Author: The Reviews Hub - Ireland

Writer: Tara Flynn Director: Phillip McMahon With Haunted, Tara Flynn takes the audience on a journey through her mind. Weaving together three themes; her father’s death, her experience during and after the Repeal campaign, and the stories of Biddy Early, Flynn opens up with a vulnerability that is as often tear jerking as it is hilarious. On a stage furnished with one single armchair that is at times a car, a podium, a wall, Flynn takes full ownership of the space and draws the eye wherever she goes. This is a play that is centred around grief, but it delves…

Writer: Mikey Fleming & Colman Hayes Director: Mikey Fleming A Few Words Theatre Company produces an electric performance of a genuine Irish wedding. Even for those who dislike weddings, you’ll love this one! Cathal is the best man and erupts from the back of the stage, in a rush to make his best man speech. This portrayal of being under pressure is all too familiar to those who have had the privilege of experiencing an Irish wedding. Coleman Hayes (Cathal) wins the audience over immediately with his charm and charisma and maintains a high energy throughout the entire performance. The…

Writer: Shakespeare Director: Geoff O’ Keeffe ‘Oh, horror, horror, horror…’ It’s close to Halloween and the weird sisters are brewing up a heap of trouble for Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis and about to become the Thane of Cawdor. His eagerness to fulfil the witches prophecy leads him to seal his own fate and that of many others along the way. Goaded on by his wife he murders King Duncan, an action which sets in train a slew of other deaths. The challenge for the audience is to keep track of them as the bodies stack up and the protagonists…

Concept, Text, Direction, Video and Costume Design: Choy-Ping Clarke-Ng 吳彩萍 A concept piece by  Choy-Ping Clarke-Ng 吳彩萍 allows us to eavesdrop and snoop into the lives of the characters put forward. Attendees were advised to bring headphones and were provided for those without. Meeting at the Dublin Theatre Festival box office, the audience are then guided a couple of metres away to a street in Temple Bar. A projector fills the first storey of a window with film. The performance begins with voices in the earpieces as the digital curtains are opened. It is a confusing and eerie feeling. The…

Writer: Christian O’Reilly Director: Raymond Keane No Magic Pill is inspired by the marvellous and “messy” life of disability rights activist Martin Naughton. Written by non-disabled Christian O’Reilly who proves he is worthy to tell this story after receiving the nod of approval from the man himself. The play is more than a documentation of the hardships faced by disabled people as they navigate daily life but rather a celebration of love and friendship, justice and freedom.  The cast is exceptional. Paddy Slattery faces the heavy responsibility of embodying Martin who is based on Martin Naughton; “the Michael Collins of…

Edna O’Brien continues her tradition of exploring the unwritten lives of women in this new play. Moving these mid-1900s women to centre stage reverses the patriarchal tendency of literary history and O’Brien’s foray into the theatre, heralds a powerful force at work. James Joyce, the acclaimed Irish writer, lived in self-imposed exile in Trieste, Paris and Zurich in early 20th century. His mission was to “forge the uncreated conscience of my race” and this he did through the much celebrated short stories Dubliners and the stream of consciousness novels Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake. Joyce’s genius and impact on the modern…

Book and Lyrics: Tracy Ryan Music and Lyrics: Kaeylea B. VanKeith Sisters, A New Musical at The dlr Mill Theatre is the latest offering from Tracey Ryan. Set in 1971 against the backdrop of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, the musical tells the story of the fictional single mother Bernadette Boland (Emma Stack, who is a steady hand in steering a vast cast of players) and her fight for a new life with her out-of-wedlock child Katie (Brooke Donnelly). The show begins with Bernadette helping to ready her own sister, Kathleen (a tender and wonderful performance by Aimee McAllister) with…

Writer: Eva O’Connor Director: Hildegarde Ryan Discovering St Kevin’s park just off Camden Street is one of the joys of attending Eva O’Connor’s contribution to the Dublin Fringe Festival This adaptation of O’Connor’s literary essay provides a pleasant philosophical meander in the deconsecrated graveyard of St Kevin’s Park. It’s a short audio work which reflects on the impact of the recent covid restrictions on the playwright. Being deprived of an audience highlighted for the author how her sense of self was closely linked to her work. The return of her sister from NYC to continue her ‘noble’ job as a…