Get your loved ones tickets to some of the AMAZING shows we have coming up for Christmas!
Music
11th January – The Whistle Blower ‘Out of Time’
This riveting one-hour show will weave distinct strands: film, dialogue, live music and images to allow the audience to experience a four-year artistic response by Cormac Breatnach arising out of a single traumatic event which affected him from the age of 13 into his adulthood. Breatnach’s brother – Osgur was one of three men wrongfully arrested, tortured and forced to incriminate himself for a crime he did not commit. The Sallins Mail Train Robbery Case in 1978 was the longest running trial in the history of the State.
18th January – Seán Keane
Seán Keane from County Galway is decribed as the “Greatest musical find of the 90`s” – The London Independent. Traditional Irish, folk and even country and blues songs all lend themselves to his unique style and unforgettable voice. Growing up in a family of singers and musicians, Seán learned the Sean-Nós style of singing from his mother and his aunts.
31st January – Maurice Lennon, Ciara Brennan and Chris Dawson
An inherently musical trio, Maurice Lennon, Ciara Brennan and Chris Dawson combine their musical and performance experience resulting in a very dynamic and diverse repertoire of traditional and newly composed music.
7th February – Finghin Collins
Of Finghin Collins as soloist, little needs to be said that has not been said before: he is exceptionally fluent, exceptionally intelligent, exceptionally sensitive, responding to every possible nuance that Stanford prescribes – Piers Burton-Page, International Record Review, April 2011
One of Ireland’s most successful musicians, Finghin Collins was born in Dublin in 1977 and, following initial lessons with his sister Mary, studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with John O’Conor and at the Geneva Conservatoire with Dominique Merlet. Winner of the RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition in 1994 and the Classical Category at the National Entertainment Awards in Ireland in 1998, he went on to take first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 1999. Since then he has continued to enjoy a flourishing international career that takes him all over Europe and the United States, as well to the Far East and Australia.
21st of February – Kevin Burke
One of the greatest fiddlers of this or any generation, Kevin Burke is known far and wide, a legend in traditional Irish music. His bow has driven the Bothy Band, Patrick Street, Open House and Celtic Fiddle Festival. His solo performances of flawless unaccompanied fiddle, delivered with humorous stories of the tunes and their makers, are an absolute delight. Kevin’s easy and welcoming manner leaves the audience feeling like privileged guests, and with a richer understanding of this great tradition. In whatever context, be it guesting with Dervish or Lunasa, with Christy Moore, in a band, or solo, Kevin Burke’s fiddle is a dynamic melodic force, the voice of the master.
21st March – All For Me Grog! The Songs & Story of The Dubliners!
All For Me Grog is going down a treat. The rousing and uplifting show features all the great songs The Dubliners song book – Michael Commons, Mid West Radio and The Mayo News.
Performed by five outstanding folk musicians/singers, the songs and tunes of LUKE KELLY, RONNIE DREW, BARNEY McKENNA, CIARAN BURKE and JOHN SHEEHAN is brought to life using the exact same instrumentation and close as you will get vocals to the originals, creating a show in sound and appearance of uncanny accuracy of the internationally acclaimed DUBLINERS.
Theatre
8th February – The 10 Dark Secrets of 1798
Experience the incredible true story of Ireland’s 1798 Rebellion through song, imagery and storytelling in the capable hands of historical entertainer and musician Paddy Cullivan. Inspired by the American and French Revolutions of the late-18th Century, the ’10 Dark Secrets of 1798’ is a historical drama of ‘Game of Thrones’ proportions, bringing a staggering array of characters to life. Wolfe Tone, Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Napper Tandy – George Washington, The ‘Mad King’ George III and Napoleon Bonaparte.
28th February – Thirteen Steps to the Attic
In an attic, in a house, with only letters for company, a woman takes a precarious step into the vibrancy of her imagination. Exploring intimacy between Him and Her, connected by words on a page and interspersed with moments of tenderness and humour, Thirteen Steps to the Attic examines the known, the unknown, and the invisible desire that was unquestionably real.
6th March – Queen of Technicolor – The Story of Maureen O’Hara
Star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the legendary Maureen O’ Hara’s onscreen roles often mirrored her true persona as a tough, feisty and courageous woman. Blessed with flaming red hair and flashing green eyes, O’Hara’s stunning looks led Hollywood to dub her the ‘Queen of Technicolor’.
The Irish actress held her own alongside Hollywood’s top leading men including long-time friend and frequent co-star John Wayne who called O’ Hara “the greatest guy” he ever knew. A frontrunner of the #TimesUp movement, O’ Hara stood up against the Hollywood studio bosses who often expected more from their stars: I wasn’t a whore…I was unwilling to make that kind of sacrifice to get a part in a movie
24th – 25th March – Maiden Aunt
Gertie O’Grady, a retired teacher and spinster, comes to stay with her niece, Mary Murphy and her husband on their farm to recuperate after a spell in hospital. While staying with her Mary tries to persuade her aunt to make a will.
But when Gertie apparently ‘dies’, Mary’s husband, Dan (who wouldn’t be Gerties biggest fan) comes up with an elaborate plan to get their hands on her money. With the aid of a son who thinks he has what it takes to become a star and doesn’t want to know one end of a cow from the other. Francie, the farm labourer who fancies himself as a bit of a ladies man and a bit of an actor. A nosey neighbour and a suspicious solicitor, poor Mary has her hands full and her nerves shredded in this comedy about family, seduction, deception, money and cross-dressing.
28th March – Maura Laverty – This Was Your Life
This sparkling new play tells of the roller-coaster life of a forgotten Irish celebrity and invites a modern audience to reassess her legacy as a freelance artist at a time in Ireland when most women were expected to be fulltime housewives.
Broadcaster, writer, cookery expert and agony aunt Maura Laverty was a household name in Ireland for three decades. She had her own ESB-sponsored radio show on RTE for thirty years, where she dispensed advice on relationships and cooking. She also toured the country giving cooking demonstrations and encouraging housewives to use electricity for cooking and other labour-saving devices
