ART
Journeys
Makiko Nakamura. Taylor Galleries, 16 Kildare St Until Oct 17 taylorgalleries.ie
Makiko Nakamura’s (right) shimmering abstracts counterpoint austere geometric grids with layers of sumptuous colour – gold and silver leaf, blues and yellows – to create pictorial meditations on time and memory. Her new work adds patterns of rings, indicative perhaps of life’s cycles and routines, recurrent journeys, places revisited. The tapestry-like richness of the paint surfaces, sealed under varnish, should be experienced at first hand.
WAR SONG
The Great War Signal Corps
National Museum, Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7 €15 gwsctickets.eventbrite.ie
This is the first of four performances of a new piece of music for 10 performers that uses telegraph keys, flag semaphore, signal lanterns and music to commemorate Irish involvement in the first World War. The piece, written by composer George Higgs, is here performed by Tonnta vocal ensemble with members of Dublin Youth Theatre.
THEATRE
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Bord Gais Energy Theatre. Oct 6-10 7.30pm (Oct 7, 8 & 10 2.30pm) €15-€55 dublintheatrefestival.com
Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel, told from the perspective of an autistic amateur detective, was one of the few books in recent years to be published in different versions; one with a cover designed to appeal to young readers, the other intended to fit discretely into the hands of commuting adults. Numerous literary awards since, and now with the tour of the UK National Theatre’s award-winning adaptation, those two audiences have been greatly reconciled. Simon Stephens’ play, which inevitably makes the 15-year- old Christopher a third person protagonist rather than a first- person narrator, has respected the turbulence of the narrative – there’s a stunning cruelty in the secrets Christopher uncovers – but it also seizes the adventure, where a boy treks far beyond his comfortable limits to uncover the truth. Imaginative stagecraft, smart design and a restlessly physical performance helps to crack the case wide open.
