Author: The Reviews Hub - Ireland

Writer:  Katie McCann Director:  Jeda de Brí Playwright and actor Katie McCann takes the female lead in her new play ‘Of a Midnight Meeting’ at Bewley’s Café Theatre this Halloween season. Playing the part of spiritual medium, Hester O’Brien to Naoise Dunbar’s investigator, Dr. Nathaniel Harker, this two-hander pits believers against non-believers. It’s 1926 and Nathaniel has been sent from Scientific American to assess “Ms O’Brien’s” candidacy for their international competition and its $5,000 prize. Can she prove that ghosts are real? He arrives late in the day. The candles in the candelabra cast soft shadows on the red velvet…

Writer: Deirdre Kinahan Director: Marc Atkinson Borrull Behind a curtain and up a few steps at the back of the Bookseller Café, Glass Mask Theatre’s permanent venue since 2021 is one of the most effortlessly atmospheric places to see a play in Dublin. Banquets line the walls on both sides, with more tables on the platform that is only occasionally used as a stage for the actors in Deirdre Kinahan’s Tempesta. Instead, Stephanie Dufresne and Jack Mullarkey spend most of their time on, beside, or at either end of the narrow counter that runs most of the length of the…

Writer: Terry O’Neill Director: Michael James Ford In a knockout performance at Bewley’s Café Theatre, Terry O’Neill showcases his youthful incarnation as a champion Irish boxer on the international scene. Known for his acting roles on TV and in film (Love/Hate, Striking Out, Michael Inside and The Meeting), O’Neill has also carved out a noteworthy career as a stand-up comedian on stages across Ireland and the UK. Against a backdrop of posters from Ring Magazine and to an instantly recognisable cinematic theme tune, O’Neill steps through the ropes of a partially constructed boxing ring onto the platform. Divested of his…

Writer & Director: Annachiara Vispi  Before the performance begins there is chit chat, led by actor Sarah Berkeley. It is casual and engaging, as if we were at a drinks party, setting the tone for an hour of theatre that is meditative and engaging. ‘So how did you get here?’, Berkeley inquires. ‘You’re late … public transport is such a nightmare, isn’t it.’ The last comment is wryly humorous since Persona Metropolitana presents to us a multi- sensorial reflection on how we experience the city, presented through the lens of public transport systems. Sound and image, word and dance are…

Devised by: Moonfish Theatre Movement Director: Mufutau Yusuf The Crow’s Way is a lovely piece of ensemble work, the cast play fluidly in sync. This show presents all the beauty of youthful curiosity, encouraging the audience to embrace that curiosity, and break free of the stagnant, unimaginative quality of rituals. And to question, what exactly is the purpose of rituals; and why can’t we change them? Zita Monaghan as the overbearing, power-driven mayor in the village of Ballyfeen is a delight to watch – she seamlessly transitions from screeching to donning her best ‘radio voice’. Similarly Sean. T. O’Meallaigh’s rural…

Writer & Director: Nathan Ellis As per it’s description Work.txt is a show performed entirely by the audience, but until you experience it in person it’s quite difficult to imagine what that means. Upon entering the Cube in the Project Arts Centre you meet a sparse set; a pile of yellow painted jumbo jenga pieces, a printer, two mike stands, and a smoke machine, all sitting in front of a black projector screen backdrop with the words work.txt in the left hand corner. Everyone in the audience has presumably read the description of the show (or is accompanying someone who…

Writer & Director: David O’Doherty Tiny Piano Man is a triumph of jazz comedy, a term David O’Doherty throws out during the show that fits his style of comedy so perfectly it was a surprise to find that it does not really exist as a genre at all. From the loose beginning to the quick performance dissection at the end, and everything in between, this is a show that thrives on improvisation and yet is full of carefully thought-out well-crafted jokes, songs, and stories. O’Doherty, as he points out several times throughout the hour, is now 47 and has been…

Writer & Director: Hannah Mamalis Hannah Mamalis’s Stars is a piece that will either hit you in the sweet spot, or miss drastically. For this reviewer, it missed, but as I looked around at a packed Project Arts Centre with people very nearly literally rolling in the aisles I felt I may have been speaking a different language, or not part of a joyous club of which I desperately wanted to be a member. Having said that, Stars was not without merit – Mamalis is a natural performer, engages well with the audience, and does have some good, amusing ideas.…