Bewley's Cafe Theatre, 'Happiness': Studies of Grief in Days of Milk and Honey

Irish writer Mary Lavin (1912-1996), compared to Virginia Woolf and Anton Chekov over her literary life, is adapted for the stage by Deirdre Kinahan.

Bewley's Cafe Theatre

Jan 15-Feb 8

My review of Happiness by Mary Lavin, adapted by Deirdre Kinahan, coming up just as soon as I find an in-between sugar ...

ThereIsBear!, 'Terminus': Devil May Care

Smock Alley Theatre

Jan 6-9

I've written a lot here in the last week so it's left me with a lot of things to catch up on. Unfortunately, this means I can't do a full review of ThereIsBear!'s production of Terminus by Mark O'Rowe. 

ThereIsBear! is a company formed in 2012 by members of NUI Galway's Drama Society. The last play they performed in this venue was the witch drama The Last Burning by Patrick Galvin. It was a good production but it carried the student drama trademark of a cast in their early-20s playing characters who are much older.

This production of Terminus, with a more age-appropriate cast, marks a more mature venture into professional drama.

Director Emmet Byrne's seemingly spare vision of O'Rowe's wicked play about three individuals pulled into Dublin's satanic underworld proves itself intricately detailed in his actor's skilful performances. Of particular note is Jed Murray, who makes the strongest connection with the audience (and who gets to show a more mindful. charming side than the aggressive roles he plays in ANU Productions' work). 

It's amazing how, in lieu of scenic action, O'Rowe's singing, mystical, eye-gouging script can captivate the audience. It's enough to get you excited about his upcoming adaptations of Shakespeare.

But the darkly operatic tales of Terminus are finely measured and conducted here by the ThereIsBear! company. If there's a show to see in town this week, it's this one. 

What did everybody else think?

Irish Theatre to See in 2014

Some plays for your diary ...

More Irish Theatre Highlights of 2013

Wayne Jordan's kinetic production of The Threepenny Opera brought movement that is rarely seen on the Gate stage.

I already made a list of the top 10 Irish theatre productions of 2013 but here are more highlights that deserve mention ...

Irish Theatre Top 10 of 2013

Lloyd Cooney tearing it up in No. 14 Henrietta Street during ANU Productions' marking of the 1913 Lockout centenary.

As per the year end ramble of making lists of the year's best in music, cinema and such, below I give what I think are the highlights of 2013 in Irish theatre.

Before I begin I'll disclaim that while my scope is very Dublin-centred I did travel and provide extensive coverage of both the Cork Midsummer Festival and Galway Arts Festival. My misgivings include failed trips to Limerick, to the Blue Raincoat productions in Sligo, the Beckett Happy Days Festival in Enniskillen, the City of Culture events in Derry, and to any of the theatres in Belfast. These aside, however, I'll argue that this still is a comprehensive list of the year's finest in Irish theatre.

This year I made the decision to drop out of college and begin writing to arts editors looking for a job (if any of you said editors are reading, expect more pesterings in your inbox).

This commitment has meant that I have reviewed 102 performances in 2013 whilst keeping up the day job. These were spread between the reviews here, for Irish Theatre Magazine, and some work that I do for the Arts Council. The most read reviews here on the blog were my reviews of King Lear and Living the Lockout, my counterpoint to Una Mullally's Irish Times article on the most creative people in Ireland, and my opinion piece reacting to the Limerick City of Culture programme. 

Choosing 10 out of 102 wasn't easy but here they are:

THEATREclub, 'HISTORY': The Republic That Never Was

As the finale of THEATREclub's trilogy of history plays, will this look backwards move us forward? 

Below is my review of THEATREclub's HISTORY - the last play I will be reviewing this year. I will be taking a break for Christmas but check back next Monday for my top 10 theatre productions of 2013. Meanwhile, my review of HISTORY coming up just as soon as I am also in the play ...

Abbey Theatre, 'The Risen People': Was it For This the Wild Geese Spread?

As a year of marking the centenary of the 1913 Lockout comes to a close, what can The Risen People tell us about this distressing chapter of Irish history? Photo: Ros Kavanagh

Abbey Theatre
Dec 5-Feb 1


My review of The Risen People by James Plunkett coming up after the jump ...

Rough Magic, 'Assassins': Sing to Kill

How does Stephen Sondheim's musical make sense of the US Presidential assassination attempts, successful or otherwise, throughout the years?  

Project Arts Centre

Dec 9-14

My review of Assassins, as part of Rough Magic's SEEDS showcase, coming up just as soon as I consider killing Franklin Roosevelt ...

Rough Magic, 'Way To Heaven': If a Tree Falls in a Forest ...

Rough Magic's SEEDS showcase shows us what really happened during the Red Cross inspection at the Nazi concentration camp in Theresienstadt.

Project Arts Centre,
Dec 9-14


My review of Way To Heaven by Juan Mayorga, as part of Rough Magic's SEEDS showcase, coming up just as soon as my walking stick covers up a multitude of sins ...

Souvenirs for the Swindled

Actor Marcus Lamb and cellist Kim V Porcelli in Men Like Us - an arrangement of three Samuel Beckett plays by Mouth on Fire

Last Friday night the Beckett impresarios, Mouth on Fire, produced three of the playwright's one-act plays in the Kevin Barry Room of the National Concert Hall. The company were accompanied by musician Kim V Porcelli, whose looped cello arrangements spun a sound so vast that you could get lost in its despairing folds. First up was Matalang - an Irish language adaptation of Catastrophe - in which an autocratic director (Clive Geraghty) mercilessly arranges the presentation of an actor (Shadaan Felfeli) onstage, stripping his clothes and altering the height level of his arms. Felfeli's trembling turn as the unspeaking, unprotesting protagonist does disturb. "There's our catastrophe!", says the director triumphantly.