The Guide: Gruff Rhys, Sister Act and other events to see, shows to book and ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

Gruff Rhys

Wednesday, February 14th, Empire, Belfast, 8pm, £22.50; Thursday, February 15th, and Friday, February 16th, Sugar Club, Dublin, 7.30pm, €28 (sold out); all ticketmaster.ie

The former Super Furry Animals frontman has long since stepped out of the limelight he endured during that band’s commercial run in the mid- to late 1990s. Singular solo status and hovering below mainstream radars always seemed to be his preference, and so he has continued in that niche and more comforting manner for the best part of 20 years. Rhys’s latest album, Sadness Sets Me Free (which investigates, he says, “the general terror of cosmic loneliness”), will form a hefty part of these shows, but his off-beam character traits will surely keep loyal fans suitably amused.

Gigs

Meredith Monk

Tuesday, February 13th, NCH, Dublin, 8.30pm, €45/€40, nch.ie

The New York composer, director and choreographer – performing in Ireland for the first time in 23 years – has across six decades gained an unparalleled reputation for her three-octave vocal range and extensive vocal techniques. For this rare and intimate concert, Monk – a recipient of a National Medal of Arts, the highest honour in the United States for cultural achievement – is joined by two members of her Vocal Ensemble, Katie Geissinger and Allison Sniffin, for what could well be an experimental-music highlight of the year.

Borderline Festival

Thursday, February 15th, and Friday, February 16th, Workman’s Club, Dublin, 7.30pm, €20, ticketmaster.ie and borderlinefestival.com

Not just an event, say promoters Singular Artists, but “a celebration of creativity pushing the boundaries of artistic expression”. Across two nights in the main room and cellar spaces of this admired city-centre venue, about 15 acts from Ireland and the UK will showcase their progressive music. Gathered from the rosters of acclaimed record labels (Anti, Domino, Awal, Transgressive, So Young and Lab), acts making a rewarding noise include Cardinals, Enola Gay, Miso Extra, Spider, Efé and Mount Palomar. Full details of the adventurous line-up are on the festival website.

In conversation

Nicola Tallant: Cocaine Cowboys

Saturday, February 10th, Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick, 8pm, €27, limetreebelltable.ie; Thursday, February 15th, Everyman Theatre, Cork, 8pm, €28, everymancork.com; Sunday, February 18th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €28, ticketmaster.ie

Investigative journalist Nicola Tallant brings the text of her 2023 book Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland’s Drug Lords to life with a thorough outline of the drug-distribution networks from South America to Ireland and the people involved. The tour continues in April with shows in Galway (Saturday, April 6th, Town Hall Theatre), Killarney (Saturday, April 13th, INEC Club) and Belfast (Saturday, April 27th, Waterfront Studio).

Take Off Festival

From Tuesday, February 13th, until Friday, February 16th, Dance Cork Firkin Crane, Cork, 7.30pm, €15-€30, dancecorkfirkincrane.ie

Amir Sabra in Within this Party. Photograph: Maurice Gunning

The second year of the Take Off Festival features performances from established and emerging choreographers, among them the European artists Jean-Baptiste Baele and Structure-Couple, and Irish-based artists such as Stephanie Keane, Mary Nunan, Amir Sabra, Inma Pavon and Andrea Williams. Alongside the performances, there is a round-table discussion on Tuesday, February 13th, featuring festival artists, that will focus on the requirements of current dance practice and those at different phases of a dancer’s or choreographer’s career.

Musical

Sister Act

From Tuesday, February 13th, until Saturday, February 24th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, from €26.50, ticketmaster.ie

Landi Oshinowo, centre, as Deloris Van Cartier. Photograph: Mark Senior

Based on the 1992 film, this nun-on-the-run musical plays it for laughs as it tells the story of Deloris Van Cartier (Landi Oshinowo), a nightclub singer who is placed in a witness-protection programme after she sees her gangster boyfriend shoot an informant. Van Cartier’s protection involves entering a convent, where she clashes with the mother superior (Ruth Jones), whose initially strict demeanour softens. The Tamla Motown/soul-inspired musical tours to Millennium Forum, Derry (Monday-Saturday, February 26th-March 2nd), Opera House, Cork (Tuesday-Saturday, April 2nd-6th) and Grand Opera House, Belfast (Monday, April 8th-Saturday, April 20th).

Stage

Happiness Then

From Monday, February 12th, until Saturday, March 9th, Bewley’s Cafe Theatre, Dublin, 1pm, €12, bewleyscafetheatre.com

Following the death of their mother, separated sisters Bridget and Frances (Rachael Dowling and Sorcha Furlong) meet for the first time at the reading of the will. The fragmented relationship is slowly glued together as they delve into the reasons why they were split up. Elizabeth Moynihan’s comedy-drama matches humour with intelligence, while Dowling and Furlong portray their characters with excellent light and shade. Liam Halligan directs.

Belfast Girls

Saturday, February 10th, Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda, Co Louth, 8pm, €18/€16, droichead.com; Friday, February 16th, and Saturday, February 17th, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co Meath, 8pm, €20, solsticeartscentre.ie

Receiving its Irish premiere, this nuanced play by the Co Louth author and playwright Jaki McCarrick, which was staged at New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre in 2022, focuses on the little-known Female Orphan Emigration Scheme, which in the late 1840s took teenage Irish girls from workhouses and shipped them to Australia to work as servants. McCarrick throws a net over this overlooked historical fact, focusing on five women sailing from Belfast to Sydney, and on how their initial optimism dissolves into dread.

Still running

Spike Cello Fest 2024

Until Sunday, February 11th, various times, prices and venues, Dublin, spikecellofest.com

Naomi Berrill performs at Spike Cello Festival. Photograph: Edoardo Delille

This annual Dublin-based festival, now in its seventh iteration, features acclaimed practitioners of non-classical cello in performance and conversation. Highlights include events by Naomi Berrill, Natalie Haas, Cellophonics and Cellinstallations (a series of pop-up gigs in venues across the city centre).

Book it this week

Anne Gildea, Vicar Street, Dublin, June 7th, ticketmaster.ie

Sum 41, Fairview Park, Dublin, June 19th, ticketmaster.ie

The Saw Doctors, Fairview Park, Dublin, June 29th, ticketmaster.ie

Anthrax/Kreator, 3Arena, Dublin, November 25th, ticketmaster.ie