Event of the week
The Rocky Horror Show
From Monday, August 11th, until Saturday, August 16th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €57.95/€52.30/€41.05, ticketmaster.ie
From its theatrical debut in the West End of London, in 1973, to its ongoing tour of Britain and Ireland, The Rocky Horror Show is the stage musical that refuses to retire. It success has broadened its reach far beyond cult status. The Australian actor and singer Jason Donovan plays the pansexual scientist Dr Frank-N-Furter alongside the Irish broadcaster Jennifer Zamparelli as the Narrator. You know the songs – Dammit, Janet!, Sweet Transvestite and the perennial Time Warp – and the show’s legacy of celebrating differences is still important.
Talk
Éire to Everywhere
Thursday, August 14th, Epic Museum, Dublin, 5pm, free (booking required), epicchq.com
With the Gallagher brothers and their Oasis juggernaut at Croke Park for two shows next weekend, this is a timely discussion about the pivotal role that musicians of Irish descent played in the development of British pop and rock. Sean Campbell, professor of media, music and popular culture at Anglia Ruskin University, in England, and the author of the 2011 book Irish Blood, English Heart: Second-Generation Irish Musicians in England, will talk about the topic based on his wide-ranging archival research and original interviews.
Gigs
Public Image Ltd
Friday, August 15th, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, 7pm, €48.35, ticketmaster.ie
When the Sex Pistols imploded, at the start of 1978, few could have predicted that their provocative frontman, John Lydon, would go on to form one of the era’s most important postpunk bands. Musically as far removed from the Sex Pistols as one could imagine, Public Image Ltd’s first two albums – First Issue, from 1978, and Metal Box, from the following year – pushed postpunk into uncommercial areas often imitated but rarely bettered. That contentious legacy remains, although Lydon, the sole remaining founder member, has over the decades occasionally sweetened the proverbial pill with some cracking pop-oriented songs.
Stiff Little Fingers
Friday, August 15th, Academy, Dublin, 7pm, €38.15; Saturday, August 16th, Custom House Square, Belfast, 6pm, £50.05, ticketmaster.ie
Making their umpteenth return to Ireland, Stiff Little Fingers bring with them about a dozen songs that more than 40 years later still make an impact. Two original founding members, Jake Burns and Ali McMordie, are present and correct, as are their punk-rock classics Suspect Device and Alternative Ulster, alongside other spiky tunes such as Wasted Life, 78rpm, Tin Soldiers and Nobody’s Hero. Special guests for the Belfast show are Public Image Ltd.
Féile na Gréine
From Friday, August 15th, until Sunday, August 17th, various venues, times and prices, Limerick city, feilelk.ie
Féile na Gréine DIY festival champions Ireland’s independent and underground scene with three days of music, theatre and performance art by emerging and experimental artists. Grassroots links and inclusivity within the arts are at its heart, while the musical trail, with stops at a diversity of venues, features a fine array of alternative acts. There are too many to list here, but you won’t go wrong with Dundalk’s Negro Impacto, Connemara’s Maria Somerville, New Zealand’s Womb, Northern Ireland’s Joshua Burnside and Limerick’s Emily Panter.
Film
IFI Family Day
From Friday, August 15th, until Sunday, August 17th, various times and prices IFI, Dublin, ifi.ie
It may be devised for a younger audience, but there is surely enough on at the three-day IFI Family Day to appeal to guardians and parents, not least the dialogue-free, visually splendid Canadian animated feature Space Cadet, directed by Kid Koala, the Damon Albarn collaborator and DJ. Other notable showings include an exclusive preview of Showkids, the actor and director Hugh O’Conor’s forthcoming Deadpan Pictures/RTÉ comedy series; and a rare opportunity to see Mamoru Hosoda’s remastered 2012 anime classic, Wolf Children, which won the 2013 Japan Academy Prize for animation of the year.
Classical
Chamber Music on Valentia
From Thursday, August 14th, until Sunday, August 17th, Valentia Island, Co Kerry, various venues, prices and times, chambermusiconvalentia.com
There is surely no more remarkable location for a chamber-music festival than Valentia Island, a geographical complement to the delicate, refined music, written for intimate settings, that it will be hosting. For the 12th iteration of the festival, its founder and artistic director, Mary Dullea, programmes eight concerts over four days. Sandwiched between the opening concert (The Kerry Polka, Thursday, August 14th, Church of St John the Baptist, 7.30pm, €20) and the festival finale (Vivaldi’s concerti for strings, Sunday, August 17th, Church of the Immaculate Conception, 7.30pm, €20) are performances from the cellist Peter Adams, the violinist Andreea Banciu and the concertina player Jack Talty.
Still running
Mother of All the Behans
Tuesday-Saturday, August 12th-16th, Everyman Theatre, Cork, 7.30pm, €40/€37, everymancork.com
What started two years ago as a new production of Peter Sheridan’s one-woman stage adaptation from 1987, originally performed by Rosaleen Linehan, has become a regular showcase for the singer Imelda May, who returns as Kathleen Kearney Behan, folk singer, republican and mother of Brendan, Dominic and the rest (including Brian, on whose book about his mother this show is based).
Book it this week
Daniel Sloss, Vicar Street, Dublin, September 27th, ticketmaster.ie
Rinse/Amrita Hepi, October 10th-11th, Firkin Crane, Cork, dancecorkfirkincrane.ie
Richard Hawley, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, October 22nd, ticketmaster.ie
Biffy Clyro, 3Arena, Dublin, January 10th, ticketmaster.ie
