Author: The Reviews Hub - Ireland

Writer: Michael Hilliard Mulcahy Director: Padraic McIntyre “He eventually told me what he saw on the mountain road that night…” Along with their performances in the sold-out run of Joyce’s The Dead at the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), John Cronin and Roseanna Purcell hold you spellbound in this two-hander lunchtime performance of Robin and Dawn.   Robin and Dawn is about a couple suffering through family bereavement leading to cracks in their marriage. These gauge deeper after Robin experiences a brain altering vision of sorts one night. The pair engage in solo spiritual quests, aided by narrative monologue, to seek out what…

Writer & Director: Geoff O’Keeffe A mesmerising family show, Hansel and Gretel at the Mill Theatre is everything you want a pantomime to be. It had jokes, audience participation, singing, dancing and the use of completely out of context popular songs. It’s a true delight beginning to end. Beginning with a fun duet between the two ‘bad guys’, Witch (Eimear Barr) and Stepmother (Gerry Mountaine) the show runs so smoothly and cleanly for its entire duration. The show is only 1 hour long, there is nothing overly loud, stunning or scary making it the perfect show for the full range…

Writer & Director: Jamie Sykes Dead Monks is a bizarre meandering caper about 3 monks’ journey through the afterlife. Starting with a skit where a crew member pretends to electrocute the audience and filled with tired jokes, cheap laughs and out of place choreography, Dead Monks is an interesting idea that is not particularly well executed.  We’re introduced to three hapless monks who are struggling following the death of their beloved Abbot. Offo, the abbey’s resident chanter, Dungal, the manuscript writer and Kevin, the idiot. When a Viking ship on the horizon threatens their lives, they begin fighting over who…

Writer: Sheena Lambert  Director: Rex Ryan Bewley’s Café Theatre is fizzing with Christmas cheer this Tuesday lunchtime. Today’s show is sold out and we are happy to be warmly ensconced with coffee and hot chocolate while storm Bram whips up outside.  Novelist, screenwriter and playwright, Sheena Lambert, first became aware of the extraordinary life-story of Cosima Wagner when she was studying music in the 80’s. Referred to as the daughter of the great Hungarian composer and pianist, Franz Liszt or as the wife of the radical German composer and conductor, Richard Wagner, Cosima’s own considerable musical ability was overlooked. Initially,…

I’m meeting Anna of Anna Newell Theatre Adventures at The Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street. The historic Dublin landmark was established in 1817 by a young English man called Thomas Gresham who had been abandoned on the steps of the Royal Exchange in London as a baby. While Anna, who is herself originally from England, has nothing to do with foundlings, she has everything to do with babies, and children and young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties. Newell suggested our meeting place today. She is familiar with the Writers Lounge in the hotel after stints at the nearby…

Writer: Brian Friel’s Adaption of Chekhov  Director: Cathal Cleary Uncle Vanya, not exactly a play filled with Christmas cheer, was chosen as this year’s classic to be presented in Smock Alley.  Uncle Vanya is a timeless play about dysfunctional relationships and people unable to take action in their own lives. It is difficult to truly enjoy the content whatsoever, so miserable and dejected a cast of characters as they are. This is why the production requires so much from both the actors and the creative team behind it. It begins with the cast walking onto the stage with a solemn…

Translator: Brídín Nic Dhonncha Director: Muireann Kelly An Fathach Leithleasach, based on Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant, is brought to stage in An Taibhdhearc by the theatre’s creative team. The play is primarily for children but adults too will enjoy this magical retelling of Wilde’s poignant tale of nature turning against a giant who banishes children from his garden. As someone who loves this story (and can never get through it without tears), it was difficult to imagine how it would translate to stage, particularly given the sweep of time and changing of the seasons that are key to the…

Writer: John Logan Director: Alex Timbers Welcome to the Moulin Rouge! Home of truth, beauty, freedom and love. The year is 1899 and the stage of Europe’s most famous cabaret is a heart-shaped swathe of sumptuous red velvet, satin and lace. Gloriously costumed dancers are warming up and stretching while the wealthy socialites and bohemian artists of Paris take their seats. To a vigorous mash-up of 14 different songs, impresario Harold Zidler and his fabulous ensemble of performers welcome us to their revue. Lead actress Satine, the sparkling jewel in their crown, is lowered slowly on a swing. When Verity…