The Guide: The events to see, the shows to book, and the ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

Krapp’s Last Tape

Thursday, January 11th, until Saturday, February 3rd, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €35/€30, projectartscentre.ie

Samuel Beckett’s one-act, one-person play was first performed in 1958. Many notable actors have appeared in the title role, including Cyril Cusack, David Kelly, Patrick Magee, Jack MacGowran, Albert Finney, John Hurt, Harold Pinter, Barry McGovern and Michael Gambon. Stephen Rea, who worked with Beckett on a production of Endgame at the Royal Court Theatre in London in the mid-1970s, now joins them. Directing him is Vicky Featherstone, the Royal Court’s outgoing artistic director, who’s joined by a creative team that includes the set designer Jamie Vartan, the costumer Katie Davenport and the lighting designer Paul Keogan. This staging of one of the playwright’s most personal works, which cautiously, humorously embraces mortality, disappointment and vulnerability, forms part of Landmark Productions’ 20th anniversary celebrations.

Gigs

Nollaig na mBan with Irish Women in Harmony and Barbara Brennan

Saturday, January 6th, Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €26/€21, smockalley.com

The 2024 iteration of First Fortnight – which applies numerous cultural disciplines to challenge mental-health stigma – includes this collaborative event featuring Barbara Brennan, who has almost 15 years’ experience of working within the field of mental health and is regarded as one of its inspirational “thought leaders”. Irish Women in Harmony, meanwhile, is an acclaimed collective comprising some of Ireland’s finest female artists. The line-up will be confirmed closer to the event. You’ll find full details of the festival at firstfortnight.ie; it runs until Saturday, January 27th.

Lisa Hannigan, Gemma Hayes, Paul Noonan

Saturday, January 6th, Hawkswell Theatre, Sligo, 7.30pm, €38, hawkswell.com; Sunday, January 7th, Glór, Ennis, Co Clare, 8pm, €38, glor.ie

Three of Ireland’s best songwriters and singers team up for an evening of songs and collaboration. They know each other very well by this stage, and have performed this kind of show many times, so there will be no awkward pauses or strained chat between songs. Rather, sit back and bask in the comfort of their mutual friendship and the way in which they assist in the performing of their respective songs. A warm beginning to 2024, regardless of the temperature outside.

Andy White

Sunday, January 7th, Sandinos, Derry, 8pm, £18/£16, sandinoscafebar.com; Tuesday, January 9th, Whelan’s, Dublin, 8pm, €22.50, whelanslive.com

Making his annual journey home, Melbourne-based Andy White also returns with another album – Good Luck, I Hope you Make It. Ireland’s loss is clearly Australia’s gain, but White has always made it plain that his heart belongs to the country of his birth. The new album is a spoken-word offering – “a stylistic version of hip hop,” says the bard of Belfast – that he wrote after immersing himself once again in the records of Gil Scott-Heron and early Bob Dylan. Fans fear not, however: he will be interspersing the fresh words with older material, such as Reality Row, Religious Persuasion and Vision of You.

We Say So: Therapy Sessions

Thursday, January 11th, Wexford Arts Centre, 7.30pm, €15/€10/€5, wexfordartscentre.ie; Friday, January 12th, Workman’s Club, Dublin, 7pm, €15/€10, firstfortnight.ie

In association with First Fortnight 2024, the Dublin poet (and Wexford resident) Stephen James Smith hosts an evening of spoken word that includes the man himself performing a selection of his much-admired work. Special guests are London’s Raymond Antrobus, the first poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize (in 2019, for his poem The Perseverance), and local artists.

Visual art

Radical Archaeologies

Until Sunday, March 10th, Glucksman Gallery, Cork, glucksman.org

Curated by Chris Clarke and Fiona Kearney, in collaboration with Dr Benjamin Gearey of University College Cork, Radical Archaeologies asks the viewer to consider what lies beneath. Beneath, that is, the social, environmental and governmental issues that are hidden or omitted from our landscape. The exhibition also invites discussion on the connective potential of climate action, sustainability and culture. Artists featured include Miriam O’Connor, Nigel Rolfe, Clíodhna Timoney, Fiona Kelly and Samuel Lawrence Cunnane.

Comedy

Joanne McNally’s Prosecco Express

Monday-Saturday, January 8th-13th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, 8pm, from €35.50 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie

One of Ireland’s most successful, relatable and inclusive comedians brings her celebrated Prosecco Express shows to a close with this batch of sold-out dates. At this point, there is surely no television chatshow Joanne McNally hasn’t cracked a joke on. As for these shows, you had better be prepared to experience what Time Out described as her “effervescently electric” storytelling, which is further energised by really good one-liners about ageing, sex and marriage.

Stage

Bullied

Monday, January 8th, until Saturday, February 3rd, Bewley’s Cafe Theatre, Dublin, 1pm, €15/€12/€10, bewleystheatrecafe.com

There are two generational features to Michael J Harnett’s insightful play. The cyberbullying of Anna (Shauna Brennan), a withdrawn 16-year-old visiting her widowed grandfather, Dessie (Vinnie McCabe), is almost matched by the frustration people experience when they engage with the pillar-to-post time-wasting of phone calls to utility or financial companies. The age gaps and the familial detachments between the pair are, initially, noticeable, but Anna’s increasing anxiety as she scrolls her phone lends itself to an easing of barriers as Dessie becomes more aware of what she is looking at.

Still running

Peter Pan

Until Sunday, January 14th, Gate Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, from €20, gatetheatre.ie

Edwardian London is transported to early-20th century Dublin in Roddy Doyle version of JM Barrie’s classic children’s tale. Ned Bennett directs a ripping yarn enhanced with colour, special effects, lights and a cast that includes Clare Dunne, Liam Bixby and Shane O’Reilly.

Book it this week

The Making of Mollie, The Ark, Dublin, February 23rd-March 16th, ark.ie

Karl Spain, Vicar Street, Dublin, April 19th, ticketmaster.ie

Gemma Hayes, Vicar Street, Dublin, May 18th, ticketmaster.ie

In the Meadows, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, June 8th, ticketmaster.ie