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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
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Drama at Inish, directed by Cal McCrystal, is running at the Abbey Theatre until January 24th, 2020. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh What’s going on at the Abbey: heated exchanges, impassioned defences and disputed records
  • Stage
  • Deirdre Falvey
  • December 11, 2019, 05:00

Theatre practitioners thought they had reached an understanding with the Abbey on more Irish plays and more new dramas. What went wrong?

Hozier in Dublin review: One song elicits a cheer like no other Hozier in Dublin review: One song elicits a cheer like no other
  • Music
  • Amy O'Connor
  • December 11, 2019, 06:52

The show begins and the 3Arena roars ... Crowds don’t get much friendlier than this

Daisy Ridley: ‘I’m not passively aggressive – just directly aggressive’ Daisy Ridley: ‘I’m not passively aggressive – just directly aggressive’
  • Film
  • Nosheen Iqbal
  • December 11, 2019, 06:00

The Star Wars actor on Carrie Fisher, fame and dealing with privilege

Best debuts of 2019: despite perennial difficulties, talent has emerged Best debuts of 2019: despite perennial difficulties, talent has emerged
  • Books
  • Sarah Gilmartin
  • December 11, 2019, 06:00

A look at the brightest debuts and collections from this year's emerging authors

Cinderella review: Like being slapped in the face by a rainbow Cinderella review: Like being slapped in the face by a rainbow
  • Stage
  • December 11, 2019, 11:45

Plus our reviews of all the best Christmas pantos – and the ones to avoid

Beyond the middle-class bubble – a look back at a life lived on the left Beyond the middle-class bubble – a look back at a life lived on the left
  • Books
  • Mick O'Reilly
  • December 11, 2019, 05:59

Trade unionist Mick O’Reilly on the challenges and rewards of writing a political memoir

Neil Gaiman, Ben Stiller and Monica Lewinsky, and the Twitter poem for refugees Neil Gaiman, Ben Stiller and Monica Lewinsky, and the Twitter poem for refugees
  • Books
  • Alison Flood
  • December 11, 2019, 10:10

Turning followers’ 1,000 tweets into What You Need to Be Warm was ‘ridiculously hard’

Hozier live in Dublin: in pictures Hozier live in Dublin: in pictures
  • Music
  • December 10, 2019, 23:30

Hozier put on a blistering show at Dublin's 3Arena

Charlize Theron: Harvey Weinstein said Renée Zellweger and I slept with him to get jobs Charlize Theron: Harvey Weinstein said Renée Zellweger and I slept with him to get jobs
  • Film
  • Kyle Buchanan
  • December 10, 2019, 08:07

Charlize Theron talks about the challenges of making Bombshell, a movie about sexual harassment at Fox News

Spray it, don’t say it: The story of Irish street art Spray it, don’t say it: The story of Irish street art
  • TV, Radio, Web
  • Peter Crawley
  • December 10, 2019, 17:40

TV Review: Ireland’s street artists express their politics better in murals than in words

Latest Film

Daisy Ridley: ‘People don’t ask people’s permission before they post things.’ Photograph: Dylan Coulter/Guardian Daisy Ridley: ‘I’m not passively aggressive – just directly aggressive’
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – the new film is due out in July 2020 Ghostbusters: Afterlife first trailer revealed
Charlize Theron: “Unless it’s something where I really feel like I’m going to go scare myself, I don’t really want to do it.” Photograph: Amy Harrity/The New York Times Charlize Theron: Harvey Weinstein said Renée Zellweger and I slept with him to get jobs
  • Golden Globes 2020: full list of nominations
  • Golden Globes 2020: Saoirse Ronan nominated for best actress

Film Reviews

Nick Jonas, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Dwayne Johnson Awkwafina and Kevin Hart star in Jumanji: The Next Level Jumanji: The Next Level

 
Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville in Ordinary Love. Photographs: Bleecker Street/Focus Features Ordinary Love

 
Samuel Bottomley and Niamh Algar in The Last Right The Last Right

 
A scene from So Long, My Son So Long, My Son

 

TV & Radio

Trumpstreet art by Subset, shown in Wonder Walls Spray it, don’t say it: The story of Irish street art

TV Review: Ireland’s street artists express their politics better in murals than in words

The Irish teams in Tripoli in 1989 In League with Gaddafi: This folly wouldn’t make top five of Irish football fiascos
Blindboy and Luke Kelly by Subset, part of Wonder Walls: The Story of Irish Street Art, Monday on RTÉ2 TV guide: 18 of the best shows to watch this week
  • I’m A Celebrity: Nadine Coyle earned €275k, and Andrew Maxwell trousered €60k
  • Katie Hannon seems to enjoy her guests’ discomfort

Latest Books

Neil Gaiman meets Ayman and his family at Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan in 2014. Photograph: Jordi Matas/UNHCR Neil Gaiman, Ben Stiller and Monica Lewinsky, and the Twitter poem for refugees

Turning followers’ 1,000 tweets into What You Need to Be Warm was ‘ridiculously hard’

Mick O’Reilly of ATGWU speaks during a demonstration in Dublin against political corruption in July 2000. Photograph: Frank Miller Beyond the middle-class bubble – a look back at a life lived on the left
Alice Taylor: We have a lot to learn from children – they are masters of the art of anticipation as they look forward to Santa, their birthdays and holidays. Chronicling a year of big events and quirky little things
  • An Irishman in Addis Ababa
  • Fictions (1944) by Jorge Luis Borges: Good cerebral fun

Latest Music

Hozier performing at 3Arena in Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan Hozier in Dublin review: One song elicits a cheer like no other

The show begins and the 3Arena roars ... Crowds don’t get much friendlier than this

Marie Fredriksson performing in Sydney in 2012. Photograph: EPA/Tracey Nearmy Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson dies aged 61
Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten. Photograph: Visionhaus Fontaines D.C. come home: Vicar Street erupts in ecstasy
  • Hozier at 3Arena, Dublin: Everything you need to know
  • The best music of 2019: Albums, gigs, bands and songs

Album Reviews

Burial: Tunes 2011-2019

 
The Who: WHO

 
Yann Tiersen: Portrait

 
Lee "Scratch" Perry: Heavy Rain

 
Fidil: Decade

 
The Band: The Band

 

Book Reviews

Best debuts of 2019: despite perennial difficulties, talent has emerged
Thatcher’s Spy: MI5’s man in Sinn Féin looks back over his shouldrer
The End of Love: Disposable partners, ghosting and casual sex
On Swift Horses: Secrets and lies in 1950s California and Mexico

Stage

Cinderella stars Jenny Dixon, Jake Carter, Alan Hughes and Michele McGrath. Photograph: Leon Farrell/Photocall Cinderella review: Like being slapped in the face by a rainbow

Plus our reviews of all the best Christmas pantos – and the ones to avoid

Drama at Inish, directed by Cal McCrystal, is running at the Abbey Theatre until January 24th, 2020. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh What’s going on at the Abbey: heated exchanges, impassioned defences and disputed records
Abbey criticisms: the theatre’s directors, Graham McLaren and Neil Murray. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Abbey accused of reneging on promise of more Irish plays
  • ‘It’s above you’: How the Gaiety made Aladdin’s magic carpet fly
  • The week’s best plays: Christmas with Orson Welles and stuck in the pub

Art & Design

Michael Robinson, Onward Lossless Follows, 2017, HD, 17 min. Image courtesy of the artist and Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago Michael Robinson’s RHA exhibition feels like the future

Aidan Dunne: Artist stitches together pieces of narrative fabric from vast mass of film

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s piece ‘Comedian’ (a banana duct taped to the wall) is shown during Art Basel in Miami, Florida. Photograph: Rhona Wise/EPA Banana artwork valued at €108,000 is eaten by visitor
House Number 8, mixed media on panel, 36x41cm, 2019, by Hughie O’Donoghue Art in Focus: Hughie O’Donoghue – House Number 8
  • The week’s best art exhibitions: From Suan Mannion to Gabhann Dunne
  • Guggi: ‘I know I’ve allowed opportunities to pass’

Unthinkable

‘On its own, the question of whether or not there is a God is interesting in the abstract, but not very relevant to daily life,’ says historian of religion Alec Ryrie. Photograph: Getty Images Can you be both a Christian and an unbeliever?

Unthinkable: Christianity’s tolerance of unbelief may be new atheism’s Achilles’ heel

TCD professor emeritus David Berman: ‘I was about six or seven when I had what is sometimes described as an “I am me” experience.’ Photograph: Dave Meehan Is your ‘true self’ a kind of ghost?
What’s needed to better equip future citizens is not RE per se but education about religious and philosophical thought. Image: iStock/Getty Can European civilisation survive the death of Christianity?
  • Can women ever get a fair deal under capitalism?
  • The mathematician and the philosopher: A tale of two siblings

Heritage

Archaeological assistants uncover the fosse of the medieval Carrickmines Castle at Carrickmines, Co Dublin, in 2002. Photograph: Joe St Leger Why have thousands of archaeological sites ‘disappeared’?

While the archaeologists have been busy finding new monuments of interest, the State has been busy facilitating their systematic removal

Late night Christmas shopping in Dunnes Stores in 1997. Photograph: Frank Miller December 8th: The day when people ‘from the country’ came to Dublin to shop
A view of Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2. Strong women, wealth and a boat disaster: The remarkable history of one Dublin building
  • Recreation of Irish archive lost in 1922 fire to get €2.5m boost
  • Retrieval of Irish archive lost in 1922 fire ‘astounding’, historian says

Michael Viney's Another Life

Illustration: Michael Viney Poisoned and preyless: obstacles to rewilding Ireland with eagles

Restoring the golden eagle to the west has found the limits to bringing back a carnivore

“Like our neighbours, we once depended wholly on the stream, piped to the house by gravity from one of its higher pools.” Nature takes refuge as drought dries the landscape
“The view from the top balcony can be sublime.” Illustration: Michael Viney Clifftops have given me some of the high point of my life
  • For peat’s sake, our uplands need rain – just not too much at once
  • Michael Viney: The beauty of weeping beeches

Tuarascáil

‘Dhéanfadh sé leas an airm againn féin an trealamh is déanaí agus is nuashnasta a fháil mar mhalairt ar na seanbhaingir ina ngluaiseann siad faoi láthair.’ Grianghraf: Alan Betson Díospóireacht eile

Is den riachtanas dul isteach leis na buachaillí móra toisc gur gá dúinn sinn féin a chosaint

Príomhfheidhmeannach Fhoras na Gaeilge Seán Ó Coinn. Grianghraf: Alan Betson/The Irish Times In am treisiú a dhéanamh ar mhór-ráiteas na Gaeilge 2006 - Ó Coinn
Cuireadh fearadh na fáilte roimhe nuair a fógraíodh i 2005 go ndéanfaí teanga oifigiúil agus oibre de chuid an Aontas Eorpaigh den Ghaeilge ó 2007 ar aghaidh. Gaeilge san AE: an cruinneas ‘an cháilíocht is mó atá ann’
  • An dlí mar a gheobhaidh
  • Leithscéalta agus leithscéalta

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Verdi's greatest masterpiece La Traviata set for Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Verdi's greatest masterpiece La Traviata set for Bord Gáis Energy Theatre

The Novaya Opera of Moscow’s La Traviata is coming to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre from November 25th until 29th, 2020

Subscriber Only

Sarah-Davis Goff’s Last Ones Left Alive is an inventive, vividly realised feminist dystopia. Best debuts of 2019: despite perennial difficulties, talent has emerged
Dating apps such as Tinder have brought sex into the free market economy. The End of Love: Disposable partners, ghosting and casual sex
Shannon Pufahl: Talent for intricacy. On Swift Horses: Secrets and lies in 1950s California and Mexico
The Revolution Files Highlights from the Military Archives with reports from every county
 

Most Read in Culture

1 Hozier performing at 3Arena in Dublin. Photograph: Tom Honan Hozier in Dublin review: One song elicits a cheer like no other
2 Daisy Ridley: ‘People don’t ask people’s permission before they post things.’ Photograph: Dylan Coulter/Guardian Daisy Ridley: ‘I’m not passively aggressive – just directly aggressive’
3 Drama at Inish, directed by Cal McCrystal, is running at the Abbey Theatre until January 24th, 2020. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh What’s going on at the Abbey: heated exchanges, impassioned defences and disputed records
4 Hozier: expect some new songs mixed with crowd-plesaers such as Take Me To Church and Nina Cried Power. Photograph: Dave Meehan/The Irish Times Hozier at 3Arena, Dublin: Everything you need to know
5 Abbey criticisms: the theatre’s directors, Graham McLaren and Neil Murray. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Abbey accused of reneging on promise of more Irish plays
6 Charlize Theron: “Unless it’s something where I really feel like I’m going to go scare myself, I don’t really want to do it.” Photograph: Amy Harrity/The New York Times Charlize Theron: Harvey Weinstein said Renée Zellweger and I slept with him to get jobs
7 Two days into the Civil War, an explosion destroyed the Public Records Office attached to the Four Courts in Dublin. Retrieval of Irish archive lost in 1922 fire ‘astounding’, historian says
8 Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster, takes third place The best 50 films of 2019: Odd, rich, startlingly varied. And brilliant
9 Archaeological assistants uncover the fosse of the medieval Carrickmines Castle at Carrickmines, Co Dublin, in 2002. Photograph: Joe St Leger Why have thousands of archaeological sites ‘disappeared’?
10 Winner Jacqueline Jossa I’m A Celebrity: Nadine Coyle earned €275k, and Andrew Maxwell trousered €60k
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Dublin Theatre Festival 2019 Reviews, news and interviews from Ireland’s premier theatre festival
 
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On My Culture Radar

Bronagh Gallagher: On My Culture Radar Bronagh Gallagher: On My Culture Radar

The actor and singer on why Blindboy merits a TV show, the political art of David Alfaro Siqueiros and the late, great Aretha Franklin

Lisa Harding: “handles a profoundly difficult issue with absolute care and multitudes of heart”
The Book Club Click to join in the discussion about this month's book, Harvesting by Lisa Harding
 
Atlantic Podcast A three-part series exploring the mystery of Peter Bergmann - the man who came to Sligo to disappear
 

Culture Videos

The official trailer for James Bond No Time to Die released2:34 The official trailer for James Bond No Time to Die released
Matchday - official trailer3:13 Matchday - official trailer
The Confession Killer - official trailer2:08 The Confession Killer - official trailer
Iconic photos go on show at National Gallery exhibition2:56 Iconic photos go on show at National Gallery exhibition
Food & Drink Club
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Shelved: a selection of books by Irish women writers. Might some of these names figure in the final 12?
Women writers Putting Irish women writers back in the picture
 

Galleries

Hozier performing at his sold-out concert at the 3Arena, Dublin, on Tuesday. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times Hozier live in Dublin: in pictures
Photograph: Crispin Rodwell/The Irish Times Rod Stewart live in Dublin: in pictures
Vote 100 Celebrating a century since Irish women won the right to vote
 
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