Fregoli, 'Dorset Street Toys': Falling Hard and Fast

Smock Alley Theatre
Oct 24-26

My review of Dorset Street Toys by Rory O'Sullivan coming up just as soon as I drink something foreign ...

Theatre Festival Season is Over but the Best May Still to Come

Production image of Blue Raincoat's upcoming production of First Cosmonaut by Jocelyn Clarke. The best Irish theatre of 2013 may still be on the way.

As usual, the combined mass of Dublin Fringe Festival and Dublin Theatre Festival may have exhausted many theatre goers. But not as normal is the fact that a certain benchmark feels yet to be achieved by this time of the year. The festival season usually produces some of the most powerful productions of the year. For example, at this point last year we had WillFredd's wonderful FARM, Have I No Mouth by Brokentalkers, ANU's The Boys of Foley Street, and the blistering Druid/Murphy cycle. 2013 feels yet to produce something on the same power levels as these works, though LIPPY, Thirteen, and the Gate's A Streetcar Named Desire are definitely up there.

The truth may be that the best plays of 2013 have yet to deliver. And over the next three months several of the country's most exciting companies put on their latest work. So get over your festival fatigue and mark these dates in your calendar:

Fregoli, ‘A Life of Words’: All Together Now

Studio THT, Galway Theatre Festival

Oct 26-27

My review of A Life of Words coming up just as soon as I sit in the bar where Pablo Picasso met Salvador Dalí ...

Fregoli, 'The Secret Life Of Me': My Fair Ladies

Town Hall Theatre, Galway

Jun 28-Jul 2

My review of Fregoli’s The Secret Life of Me coming up just as soon as I remember every single thing Richard has ever said ...

Fregoli, 'The Idiot Box': The Truman Show

Nun’s Island Theatre

Oct 25-26

Thoughts on The Idiot Box coming up just as soon as I alienate the blind …

One More Time With Feeling

The third annual Galway Theatre Festival got underway today. Unfortunately, the production of David Mamet’s Oleanna that I was working on with TrueWest Theatre Company was cancelled due to an illness issue. Needless to say, I wasn’t too enthused to start writing about the festival, but nonetheless: life moves on, and there’s a lot of theatre on.