What’s on Wednesday: Soak, Meraviglia and Dubliners Dilemma

ART

Meraviglia
Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin Until Jul 4
hillsborofineart.com

A marvel indeed. John Daly has lined up a fascinating trio of artists to show side-by-side. Sandro Chia and Enzo Cucchi shone as stars of the 1980sNew Expressionism, and both have had long, distinguished careers. Michael Warren, working in a different vein, is one of our most renowned sculptors. All share a love of Italian art from the pre-Renaissance on.

THEATRE

Dubliners Dilemma
The New Theatre. Jun 10-14 1pm €10/€8
thenewtheatre.com

To publish or perish - or publish and perish? The dilemma at the centre of Declan Gorman’s one-man performance belongs not to James Joyce, but the man who brought his masterful collection of short stories into print, Grant Richards. Having retreated from the book in 1906, Richards approached Joyce eight years (and fourteen publishers) later, motivated by a nagging conscience. Alone in his office, Richards is an apprehensive midwife to genius, enraptured but fretting over obscenity laws, while excerpts from the book’s stories swell up around him onstage.

SINGER-SONGWRITER

Soak
Empire Music Hall, Belfast 8pm £14
thebelfastempire.com

Derry singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson has come a long way since she first beguiled this writer nearly four years ago at a tiny, sparsely attended gig in Belfast. Now all grown up, Soak – as she is known to all and sundry – launches her wonderful debut album, Before We Forgot How to Dream, with a short Irish tour. Dates continue beyond next week, by the way.