the bright to showcase a polished production perfect for the summer season.
Having studied The Great Gatsby for the Leaving Cert, I could write about the intricacies of its plot and language until my fingers turned blue with ink as the clock ticked down on the frenzied, nightmarish race that is English … Continue reading “The Great Gatsby” – review The Gate has removed its seats, lowered its chandeliers and transformed the entire building into the enigmatic Gatsby mansion where characters roam the dance floor, ready to whisper in your ear at one moment and dance wildly with you the next.
On 25 July, the wonderful team behind Dublin Theatre Festival announced their programme for the upcoming 60th anniversary season. This year, the festival will run from 28 September – 15 October, lasting 18 days for the city to showcase pioneering performances over … Continue reading Dublin Theatre Festival at a glance – preview