Where you can find my reviews ...

Writer Donal Davoren (Mark O'Halloran) clearly swamped in The Shadow of a Gunman.

It's about time I posted something on the blog, even if it is just an update. 

I think 2015 has seen some promising steps on my path towards sustainable Critic-hood. I began writing for two online publications, Broadway World and A Younger Theatre, and while neither come anywhere close to paying my rent (yet), I have enjoyed the magic in seeing my name appear in (digital) print. 

When Irish Theatre Magazine ceased its regular publishing last year, I was writing solely here on Musings In Intermissions. While I recognised the importance of upping my game (especially outside of Dublin, where critical outlets aren't as common), I also realised the limits that come with a blog. 

Academics wanted to reference me in articles but ultimately couldn't because a blog is subject to editorial concerns. Theatre promoters wouldn't take my quotes and hang them in fairy lights because Musings In Intermissions wasn't the Irish Independent. When I applied for jobs, I felt silly for jotting down "blogspot.ie" in applications, and cursed myself for not choosing a shorter, catchier title when I impulsively set up MusingsInAreYouStillListening? while mulling over The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane five years ago.

However, I couldn't have made any progress without this blog, and I encourage all rising critics to have one. I haven't decided what to do with this platform yet. I'll likely use it to ponder more personal thoughts as I have done here, and roll it out when it comes to posting shorter, more time-sensitive pieces, as during Dublin Fringe.

Meanwhile, you can stay appraised of my BroadwayWorld pieces here and A Younger Theatre here. 

Cheers,

Chris 

  

Re/Minding Your Step

Poised for another phase of redevelopment, Dublin’s Docklands becomes a mise en scène in an initiative bringing together choreographers and urban planners (Photo: Marcel Bassachs).

What activates a space? For Italian translator and dance curator Giulia Galvana, it’s a single step. Her initiative Mind Your Step, a two-day event involving a performance trail and a symposium bringing together choreographers and urban planners, is based upon a singular principal: movement creates centres of activity. Now brought to Dublin in collaboration with dance managers Eleanor Creighton and Argyris Aryrou, its arrival is timely. With the Docklands poised for another phase of redevelopment, this provides an opportunity to explore how public spaces are explored and presented.

That 'Marry' Is the Very Theme

Production image of I ♥ Alice ♥ I by Amy Conroy (photo: Ruby Washington). As the nation approaches a referendum on same-sex marriage, what has Irish theatre told us about marriage and gay lives?

Who would have thought that Dion Boucicault, the 19th century Irish melo-dramatist who nowadays fills seats for the popular and commercial theatre, is presently one of the most politically provocative playwrights in the United States? Or at least sharing the mantle with the rising Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who has adapted Boucicault’s The Octoroon for New York’s Soho Rep.

Druid Announces Details of DruidShakespeare

Two out of three kings have been cast as women: one of several innovative decisions made in Druid's presentation of Shakespeare's Henriad Cycle. 

Details of DruidShakespeare have been announced. Click on to my feature at A Younger Theatre to find out more ...

Dublin Dance Festival Makes Historic Commission

Liz Roche's Sailing to Byzantium-inspired Bastard Amber marks the first commission of an Irish choreographer for the Abbey stage.

Dublin Dance Festival has an extra skip in its step. Last year's festival saw an increase in audience attendance by 57%, due in large part to festival director Julia Carruthers’s commitment to outdoor and free events. In what is possibly her final year in the role (a call for applicants went out in January), she has managed to secure the Abbey Theatre for the duration of the event, as well as the historic first commission of an Irish choreographer for the theatre’s main stage.

Carmel Winters, 'Witness': Setting the Record Straight

A mother and son shock a nation in Witness. But provocateur/playwright Carmel Winters risks being the scandal of this story.  

Project Arts Centre

Mar 2-7

My review of Witness by Carmel Winters coming up after the jump ...

Talkback: Decadent Theatre, 'The Pillowman'

Decadent Theatre give the first homegrown production of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman.

Gaiety Theatre

Mar 2-14

I saw The Pillowman at the Town Hall Theatre in Galway last week, and reviewed it for A Younger Theatre. Now it's your turn. What did you think of Andrew Flynn's staging? Did David McSavage do it for you as Detective Tupolski? What did you think of Peter Campion, Gary Lydon and Michael Ford-Fitzgerald? Did you like Owen MacCartaigh's set? Have you seen Decadent's other productions of Martin McDonagh, and if so how does this measure up? 

Sound off in the comments below.  

CallBack Theatre, 'The Hole': Digging for Truth

John Sheehy's play about a self-exiled man in rural Ireland tests the boards of lunchtime theatre's new temporary residence. 

Bewley's Cafe Theatre (at Powerscourt Theatre)

Feb 18-Mar 7

My review of The Hole by John Sheehy coming up after the jump ...

The Ark, 'Far Away From Me': The Prince and the Pea

You sense an attempted subversion of a fairytale in Amy Conroy's Princess and the Pea-inspired play for young audiences 

The Ark

Feb 14-Mar 15

My review of Far Away From Me by Amy Conroy coming up after the jump ...

Abbey Theatre, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': A Most Rare Vision

A newly politicised, dreamy and gauzy imagining of Shakespeare's comedy at the Abbey Theatre. Photo: Ros Kavanagh. 

Abbey Theatre

Feb 17-Mar 28

My review of A Midsummer Night's Dream is over at A Younger Theatre. Now it's your turn. What did you think of director Gavin Quinn's interpretation? Do you prefer a faithful performance of the text or a deconstruction à la Pan Pan? What performances stood out for you? Your thoughts on Aedín Cosgrove's design and, furthermore, Bruno Schwengl's strange and eccentric costumes? Would you like to see Quinn work at the Abbey again? Should the theatre keep producing Shakespeare?

Sound off in comments below.