Event of the week
The House Must Win
From Thursday, April 16th, until Sunday, May 3rd, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, 8pm, €45/€40, paviliontheatre.ie
Anyone who has listened to his music will know that the Cork songwriter Mick Flannery is no stranger to drama, so a creative swing to musical theatre isn’t too surprising. What is unexpected, however, is the source material: Flannery’s 2005 debut, Evening Train. That concept album, set in the 1970s, about two conflicted brothers both in love with the same disconsolate woman, and risking their respective futures in poker games, first received a stage adaptation in the songwriter’s native Cork in 2019. It has since been workshopped, rewritten (by Flannery, making his debut as a playwright) and augmented with 10 new songs. Julie Kelleher, the musical’s original producer, directs. Tommy Tiernan (making his musical theatre debut), Tabitha Smyth and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo feature. Also from Wednesday, May 6th, until Saturday, May 16th, Everyman Theatre, Cork, everymancork.com.
Gigs
Oliver Cole
Saturday, April 11th, Unitarian Church, Dublin, 7.30pm, €28.15, dublinunitarianchurch.org
It’s 20 years since Oliver Cole left Turn, the band he cofounded in 1998, to chase a solo career. It hasn’t always been an ideal choice for the Co Meath musician, but across four albums (We Albatri, from 2010, Year of the Bird, from 2015, Father, Brother, Son, from 2020, and Wingspan, from 2025) he has delivered a series of quality songs. This show is part of a brief nationwide tour, but even better news for Cole is that Wingspan, which received a five-star review from this paper, is soon to be released in the songwriter-loving countries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Also, Thursday, April 23rd, Cleere’s, Kilkenny; Saturday, April 25th, Duke of York, Belfast.
How I Became a Wave
Sunday, April 12th, Coughlan’s, Cork, 3pm/7.30pm, €23 (sold out), coughlans.ie; Friday, April 17th, Unitarian Church, Dublin, 7.30pm, €26, dublinunitarianchurch.org
Formerly of the Cork band The Hard Ground, the singer-songwriter Pat Carey has been grafting away for several years writing songs, some of which found their way on to his recently released debut album. Influenced by poets such as Mary Oliver (whose poem I Go Down to the Shore inspired Carey’s stage name) and songwriters such as Bon Iver, the mood is sublimely serene, albeit with a side order of lyrical disquiet. Also, Sunday, April 19th, Prim’s Bookshop, Kinsale, Co Cork, 7.30pm, €22.42, eventbrite.ie.
Rick Astley
Monday, April 13th, SSE Arena, Belfast, 6.30pm, £83/£68; Tuesday, April 14th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €83.25/€67.70, ticketmaster.ie
You have to applaud Rick Astley for his perseverance. Thanks to the uninterrupted popularity of his 1987 debut solo single, Never Gonna Give You Up, the 60-year-old pop singer has managed to avoid a slide into obscurity. Indeed, the Englishman is even more popular these days, with these shows the first of an extensive spring-summer European touring schedule. In keeping with the nostalgic mood, the special guest is Gabrielle, whose impressive run of hit singles in the 1990s makes her an enduring fan favourite.
READ MORE
Festivals
Five Lamps Arts Festival
From Saturday, April 11th, until Sunday, April 19th, various venues, times and prices, fivelamparts.ie
Founded in 2007 by Róisín Lonergan, then a teacher at Marino College, the community-based Five Lamps Arts Festival has gone from strength to strength. Highlights for its 2026 edition include the art exhibition Radar (International Centre for the Image, from Monday, April 13th, until Sunday, April 19th), Comedy Showcase, with Sophia Wren and Karl Spain (Tuesday, April 14th, Annesley House, 8.30pm, €17.07), and the photography exhibition Ballybough Portraits and the Republic of Play: Street Games in Dublin (until Thursday, April 30th, Charleville Mall Library).
In conversation
Melissa Auf der Maur
Monday, April 13th, Eason, O’Connell Street, Dublin, 7pm, sold out, easons.com
Dublin-based In Conversation events with highly influential musicians are a rarity, but memoirs need to be plugged and sold, which is why the singer, songwriter, photographer and former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur is in town. The Canadian’s memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry, is a fascinating read, vividly documenting much more than her experiences in rock bands. The Irish author Edel Coffey (formerly guitarist and vocalist of the indie bands Playground Psychotic and Medea) will be asking the informed questions.
Comedy
Alison Spittle
Saturday, April 11th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €33.20, ticketmaster.ie
In 2025, at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Alison Spittle won the Comedian’s Choice Award for best show for Big, her comedic and confrontational tour de force. The show’s bracing topics, which come from personal experience, include weight loss, sexuality, health issues and misogyny. Following this headline gig, Spittle heads to Australia, where she will be performing at comedy festivals in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Also, Thursday, May 21st, DeBarra’s, Clonakilty, Co Cork, 8pm, €24, debarra.ie; Saturday, May 23rd, Bank Lane, Waterford, 8pm, €24, ticketspotapp.com.
Book festivals
Granard Booktown
From Friday, April 17th, until Sunday, April 19th, various venues, times and prices, Granard, Co Longford, granardbooktownfestival.ie
Granard Booktown once again presents a strong selection of events featuring authors (including Sebastian Barry, Belinda McKeon, Lisa McInerney and Dr Marie Cassidy), workshops (with Claire Keegan, Aoife Barry and Stephen Sexton) and, marking 20 years since his death, a John McGahern retrospective. There is also a second-hand bookshop in situ for eagle-eyed bargain hunters (€2 per book, cash only).
Still running
William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy
From Thursday, April 16th, until Sunday, July 19th, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, nationalgallery.ie
Curated by Tate’s Alice Insley and NGI’s Anne Hodge, this exhibition features more than 100 works not only by the visionary artist William Blake but also by contemporaries such as Henry Fuseli, Thomas Rowlandson and JMW Turner.
Book it this week
- An Ideal Husband, Gate Theatre, Dublin, May 8th-July 11th, gatetheatre.ie
- Matt Berninger, Castle Mills, Kilkenny, July 18th, castlemills.ie
- Kevin Bridges, Live at the Marquee, Cork, July 17th-18th, ticketmaster.ie
- Rónán Ó Snodaigh and Myles O’Reilly, Vicar Street, Dublin, November 5th, ticketmaster.ie
