Dublin Theatre Festival

Composer: Béla Bartók Director: Enda Walsh Conductor:  André de Ridder Reviewer: Tricia O’Beirne Béla Bartók’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle, with Libretto by Béla Balázs, was first performed in the early twentieth century and is playfully re-imagined here in director Enda Walsh’s staging, presented by the Irish National Opera with music by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. The opera is a duet sung ...

Writer: Oscar Wilde Adaption: Nicki Bloom  Director: Andy Packer Reviewer: Ciara L. Murphy Australian theatre company Slingsby breathe new life into Oscar Wilde’s The Young Kingin an enticing and charming production. When a young boy, raised by an old goat herder in the forest, learns that he is the heir to his kingdom’s throne, his life changes at once. Thrown ...

Writer: Deirdre Kinahan Director: Jim Culleton Reviewer: Tricia O’Beirne Deirdre Kinahan’s play is circular in form, unlike the bricks and mortar Rathmines Road of the title which provides the setting for the violent rape of a young woman some years ago. This event resurfaces over the period of a night, potentially changing the lives of the play’s protagonists but ultimately ...

Writer: Conor McPherson Director: Simon Evans Reviewer: Laura Marriott “In the dark, there are vampires.” So, first things first. This is Brendan Coyle’s return to the Irish stage for the first time since 2002 and he is reuniting with playwright Conor McPherson for the Irish premiere of Saint Nicholas. For everyone wanting to know if it was worth the wait: ...

Writer: Edouard Louis Adaptor: Pamela Carter Director: Stewart Laing Reviewer: Laura Marriott “Today I will be a man.” There has been a trend in recent months for plays that explore what it means to be a man and how to go about being so. The End of Eddy fits into this pattern and delves into the ideas of manhood and masculinity ...

Creators: Iwona Nowacka and Janek Turkowski Reviewer: Laura Marriott Dublin is a city that has seen much in the line of building works, regeneration and change over the past few years. Every new brick and LUAS line track that has been laid down builds upon centuries of history. Buildings gone, lives lived and passed. The history that is around us ...

Writer: Devised by Medb Lambert and Cast Director: Medb Lambert Reviewer: Ciarán Leinster The M House may not necessarily be the most subtle piece of theatre, but there is no doubt that it is intelligent, perceptive, moving, and extremely heartfelt. It is also a piece of great social value, with the cast being comprised almost entirely of actors with intellectual ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Garry Hynes Reviewer: Sarah Hoover Richard III (played with a nod to Antony Sher’s 1984 ‘bottle spider’ on two sticks by Druid favourite Aaron Monaghan) is a Teflon courtier; there is no good reason that his insectile climb up the ladder towards kingship isn’t thwarted. Why does Lady Anne (Siobhán Cullen) accept his marriage proposal, made ...