Author: The Reviews Hub - Ireland

Writers: Feidlim Cannon, Gary Keegan & Danny O’Mahony  Director: Feidlim Cannon Perhaps awkwardness is partly the point of the first fifteen minutes of Bellow. Two very different protagonists, Danny and Gary, go to some lengths to explain this unlikely collaboration between a traditional musician and an experimental theatre maker. Danny O’Mahony is a renowned accordionist from Ballyduff in North Kerry who comes from a distinct lineage of music makers. His soft toned inflexions and hesitancies say more, rather than less, about how his passion took him down some fairly twisty roads. Gary Keegan makes ‘pieces’ rather than plays, he is not…

Writer and Director: Chris Kent The Mill Theatre is but one of many stops on this, Chris Kent’s largest ever tour, and he’s found his way into the big room this time round, playing a sold-out show. With support from fellow Corkonian comedian Cornelius Patrick O’Sullivan, it’s a night of smart and sharp anecdotal comedy delivered by two extremely gregarious gentlemen. To give O’Sullivan his due here, his set is a great warm up for Kent but it calls for a moment in the sun of its own; he develops a quick and strong rapport with the audience immediately, the…

Writer: David Quinn Director: Andy Crook Anyone familiar with Jonathan Swift’s satirical short ‘A Modest Proposal’ may wonder what could be gained from a modern take on it, especially if the twist will no longer be a twist for them. However, David Quinn has hit on something extremely funny here by reimagining the old pamphlet proposal into something most of us are familiar with – the almost Ted Talk style PowerPoint presentation pitch, and Jed Murray is a perfect fit for the role of Johnathon ‘call me Johnny’ of JMCD Solutions. Tonally there is a great range to this one-hour…

Writer: Elizabeth Moynihan Director: Liam Halligan Two sisters meet in the aftermath of their mother’s death. The play seeks to expose the many faces of grief and its impact on Francis and Bridget. Old grievances are unearthed. Painful experiences are shared. Bridget comments to Francis that she ‘lives life like a glorious meringue. However, Francis is facing the end of her marriage when she says ‘the man I married doesn’t exist anymore.’ Simultaneously Bridget is dealing with her own loss and the disappearance of her son from her life through drug abuse and homelessness. The whole framework of the play…

Writer: Jaki McCarrick Director: Anna Simpson Just as Roald Dahl’s BFG could hear “all the secret whisperings of the world” – murmurs along the North East Network have reached the ears of the great and the good of County Meath and they are out in force at Navan’s wonderful Solstice Arts Centre this evening for the penultimate performance of Jaki McCarrick’s Belfast Girls. The production is presented by An Táin Arts Centre and Quintessence Theatre Company. The premise of this play is immediately interesting. It apprises the audience of an important and momentous time in Irish history to which many…

Writer: Simon Stephens Director: Ross Gaynor Simon Stephens writes a tale of redemption following character Jamie Carris over 30 years, and the impulsive decisions he makes during the course of his life. We first meet Jamie at 19, with his first and only love, Lynsey. Then again at 29, while he is incarcerated. Jamie’s brother, Matty, visits him there; and finally, at age 39, where we empathise with a remorseful Jamie, attempting to reconcile with his estranged daughter, Emma. At first we meet a young Jamie (John Cronin), a man of low socio-economic background and limited life choices, in a…

Writer: Christian O’Reilly Director: Mark Fitzgerald A stripped back scene welcomes us into the world of The Good Father – a sparse but cosy set design by Eugenia Genunchi. The Boy’s School is a perfect stage for an intimate play like this. I read Is This About Sex? by O’Reilly years ago, which contains such heart and humour that my expectations were high going into The Good Father. At a New Year’s Eve house party, Tim and Jane meet in an empty room. Can a one night stand lead to more? With a two-hander play like this, generally you want…

Writer: Anthony Kinahan Director: Anna Simpson With Unguarded Anthony Kinahan explores a very relevant and sensitive topic that has an important place in the national discussion – the lack of regulation regarding surrogacy in Ireland. This 75-minute multi-role one-man show has a short run at the Project Arts before beginning its national tour, so there are plenty of opportunities to catch it around the country. Perhaps due to this tour and its multiple venues the set is virtually non-existent. Kinahan takes to a stage furnished with one simple chair, but the full back wall projector in the Cube has been…