Author: The Reviews Hub - Ireland

Writer: Lorca, Adapted by Patrick J. O’Reilly Director: Patrick J. O’Reilly The retelling of Lorca’s Yerma by Tinderbox Theatre Company at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, adapted by the director Patrick J. O’Reilly manages to incorporate the essential themes in the original play written in 1934: love, longing and loss. Yerma means a younger woman who is childless. Caoimhe Farren in the title role captures the heart breaking and tragic elements of a woman trapped in a childless marriage, who  continues to suffer the social torment of societal expectations. The central issue is about infertility and repression of the reproductive system.…

Writer: Ross Dungan Director: Sara Joyce Alan, a young man working in content moderation, is troubled by a misjudged comment he made to his co-worker Alannah when she discovered a video of her brother’s suicide at work. Their work lives consist of sifting through images of mangled body parts, racist content and spam. Aidan Moriarty gives a standout performance as the obnoxious supervisor, his character is written perfectly – we’ve all known one just like him. Alan and Alannah are a mismatched pair (the dynamic of acerbic woman with sweet man who accepts the abuse from her is grating) who…

Writer: Eoghan Quinn, adapted from J.M. Coetzee Director: Annabelle Comyn Don’t be put off The Jesus Trilogy if you’ve never read the J.M. Coetzee novels from which it was adapted by Eoghan Quinn, alongside director Annabelle Comyn – this reviewer certainly hadn’t, and found much to appreciate in the work. While it is easy to understand why Eileen Battersby in The Irish Times wrote that the trilogy’s first instalment “as a novel, lacks cohesion and conviction”, the sprawling ambition of the play, the beautiful staging, and the robust, truthful performances combined to forge a rich, probing evening in the theatre.…

Writer: Gary Cooke Director: Bairbre Ní Chaoimh This month sees the stage in Bewley’s Café Theatre transformed into the office of Boggins’ Bathrooms showroom, a family run affair in the M50 Business Park. Gary Cooke of Après Match fame is a double threat as writer and star of this one-man show, playing the somewhat soured second son of the business-cum-part-time football manager of the under 12s local team, as well as a host of additional characters.  Over the course of the hour Billy Boggins tells the story of how he found himself on a frantic journey from his brother’s second…

Writer: Khawla Ibraheem Director: Oliver Butler A Knock on the Roof is a staggering one-woman work that radiates humanity, humour, and unbreakable resolve in every moment. The title comes from the name given to the Israeli Defence Force’s “warning bombs” that are dropped in Palestinian cities before the larger ones, and so being at a performance feels like hearing a testimony straight from a fresh bombsite. To assess the work of writer/performer Khawla Ibraheem, a Palestinian artist based in the occupied Golan Heights, on a solely artistic level feels almost perverse, but in some ways she seems to encourage this…

Writer: Jarlath Tivnan Director: Rex Ryan Currently running at The Glass Mask Theatre, The Acting is a high energy piece written by and starring Jarlath Tivnan. Tivnan has an impressive career behind him so far, both as a playwright and actor, with his writing debut Pleasure Ground winning the Michael Diskin Bursary Award and several standout performances under his belt, including last year’s King on the Glass Mask stage in Eva O’Connor’s Horse Play. The Acting certainly has an autobiographical feel to it as it tells the story of Charlie, a Boyle native trying to make it as an actor…

Writer: Kate Heffernan  Director: Eoghan Carrick No lights, no power, no set. Three ordinary people who live ordinary lives, stuck in spaces which are not theirs, where it feels they can leave no mark. Kate Heffernan’s new play is a bold attempt at staging the ‘normal’ in an abnormal way, concerning our need for connection and light, that sometimes feels trapped under the mundanity of jobs or relationships we aren’t passionate about. Space is cleverly used to suspend disbelief, taking place on the sets of other shows, lit dimly by laptop lights, deliveroo bags, phone lights, anything that you can…

Writer & Director: David Horan It is undeniably true that David Horan’s Sandpaper on Sunburn poses questions around identity, relationships, and the relationship of the personal to the political, although your feelings about the play will most likely rest in how believable you find the characters that pose the questions, and the extent to which you can tolerate the questions not being answered. Perhaps this is the role that theatre should play, that it shouldn’t be providing clear answers in two hours, but it’s impossible not to feel a nagging frustration that so much good work leaves the audience with so…