Theatre News | Stage Listings, Reviews & More |The Irish Times

A new play seeks to challenge Samuel Beckett’s instructions that only men may appear in Waiting for Godot. Photograph: Ali Wright

Waiting for Gobnait? Beckett’s ban on women challenged

Kate Wyver
October 19, 2020

Female and non-binary performers are tackling Beckett’s rigidity in a new play

Callan Cummins Matthew Malone and Mary Murray in Fishamble: The New Play Company’s Embargo by Deirdre Kinahan. Photograph: Anthony Woods

Embargo review: Deirdre Kinahan’s new play is unashamedly humanistic

Donald Clarke
October 13, 2020

Dublin Theatre Festival: Unquestionably a celebration of the protest but with layers of nuance

Niall Henry, artistic director of Blue Raincoat Theatre Company in Sligo.

Director Niall Henry takes on the lockdown challenge

Deirdre Falvey
October 12, 2020

Henry marks 30 years of absurd, visual drama as Blue Raincoat packs up till Covid allows

Cora Venus Lunny, Caimin Gilmore and Olesya Zdorovetska in the Abbey Theatre’s production of The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh at IMMA. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh

The Great Hunger review: ambitiously staged, with scenes of rare beauty

Sara Keating
October 9, 2020

The setting at IMMA – the scope of sky and the breadth of landscape – brings to life a new theatrical version of Kavanagh’s poem

People celebrating the independence of Ireland on O’Connell bridge before midnight on Easter Sunday, April 17th, 1949. Photograph: Larry Burrows/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

The Party to End All Parties: There is a lot going on in one-and-a-half smallish packages

Donald Clarke
October 9, 2020

Dublin Theatre Festival review: Summoning the despair of an urban space in the time of Covid

Federico Julián González in Looking for América

Looking for América review: Memory tells a different kind of truth

Sara Keating
October 6, 2020

Federico Julián González’s effortlessly engaging solo performance is personal but also has deep political resonance

Jack Gleeson in Dead Centre’sTo Be a Machine as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2020.

To be a Machine review: Experimental format well-suited to play’s core theme

Donald Clarke
October 5, 2020

Self-conscious experiments complement the exploration of transhumanism

Pan Pan's production of WHAT IS THE WORD is due to screen in Belfast and Paris in the coming weeks.
Photograph: Robbie Jack/Corbis via Getty of Pan Pan's Embers by Samuel Beckett

Pan Pan Theatre captures echo of Beckett’s poetry

Amy O'Connor
September 29, 2020

‘Beckett is quite a good voice, I would imagine, in terms of the tone of pandemic’

Óró:‘Periodically performers turn on taps; the sound of the water behind the music is enveloping, and the pools that build up evoke flooding and climate crisis’

Óró…: This immersive production is a feast for the senses

Deirdre Falvey
September 29, 2020

Galway 2020 production defies categories, incorporating music, dance and theatre

Matthew Malone in Fishamble’s Embargo, part of the Dublin Theatre Festival

‘This image of a man tarred and feathered, driving a train out of rage, just haunted me’

Patrick Freyne
September 26, 2020

Deirdre Kinahan on her site-specific play about the 1920 munitions strike

A Thousand Ways: A Phonecall is an intriguing response to the challenges faced by the theatre in recent months. Photograph: Maria Baranova

A Thousand Ways – A Phone Call review: An experience for two strangers

Sara Keating
September 25, 2020

Dublin Theatre Festival: Audience members meet through a guided phone call about their lives

People celebrating the independence of Ireland on O’Connell bridge before midnight on Easter Sunday, 1949. Photograph: Larry Burrows/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

Experience O’Connell Bridge: A Focal point for revolution and change

Amy O'Connor
September 19, 2020

The Party To End All Parties is an interactive piece created against the backdrop of Covid-19

Eva O’Connor in Mustard.

Mustard review: One-woman show set to resonate with audiences

Amy O'Connor
September 17, 2020

Dublin Fringe Festival: Eva O’Connor delivers fiery performance that never wavers in intensity

Druid combines representations of raw sorrow, naked nationalism, and raucous humour to honour Gregory’s legacy.

DruidGregory review: Captivating performance rooted in history

Ciara L. Murphy
September 17, 2020

Revival of Lady Augusta Gregory’s neglected works is of vital importance

Paul Noonan’s Electric Kazoo, part of 2020 Dublin Fringe Festival. Photograph: Ruth Medjber/ruthlessimagery

The Electric Kazoo review: Noonan’s mannered show maintains engaging presence

Sara Keating
September 14, 2020

Dublin Fringe Festival: Recorded album would help find wider audience for family-friendly repertoire

Archival footage and atmospheric video design create a potent visual reminder and reenactment of lost histories

Transmission review: One-woman show examines the consequences of our quest for progress

Sara Keating
September 9, 2020

Dublin Fringe Festival: Caitríona Ní Mhurchú uses her past as prompt for philosophical exploration of nature of time

Rapid fire rounds, where Fionnuala Gygax’s questions were posed as ‘would you rathers’ and directed towards a specific context (the future climate emergency), provided a little more energy to proceedings

Twenty Fifty review: a confused and confusing collaboration

Sara Keating
September 8, 2020

Dublin Fringe Festival: Interesting ideas get lost amidst the casual ‘improvised’ banter of interview format

This everyday drama between two people unfolds outside on Meetinghouse Square in Temple Bar

Will I See You There review: The experience of this drama is like eavesdropping, on speed

Deirdre Falvey
September 8, 2020

Dublin Fringe Festival: Format is perfectly suited to present circumstances and evokes intense intimacy at great distance

Richard Osman: ‘I am obsessed with class. Class is everything and we don’t talk about it nearly enough’

Richard Osman: ‘The worst thing in the world is someone telling you they’re writing a novel’

Donald Clarke
September 8, 2020

The star of quiz show Pointless on his new novel, being on telly, and why class is crucial

Before You Say Anything, Photograph: Simon Lazewksi

Before You Say Anything review: riveting moments tease out how we feel safe

Deirdre Falvey
September 7, 2020

Dublin Fringe Festival: This thoughtful and skilfully executed work is subtle, timely and beautifully paced

Paul Fahy and Enda Walsh photo Andrew Downes believe ‘a festival is a great framework for people to be more experimental, and this just fit the bill’. Photograph: Andrew Downes

Latest instalment of Rooms can go right to the top

Sara Keating
September 7, 2020

Changing Room explores the inner life of a man verging on change – a timely Covid-19 era work

1
2
3
4
5
Next ›

Subscriber Only

Macnas, whose parades are a core part of their work, receive this year’s special tribute award. Photograph: Brian Arthur

Irish Theatre Awards Find out who won this year, plus all our other coverage

Stage Reviews

Advertising Feature

Belfast International Arts Festival returns for its 58th edition

Belfast International Arts Festival returns for its 58th edition

Northern Ireland’s leading contemporary multi-artform festival largely goes virtual for 2020

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Google Podcasts

Most Read in Culture

Nobody writes songs about the poor ignored white bloke, do they? All right, Bruce Springsteen did write one or two . . . Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

Bruce Springsteen quiz: How well do you know The Boss?

Rebecca: Lily James as Mrs. de Winter. Photograph: Kerry Brown/Netflix

Netflix’s Rebecca: The new Mrs de Winter isn’t a patch on the first one

Dolly Alderton has published her first novel, called Ghosts. Photograph: Jo Bongard

Ghosts: Dolly Alderton’s debut novel haunts, but not in a good way

50 scary films to watch at Halloween

The 10 books shortlisted for this year's International Dublin Literary Award

Who will win the International Dublin Literary Award 2020

Kevin Bacon: ‘I couldn’t care less about being heroic or handsome’ Photograph: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Kevin Bacon: ‘I was incredibly cocky and unwilling to take any advice’

John Lennon and Yoko Ono on bed at St. Moritz Hotel, NYC. 1972. Photograph: Bob Gruen

How Bob Gruen snapped rock music’s biggest stars

In her prime: a youthful Whitney Houston on stage in June 1988. Photograph: RDA/Getty Images

The sad, secret life of Whitney Houston

Black & Tans guarding Dublin street after a shooting on Gloucester Road.

Black and Tans: ‘Half-drunk, whole-mad’ and one-fifth Irish

Classic horror: the 10 most terrifying short stories ever written

Real news has value

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Sign Out