“Everyone’s a critic”: As column inches narrow, it's time for editors to raise standards

One of the puzzling editorial decisions, in these straitened times, is the Irish Times commissioning book reviewers who have eked out careers in literary writing as opposed to journalism. 

Beginning review: A flintily genuine view of people seeking connection

Two remaining people at a house party navigate their complicated lives. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

Irish Times Theatre Awards: Why the most conventional production is a timely winner

DruidShakespeare: Richard III mightn't be the most aesthetically groundbreaking winner but it does feel globally relevant. Photo: Robbie Jack 

Bold Moves review: Ballet Ireland search for an insurrection with the off-the-wall Gaga movement

This absorbing production is a triple-bill of dances about flights of departure. Photo: Declan English

Irish Times Theatre Awards predictions: Seeing all four Best Production nominees won’t make you any wiser

Best Production nominees: The Lost O'Casey, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, DruidShakespeare: Richard III and How It Is: Part One

Sure Look It, Fuck It review: The thick haze of a spoken word nirvana

Clare Dunne's debut play follows a returned emigrant through one day in Dublin, struggling with anxiety. Photo: Fiona Morgan 

In a freak occurrence, a new play has sold out the Gate Theatre. For once it might have been the reviews

Seán McGinley and Marie Mullen in The Children, the first recently-written play to fill the Gate in years. Photo: Ros Kavanagh 

Theatre Upstairs shuts doors at Lanigan’s: A look back on the past nine years

Theatre Upstairs announced their closure on Thursday night.

Peat review: A superb childhood adventure about coping and moving on

Two friends bury a dead cat in Kate Heffernan's comedy for young audiences, and unearth serious questions about the world they've inherited. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

The Children review: Intimate drama presented as environmental disaster in Lucy Kirkwood’s magnificent play

Two retired nuclear scientists are visited by an old colleague in this excellent drama. Photo: Ros Kavanagh