THEATRE
The Theatre Machine Turns You On 4
Project Arts Centre. Jan 21-24 6.30pm €8-14
projectartscentre.ie
Looking at the programme for the previous installment of The Theatre Machine Turns You On, from 2013, it's surprising and exhilarating how many of this mini-festival's scratch performances have gone on to full production: Fused, Lambo, Postscript, Looking For Work, Dolls, Madonna, a little work-in-progress called Lippy (Best Production 2013 at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards). Such successes aren't even the point – ideas that don't progress much further can be useful to share. As the title knows, borrowed from a record series, this event is all about stimulating new developments.
BLUEGRASS
The Punch Brothers
National Concert Hall, Dublin 8pm €25
nch.ie
Whoever would have thought that traditional bluegrass would have been recalibrated to the point where it’s as much a treasured genre as a way forward for a different kind of alt.rock fusion? Thank you, mandolinist Chris Thile and co. Not-to-be-missed support comes from Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh and Dan Trueman.
