Tales from the Holywell: Four stars for Damien Dempsey’s Abbey Theatre concert residencyThe singer-songwriter’s show, directed by Conor McPherson, combines absorbing self-portrait with compassionately intelligent visionFri Feb 03 2023 - 11:36
Charles Self: The inspiring work and tragic death of an intrepid RTÉ designerThe designer’s creativity at the dawn of the colour-television era has rarely been remembered since the horrific events of more than four decades agoTue Jan 17 2023 - 05:00
Piaf review: Great music from a dark, jagged placeElaborate production does justice to the French singerMon Dec 12 2022 - 11:49
Davina Devine: ‘I pick stuff that feels good to me. It’s not just about picking up a cheque’The drag queen hosts a weekly club night in Dublin and appears often on TV and radio, but we still know little about Davina 20 years into her careerSat Nov 19 2022 - 04:20
Propaganda review: Satisfying ruses in a cold-war musicalBelfast International Arts Festival: Conor Mitchell has crafted a slippery, intelligent new operaMon Oct 24 2022 - 10:19
‘I discover myself thinking that maybe an idea is too much. Then I decide: no, it’s not’Director Romeo Castellucci, who returns to the Dublin Theatre Festival next month, insists he’s not a provocateur despite a history of generating shock and outrageThu Sept 29 2022 - 05:00
The Complex: A Dublin arts centre comes together against the odds Vanessa Fielding has brought a large, multipurpose art space into being in Smithfield. It’s not her first achievementWed Sept 07 2022 - 05:00
Remnant Ecologies: marrying climate crisis alarm with a love of living thingsIn an art installation at the Botanic Gardens, a magical world comes under threatTue Aug 16 2022 - 05:00
Tivoli Place: Aparthotel’s theatrics devoid of community culture Francis Street development draws on local cultural capital but the Liberties has yet to see a returnSat Aug 13 2022 - 05:00
The Steward of Christendom: Owen Roe is tremendous in the Gate Theatre’s new version of Sebastian Barry’s playReview: Barry’s script aims to take us to the wrong side of history. Despite Louise Lowe’s meticulous direction, we don’t quite get thereWed Jul 27 2022 - 12:40
Why have theatre posters vanished from the walls of Dublin city?The Irish Poster Advertising company is no more. Already at risk of little to see, how are we to know what’s on?Tue Jul 26 2022 - 00:00
Girl from the North Country: In a Depression-era musical, Dylan’s music gives everyone a leg-upTheatre review: Uplifting epilogue reminds us what perseverance sounds like, before the winds of change blow in. It sounds like DylanFri Jul 01 2022 - 13:16
Dubliners: Struggling to get intimate with James Joyce’s short storiesDialogue used to help piece together comedy scenes are not always complemented by the production’s choicesTue Jun 21 2022 - 13:23
Translations: Seizing the emotional connection to languageLanguage is a serious, sacred thing in Brian Friel’s dramaMon Jun 20 2022 - 19:48
Constellations: A what-if rom-com with too many parallel universesThe concept is familiar, but ultimately the multiple narratives don’t deliverThu May 12 2022 - 09:29
An Octoroon: Theatre’s past crimes rewritten as a magnificent masterpieceCenturies of obscene caricature, is delivered as both confrontational and comedicWed Apr 27 2022 - 08:58
Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster: Modern horrors presented as thrilling gig theatreWho can think of a previous play where the Gate Theatre’s audiences danced at their seats?Thu Apr 21 2022 - 12:12
Brian Friel’s plays come alive again after a strange decadeHaving been sanitised in the 2010s, recent productions have found hidden layersMon Mar 21 2022 - 05:00
X’ntigone review: Contemporary spin on Greek tragedy loses its wayMurphy’s script is alive to recent politics but shift into our own era is not always smoothThu Mar 17 2022 - 14:00
Sh*t: This hard-hitting play is profane but not profoundReview: The play’s vulgarity becomes less logical during some unsettling scenesFri Mar 04 2022 - 11:35
Endgame review: Absurd family comedy set at the end of the worldNot since Ab Fab has watching an insecure parent reliant on their child been as comicalThu Feb 17 2022 - 11:00
Walking with Ghosts: Gabriel Byrne looks at the strange boy in the mirrorActor’s adaptation of his memoir explores painful memories with serious eloquenceWed Feb 02 2022 - 09:19
Faith Healer: Aidan Gillen’s miraculous performance underpins a knockout revivalReview: Joe Dowling, who first directed Brian Friel’s play 41 years ago, restages a classicThu Dec 09 2021 - 10:26
The Treaty review: Intrigue and subterfuge in this gender-blind story of freedomJane Brennan gives a mesmerising emulation of de Valera’s paced, crystal voiceThu Nov 25 2021 - 16:00
All the Angels: the story of Handel’s Messiah told in clunky footnotesReview: The cast are superb, but Nick Drake’s script fails to harmonise the complex emotionsThu Nov 25 2021 - 06:15
Conversations After Sex: ★★★★★ for Mark O’Halloran’s extraordinary new playDublin Theatre Festival: Kate Stanley Brennan is sublime in Thisispopbaby’s productionMon Oct 11 2021 - 11:50
The Book of Names: Louise Lowe sharpens Anu’s enthralling approach to theatreDublin Theatre Festival: The terror of the War of Independence is unavoidable in this immersive experienceTue Oct 05 2021 - 11:10
‘The country has yet to come to terms with its Aids crisis’Playwright Phillip McMahon’s new play follows a trio of close-knit LGBTQ+ friendsSat Sept 18 2021 - 05:00
Rescue Annie: A grim history of lonelinessDublin Fringe Festival 2021: Lauren Shannon Jones and Eoghan Carrick’s new play is a sad exploration of unknown, perished womenTue Sept 14 2021 - 12:13
Masterclass: A magnificent send-up of the anxieties of the ageDublin Fringe Festival 2021: Brokentalkers and Truscott’s fruitful collaboration feels like a direct response to #MeTooMon Sept 13 2021 - 10:54
Can Dublin Fringe Festival lead the reopening of the city?Ruth McGowan, the festival’s director, hopes the city’s reopening is a portal to somewhere newThu Sept 02 2021 - 05:00
Domhnall Gleeson: ‘I live in Dublin because it’s home’The actor on his return to theatre and why he chose his hometown over a life in Los AngelesSun Aug 29 2021 - 05:00
Mespil in the Dark: Suspenseful mystery in a charming Dublin bohemiaCan an apartment building tell the story of a city’s decline into an artistic wasteland?Thu Jun 24 2021 - 12:55
One Good Turn: a reassuring comedy about long-term illnessReview: Una McKevitt’s wry play explores the rarer, brighter shades of life caring for an ill family memberThu Jun 24 2021 - 06:00
Playwright Marina Carr takes a gamble and winsCarr transfers Woolfe’s internal conflict to the stage with a little help from Derbhle CrottySat Jun 12 2021 - 05:00
What happens when a theatre actor loses a year?The pandemic has given performers a chance to recalibrate ambitions and expectationsThu May 06 2021 - 05:00
Boland: Journey of a Poet – One-note production of a near-perfect biographical playReview: Druid’s chronicle of Eavan Boland’s life and work overlooks myriad possibilitiesMon Apr 26 2021 - 13:00
Home: Part One – Abbey stream amplifies the voices of silenced mother and baby home survivorsTheatre review: Powerful, earth-shifting testimonies are solemnly read as scriptsThu Mar 18 2021 - 12:20
Once Upon a Bridge: Unchecked aggression and its regretful aftermathTheatre review: In Sonya Kelly’s new play, commonplace hostilities can alter lives foreverMon Feb 15 2021 - 12:45
Live theatre was getting interesting. Then Covid arrivedSeveral new plays were due on the country’s big stages, a rare sightWed Jan 13 2021 - 05:00
Too many cracks in this eggsistential detective storyAn absurd comedy offers a worthwhile study in isolation, but the plotting is haphazardFri Sept 15 2017 - 11:00