Intersectional Identities: How it feels to be an older member of the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland
Thursday, May 20th, 3pm, pay what you can, bealtaine.ie
Chaired by Rory O'Neill, aka Panti Bliss, this online discussion features the Act Up Cork founder Will Kennedy and the campaigner Ailbhe Smyth, among others. O'Neill says it's a pertinent topic, as "for the first time we have a lot of people growing older who are living out and proud lives". The discussion is part of this month's Bealtaine Festival, which celebrates the arts and creativity as we age.
Extraterrestrial: A Black Irish Celebration of Identity
Thursday, May 20th, 8pm, free, youtube.com
The National Concert Hall and District magazine cohost this celebration of black Irish artists making waves in Irish culture, which aims to showcase the huge diversity at play and challenge outdated notions of what it means to be Irish. Curated by FeliSpeaks, whose poetry has been included in the school curriculum, this event features the Choice-nominated rapper and activist JyellowL, the R&B star Erica Cody, who also launched the Don't Touch My Hair campaign to highlight endemic racism in Ireland, the Belfast singer and rapper Alicia Raye, the drill rapper Reggie from Dundalk, the man behind the 2020 anti-racist tune My Accent, and the Kildare alt hip-hop duo Tebi Rex.
International Literature Festival Dublin
Thursday, May 20th, to Sunday, May 30th, various times and prices, ilfdublin.com
Here's a chance to immerse yourself in literary chat over the next 10 days, in the company of writers from Ireland and around the world. The packed programme feature more than 75 online events. The line-up includes Rutger Bregman talking to Louise O'Neill about how people are portrayed in the news media as essentially selfish (Thursday, May 20th, 6pm, €8); Hold Open the Door, showcasing Irish poetic voices (Tuesday, May 25th, 6pm, €5); Laureate-2-Laureate, in which Ireland's Laureate na nÓg, Áine NíGhlinn, and the UK children's laureate, Cressida Cowell, discuss their work and their hopes for today's kids (Sunday, May 23rd, noon, free); Dúchas, a bilingual poetry workshop with Dairena Ní Chinnéide (Monday, May 24th, 6.15pm, €15); and Douglas Stuart, author of the Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain, in conversation (Monday, May 23rd, 8pm, €5).
Dublin Dance Festival Summer 2021 Edition
Until Sunday, May 30th, various times and prices, dublindancefestival.ie
It's week two of Dublin Dance Festival's online programme, and with luck the legs aren't worn off you yet. If you've still got some energy, check out Revisor, a collaboration by the choreographer Crystal Pite and the playwright Jonathan Young (Thursday, May 20th, until Monday, May 24th, €12); Dyad, by Justine Doswell, filmed in St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin (Thursday, May 20th, until Monday, May 31st, €8), Ali Chahrour's The Love Behind My Eyes, exploring forbidden love in the Arabic world (Thursday, May 20th, until Monday, May 31st, €8); and Dancing at Dusk: A Moment with Pina Bausch's The Rite of Spring, featuring 38 dancers from 14 African countries performing on a beach in Senegal (Monday, May 24th, until Friday, May 28th, 7pm, €12).
Glastonbury Festival Live at Worthy Farm
Saturday, May 22nd, and Sunday, May 23rd, various times, €23 and €50, glastonburyfestivals.co.uk
Crowds may be coming back to Premier League matches, and there has even been a "test" gig at Sefton Park, in Liverpool, featuring about 5,000 fans. But the UK isn't yet ready for full-blast Glastonbury, so here's an online mini-Glasto with a line-up that would do the festival proud in a normal year, including Coldplay, Haim, Damon Albarn, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka and DJ Honey Dijon. The acts will be spread across Worthy Farm, from the Pyramid Stage to the Stone Circle, and the audience, usually arrayed in muddy splendour across the vast site in the Somerset village of Pilton, will instead be spread across cyberspace. You can stream the event on the Saturday or Sunday for €23, or pay €50 and get a glossy Glasto poster that'll remind you of these unique times.
David Baddiel and Alan Yentob: Humour as a Form of Rage – Culture Wars, Comedy and Three Lions
Tuesday, May 25th, 6.30pm, €8, festivalofwritingandideas.com
David Baddiel is one of the funniest comedians in the business, but when it comes to battling anti-Semitism he's deadly serious. Baddiel is joined by the BBC presenter Alan Yentob for a conversation that touches on everything from the culture wars raging in many parts of the world (and in all corners of the internet) to Baddiel's new book, Jews Don't Count, documenting his experience of anti-Semitism. The pair will also discuss the political power of comedy and, of course, the most important subject of them all: soccer.
Normal
Wednesday, May 26th, Wednesday, June 2nd, and Wednesday, June 9th, 7.30pm, €5, thelockinn.io
Bewley's Cafe Theatre serves up the second of its series of four one-act plays streamed online, Normal, by the Irish Times Irish Theatre Award nominee Caitríona Daly. Karen Ardiff and Caoimhe O'Malley star in a study of motherhood and marriage that explores the boundaries between being a partner and being a carer. In the aftermath of a celebration, two women, Helen and Phil, are still there, and end up having a different sort of party postmortem. Central to the conversation is Phil's disabled son, Gary, who is Helen's boyfriend.
