Landmark Productions, 'Howie the Rookie': In Search of Respect

Project Arts Centre, Dublin
Jun 13-Jul 6

My review of Landmark Productions' Howie the Rookie by Mark O'Rowe coming up just as soon as I wear the white ski pants ...

Towards More Landmark Plays

Cillian Murphy in Misterman fighting against the trend of 'fundraiser plays'

One of the oldest rules in the book to guarantee a theatre company's survival has been to build a repertoire of plays, preferably ones that have earned a buck at the box office. The strategy is to draw on past hits, specific to the company or to the commercial theatre in general, and use funds to stay afloat. These fundraiser plays are safe and they may feel like nothing new but sometimes they're used to fund a later production that is compellingly new, rich with risk and innovation, something that will stay in your memory for years to come: the landmark play. What merit we can award a company depends on how that balance is struck between the fundraiser play, with its necessities of survival, and the landmark play, which can truly advance the artistry of the company.

Anam Theatre, 'Closer'

Town Hall Theatre, Galway
June 5-8

Trying something different. Still in the U.S.A. but writer Katie Walsh has seen Anam Theatre's production of Closer by Patrick Marber and written this review for Musings in Intermissions. Read on below ...

Summer Theatre Festivals and Holidays (specifically mine)

Off to party in America. Much like these gangsters in Drum Belly. Photo: Julien Bhal/PA Wire

A few things:

Philadelphia Portland, Here I Come!

I won't be writing here for the next two weeks as I will in the U.S. for a friend's wedding. But loads of things to look forward to when I get back ...

Cork Midsummer Festival

Tom Creed programmed a dynamic line-up for this year's Cork Midsummer, with much faith invested in local acts. A primetime spot is given to Raymond Scannell whose acting skills boast credits with Druid and Rough Magic, and whose wizardly intermingling of music with dramatic text was seen in Mimic and Alice in Funderland. His new play Deep is the story of a Deep House Junkie and Cork's first generation of ravers, and is directed by ANU's Louise Lowe (Question: has anyone ever seen anything Lowe has directed in an actual theatre and not site-specific?). 

Dancer Ruairí Donovan's Witches wakes us up at 4am for a "ritual exploring the forgotten female". Carmel Winter's new play Best Man, starring Derbhle Crotty and Bryan Murray, seems to be about a modern Irish family and how their relationships change in the years between economic boom to bust. Someone tell Fintan O'Toole, his Power Play might be here.

Lastly: one Cork company I am excited about is Conflicted Theatre. Their show last year, 18-35, had a strong visual flare and their adaptation of The Scarlet Letter in this year's festival could be truly something.

Galway Arts Festival

This year's line-up is spearheaded by Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre. Choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan re-imagines his Olivier-nominated The Rite of Spring, which is presented alongside a new interpretation of another Stravinsky number - Petrushka. A success at last year's festival, the U.S.A's Northlight Theatre Company are back with Bruce Graham's new play Stella and Lou. And the sublime Olwen Fouéré unveils her new work Riverrun celebrating the elemental journey of Anna Livia Plurabelle in James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. 

New Director at Galway Theatre Festival

Producer Kate Costello has been announced as the new director of Galway Theatre Festival. The festival has been seen through its five years in existence by previous director Róisín Stack, who has given this integral platform to rising companies such as Mephisto, Moonfish, Fregoli, and Bluepatch Productions. Costello was the producer of the West End Cool season of work by Galway-based companies at last year's ABSOLUT Fringe, and produces for WillFredd and Moonfish. 

That's it from me folks. See you in two weeks for my review of HOWIE THE ROOKIE!!! (Did I mention that I'm excited it's back?)

The Corn Exchange, 'Man of Valour': Commedia dell' Action Hero

Project Arts Centre, Dublin
May 28-Jun 8

I think everyone has that story - where they arrive early at a sold-out performance to put their name on a waiting list and pray that some seat will become available. Man of Valour sold out its run at the Samuel Beckett Theatre during ABSOLUT Fringe 2011, and a couple of nights I spent haunting the place, hoping that some ticket-holder would refuse to show and abdicate their seat to me. It didn't happen, and considering I was commuting from Galway at the time to review the festival, I spent those nights on the long bus journey home, dejected and thwarted.

It was with satisfaction then that I finally got to see the show this week! My review coming up just as soon as I'm reminded of a young Ian Lloyd Anderson ...

CoisCéim, 'Missing': Come Home

Photo: Ros Kavanagh

Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin Dance Festival
May 23-26

My review of Missing by David Bolger coming up just as soon as I hold your hand ...

Zoe Ní Riordáin, 'The Lesson': You Can't Handle the Tooth

Photo: Dara Munnis

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

May 14-18

My review of Zoe Ní Riordáin's production of The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco coming up just as soon as I'd like nothing better than some arithmetic ...

HotForTheatre, 'Eternal Rising of the Sun': Fighting For Your Life Inside a Killer Thriller Tonight

Pavillion Theatre, Dun Laoighre
May 9


My review of The Eternal Rising of the Sun by Amy Conroy coming up just as soon as I wait after the credits for a secret message ...

Stones Throw Theatre, 'The Broken Promise Land': I Was a Dancer All Along

Theatre Upstairs, Dublin
Mar 4-16

My review of The Broken Promise Land coming up just as soon as I find a dance job on gumtree ...

CoisCéim, 'Pageant': Waving the Flag

Photo: Ros Kavanagh

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

Feb 23-Mar 2 

I would have liked the time to do an in-depth review of Pageant - the new show by CoisCéim Dance Theatre - as I did with last year's Touch Me.

What's noticeable (after getting over the absence of Nick McGough *sigh*) is that choreographers David Bolger and Muirne Bloomer place themselves at the centre of things, and as sweeping as they are, I do wish that we got more of Robert Jackson and Jonathan Mitchell, though thankfully we get a very sassy routine from the divine Emma O'Kane. 

It is a struggle with Pageant at times to get meaning out of the action (the individual segments at the desk, in particular, were a head-scratcher), and at other times it frustrated as meanings weren't pushed to a dramatic payoff. Also, the acoustic music was too soft and seemed to slow everything way down.

However, the pros outweigh the cons: the performers are stunning (Bolger himself is particularly witted), and Sinéad McKenna's lighting is glorious. The spectacle promised by the title arrives for a fantastic finale as the company set out in force to achieve their goal: to capture that celebrated sense of being a wonder, blissfully watched, and recipient of applause and ovation. Appropriately, that also describes their curtain call. 

What did everybody else think?