Prototype Festival of Play & Interaction
October 17 & 18
What would it take to make Dublin a more playful city? The people at Prototype — a new festival that brings games and tech together with live performance — intend on spending the weekend of October 17 figuring out that question. While Project Arts Centre’s Space Upstairs will be kitted out as a mechanic playground, the Cube will be occupied by game-makers and design-heads ready to tell you all their secrets. There’s even a couple of theatre pieces on the bill! Dan Bergin (Jack of all trades behind 10 Days in Dublin) will present an interactive performance based around his live point-and-clicker, Blast. Several Amazing Things About Tetris (1984) aims to explore the bizarre history of the modern puzzle game’s founding father. – HK
Visit http://www.prototypedublin.com for more details.
Open House Dublin
October 17-19
Architecture festival Open House Dublin returns for another year, seeing spaces throughout Dublin welcome in the general public for academic appreciation and a general nosey alike. Sites particularly worth visiting this year include Airbnb’s European headquarters for a lesson in progressive office design, the divisive monolith that is Dame Street’s Central Bank of Ireland, Liberty Hall for a panorama of the city from its 16th floor pavilion and Pearse Museum — the home and school of Irish revolutionary Patrick Pearse where much of the 1916 Rising was orchestrated. – SM
Planning is key to making the most of the weekend and admission is generally on a first come, first served basis. Visit openhousedublin.com for full listings as well as details on entry lotteries where applicable.
Halloween Screenings
October 23-31
To get you suitably worked up for Halloween this year, the IFI will be running its annual Horrorthon (October 23-27) featuring a mixture of classics and Irish premieres (tn2 picks: The Babadook, The Samurai, Starry Eyes). The Bram Stoker Festival (October 24-27) will also be showing a selection of films, including the Irish premiere of The Curse of Styria, and Jean Cocteau’s classic, La Belle et la Bête. On the night itself, head to The Sugar Club for an 80s style Halloween bash where Discotekken are screening 1984 rock music mockumentary, The Spinal Tap, in addition to an 80s tribute band, free 80s make up, t-shirt printing, food and DJs. Alternatively, at The Lighthouse Cinema, there is The Shining Halloween Party (fancy dress reception at 9.30pm followed by a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s classic psychological thriller at 10.30pm), while Grindhouse is hosting a screening of The Crow, also at 10.30pm. – SG
Gaelcon
October 24-27
Gaelcon 2015 will be held in the D4 Hotel in Ballsbridge. One of Ireland’s largest gaming conventions, Gaelcon showcases and hosts Role Playing Games, Collectable Card Games, board games, and all other exclusively non-electronic games. There’s something for all fans of analogue games, wherever your interests lie: intricate Wargames populated by hundreds of hand-painted units, card games ranging from the light-hearted to the intensely tactical, RPGs which allow you to truly immerse yourself in a character and a world, and LARPs for those who want to go that one step further. Most of all, it will be a chance to meet other gamers who share a love of this obscure yet thriving pastime. – EM
ShapeShifters’ Ball
October 25
Brought to you by Body&Soul, this eerie soirée held at IMMA is a part of the Bram Stoker Festival. Expect ostentatious baroque glamour and grandeur with cocktails, costumes, karaoke (of a purely melancholy nature — think The Cure and Nick Cave) and even a courtyard hosting an open-air opera, Der Vampyr. There will be pleasing electronic soundscapes in the gothic surroundings too — with the likes of East India Youth and Young Fathers performing — as well as a chapel stage curated by this issue’s Homegrown stars Ensemble, hosting wonderful acts such as Loah and Simon Bird. And this is without mentioning the Goths vs Zombies dance-off. The whole night seems set to be a glorious, gothic dream. – TJ
Tickets €39.50 on ticketmaster.ie.
Whisky Live
October 25
The ever popular international showcase Whisky Live makes a return to the Round Rooms at the Mansion House. The event organised by the Celtic Whiskey Shop promises tastings of all of the finest and newest Irish distilleries’ crafts, as well as representation of Scottish, American and Japanese whiskeys.
Other activities range from tasting craft beers which have been cask matured in whiskey barrels, to cocktails and other sublime spirits. New to the programme are the whiskey food pairings, where six whiskeys at the event will be paired with miniature dishes prepared by some of Dublin’s best gastronomical spots — Koh, L Mulligan Grocer and Etto. – DS
Whisky Live Dublin will run an afternoon and evening session from 2pm-17:30 and 18:00-21:30 respectively. Tickets cost €37.50, €10 of which will be donated to Down Syndrome Ireland.
Alexander Wang x H&M
November 6
The aesthetic of Alexander Wang has always been available for DIY appropriation by anybody with access to spare time and the internet — on any busy day, on any busier street, many are already wearing what might as well be Alexander Wang. But on November 6, the date when his collaboration with H&M is released worldwide, the label on their clothes will finally correspond with the provenance of the look they wish to emulate. It will also be from that date that the American designer might deservedly elicit suspicion of exerting an influence over fashion that is almost occult. For how else does one explain a phenomenon where people long to get their hands on what they already have on their backs? The collection will consist of womenswear, menswear and accessories, and there will surely be something for everyone. – OB
Dublin Book Festival
November 13-16
Using the Smock Alley Theatre as its base, the ninth annual Dublin Book Festival aims to encourage and promote the Irish publishing industry and its writers. Their events this year include public interviews with authors and publishers (in particular the Lines of Vision talk with Kevin Barry and Rob Doyle, among others), literary walking tours of Dublin and book launches, including one from Annie West. Supplementing these events is the Winter Garden, located in the banquet hall upstairs in the Smock Alley Theatre, where free drop-in events will be taking place — including craft beer tasting and photo installations. This is also the location of their pop-up bookshop that will run for the duration of the festival, where you can enjoy a cup of tea and browse the offerings from over 60 Irish publishers. The majority of these events are free. – KB
