Writer: Brigid Leahy Director: Jeda De Brí Brigid Leahy’s The Chalice tackles a plethora of current issues affecting Ireland and the world at large. Though the tone remains predominantly humorous, and the writing sharp and witty, there are several much more serious moments explored in this three-hander. Leahy, a triple threat playwright, screenwriter, and actor, was awarded the 2025 Irish Arts Council Theatre Project Award to develop The Chalice. This run in the New Theatre for the Fringe is its premiere. Ben Moore’s set is a lovely little living room, placing the audience firmly in one of those green and…
Author: The Reviews Hub - Ireland
The Reviews Hub - Ireland
The Ireland team is currently under the editorship of Laura Marriott. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.
Writer: David Rawle A pair of friends on a trip to Amsterdam, having a great time until they discover to their horror that they’ve caught feelings. Despite the anxiety, awkwardness and occasionally painful moments, the two have a fun-filled holiday (with the perfectly chosen McFly soundtrack in the romcommy montages). Only it can’t end in fun, can it? Or will they finally profess their love for each other and live happily ever after? This is a perfect little gem, the kind that I always hope to discover when going to the Fringe Festival. A very sweetly wrapped two-hander – such…
Writer & Director: Sinéad O’Brien and Naomi Namutebi Just what is the National Leprechaun Museum? Is it a tourist trap of which we should be profoundly ashamed? Or a city centre oasis from the hustle and bustle that allows us to learn about our rich cultural heritage? As a local, I obviously had no idea about the answer to any of these questions until about 7 o’clock last night, but if their programming in any way resembles Hungry Grass/Stray Sod outside the confines of the Fringe, it is very much the latter, and I will find myself returning in the…
Writer: Hannah Power & Conor Murray Director: Conor Murray Don’t Tell Dad about Diana is in many ways ideal Saturday evening Fringe theatre – it’s fun, it’s heartfelt, it’s sincere, and it’s been created by two people with wonderful chemistry. While it may not impress itself ferociously on one’s consciousness, it is a very pleasing way to spend a September evening. Conor and Hannah are two 18-year-olds in 1997, expecting little from their Leaving Cert results, but everything from life; Hannah is designing Conor’s outfits, all based on those of Lady Diana, for the upcoming Alternative Miss Dublin Competition, and…
Writer: FELISPEAKS Director: Oonagh Murphy and Esosa Ighodaro To start the show FELISPEAKS appears projected on the diaphanous curtain that makes up most of the simplistic set upstairs in the Project Arts Centre. They welcome the audience and prepare them for what’s to come; If anyone has entered this room without an idea of who FELISPEAKS is, they are quick to make sure eyes and ears are open now, and hearts as well, as they point out that this may be the first time audience members have seen a Black person on the stage, or the first time they’ve sat…
Writer: Sam Rees & Gabriele Uboldi Stage Manager: Daire O’Ceallaigh Under scorching office lighting in the iD8 Studio at the Gatelodge on Thomas Street’s Digital Hub, we’re packed into 3 or 4 rows of seats and offered Miwadi by two charming, pleasant hosts. On the way in, we’d been asked if we’d be comfortable contributing by reading a small piece of text throughout the show. The walls are that confrontational white, there’s an old school overhead projector, and there seems to have been very little effort made with the space, other than displaying protest material from Trinity’s pro-Palestine encampment. So…
Writer: Dafe Orugbo Director: Joy Nesbitt Am I The Asshole? is presented as a courtroom drama, with the unique take of selecting audience members as the jury in the case. The case at hand: Temu has brought his ex Amy to court over a stolen wedding gift. It’s a matter of social justice: was Amy in the wrong for stealing the gift (despite it being her idea in the first place that he initially mocked) or was Temu wrong for stealing her gift idea in order to regain social acceptance? The beauty of courtroom dramas is the suspense: to suck…
Book: James Goldman Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Director: Cameron Menzies As the Grand Opera House’s lights fall, several shimmering showgirls take up their positions, stage left and stage right, to get the most fabulous party started. From this moment, the venue is transformed into the Weismann Theatre and Belfast becomes Broadway, as audience members are transported back to 1971, New York. A two-hour extravaganza of glitz, glamour, darlings and drama ensues, in this epic ‘Northern Ireland Opera’ production of Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical ‘Follies’. Fusing fast-paced, sharp, sassy dialogue, with a trademark, soaring Sondheim score, Follies focuses upon the…