
'2020 was going to be the most amazing year ever for us'
- Stage
- January 16, 2021, 05:00
Producer Anne Clarke on experiencing live performance for first time since pandemic

Children’s books round-up: Howling and hilarity in equal measure
- Books
- January 14, 2021, 06:00
January’s best new books help kids start the new year with laughter and emotional release

Why Visit America: Dark tales of warning
- Books
- December 19, 2020, 06:00
Matthew Baker thrillingly explores bleak patriotism with pulse of capitalism

The best children’s books of the year and the best Christmas stories
- Books
- December 15, 2020, 06:00
Sara Keating selects the best books for the smallest stockings

The show must go on: the Ark is pressing onward despite Covid-19
- Culture
- December 5, 2020, 05:00
On its 25th anniversary, cultural centre for children has more than 14,000 virtual engagements

Eighteen Irish panto productions for all the family to watch this season
- Stage
- December 3, 2020, 10:00
Pantomimes and family shows have gone online – or even switched to a drive-in format

Some class work from the Rockin’ Rhymes Ensemble
- Culture
- November 24, 2020, 05:00
A CD will be given to schools across Connacht and Munster as part of a teaching pack that includes videos introducing children to (...)

Mr Wilder & Me: Tricksy tribute to the film world
- Books
- November 19, 2020, 06:00
Book review: Jonathan Coe’s usual cohort of fans may be bemused by the inconsistent style and tone

Children’s books: From earthly delights to guardian snow angels
- Books
- November 12, 2020, 06:00
From Christmas themes to more universal themes of love, loss and mismatched sisters

Looking for América review: Memory tells a different kind of truth
- Stage
- October 6, 2020, 05:40
Federico Julián González’s effortlessly engaging solo performance is personal but also has deep political resonance

The Great Hunger review: ambitiously staged, with scenes of rare beauty
- Stage
- October 5, 2020, 14:42
The setting at IMMA – the scope of sky and the breadth of landscape – brings to life a new theatrical version of Kavanagh’s poem

Deirdre Sullivan: I’ve always been drawn to fairytales, particularly the darker ones
- Books
- October 5, 2020, 06:00
The children’s author on Savage Her Reply, a reworking of the Children of Lir

A Thousand Ways – A Phone Call review: An experience for two strangers
- Stage
- September 25, 2020, 13:00
Dublin Theatre Festival: Audience members meet through a guided phone call about their lives

The Electric Kazoo review: Noonan’s mannered show maintains engaging presence
- Stage
- September 14, 2020, 13:25
Dublin Fringe Festival: Recorded album would help find wider audience for family-friendly repertoire

Children’s books round-up: A great fantasy story to distract from Covid
- Books
- September 12, 2020, 06:00
Plus new titles from Eve McDonnell, Carlie Sorosiak and Sophy Henn

Transmission review: One-woman show examines the consequences of our quest for progress
- Stage
- September 9, 2020, 12:25
Dublin Fringe Festival: Caitríona Ní Mhurchú uses her past as prompt for philosophical exploration of nature of time

Twenty Fifty review: a confused and confusing collaboration
- Stage
- September 8, 2020, 15:58
Dublin Fringe Festival: Interesting ideas get lost amidst the casual ‘improvised’ banter of interview format

Latest instalment of Rooms can go right to the top
- Stage
- September 7, 2020, 05:00
Changing Room explores the inner life of a man verging on change – a timely Covid-19 era work

‘It had to be live, because liveness is the thing we have been starved of’
- Irish Times
- September 3, 2020, 05:00
Dublin Fringe Festival asked them to create a new work and Malaprop Theatre jumped at the chance

‘A city like Dublin needs to have life, and we want to be part of it’
- Stage
- August 18, 2020, 05:00
Dublin Theatre Festival 2020: Live performance is more important than ever, says Willie White

Lisa Tierney-Keogh brings her succesful play to an online audience
- Visual Art
- August 8, 2020, 05:00
Adapting her play for Zoom was ‘probably the hardest thing I have ever done’

‘Always be beautiful. Always be dynamic. Always be welcoming’
- Stage
- July 23, 2020, 05:00
A Japanese mentor helped to inspire Conor Hanratty’s online short play War Paint

Little John Nee: Storyteller goes back to basics
- Stage
- July 20, 2020, 06:00
DIY stagecraft and theatrical invention get Tuam performer out under Tilt of the Sky

Best new children’s books: actor Jack Ryder’s debut novel
- Books
- July 18, 2020, 06:00
Unadoptable children and plenty of tigers feature in this collection of adventures

Au Revoir, Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature
- Books
- June 13, 2020, 06:00
Viv Groskop sheds light on how personal readings of books can shift with time

Corcadorca: Reimagining site-specific theatre for social distance
- Stage
- June 9, 2020, 05:00
Drama is fine online, but the deep art thrill needs innovative collective experience spaces

New children’s books: Pirates, robots and ‘the world’s most stupid detective’
- Books
- May 29, 2020, 06:00
Adventures and mysteries abound in this month’s releases for younger readers

What does theatre look like streamed directly into your home?
- Stage
- May 27, 2020, 05:00
Howie the Rookie at The Lock Inn is running online on Wednesday nights until June 10th

Trivial Pursuits: Prolix work of underwhelming musings
- Books
- May 7, 2020, 06:00
Raven Smith’s flashy literary style glitters with dense detail but little of substance

Live Collision develops a new kind of festival in response to Covid-19
- Culture
- April 18, 2020, 05:00
The coronavirus outbreak forced a rethink for the cutting-edge arts festival – with intriguing results

Michelle Paver: ‘My most disgusting experience? Eating a leopard slug’
- Books
- April 1, 2020, 06:00
The bestselling children’s author on making sure her fantasies are grounded in reality

Children’s books: Monsters, mermaids and animal detectives
- Books
- March 28, 2020, 06:00
Seaside tales full of magic and mystery, and a bear looking for chocolate cake

Sruth na Teanga review: Immersive, vivid and playfully persuasive
- Stage
- March 14, 2020, 05:00
Set in Galway Airport, the audience is led to an understanding of how Gaeilge evolved

The Lonsdale Project: A production of creativity and science
- Stage
- March 5, 2020, 05:00
A celebration of Irish crystallographer Kathleen Lonsdale’s achievements

Children’s fiction round-up: Patience Agbabi’s book celebrates diversity
- Books
- February 29, 2020, 06:00
Plus books from Gareth P. Jones, Kristin Roskifte, Yoko Tanaka and Noelle Smit

This week’s theatre highlights: Druid’s production of The Cherry Orchard
- Stage
- February 22, 2020, 05:00
Play will be live-streamed to cinemas in March in a first for an Irish production

This week’s theatre highlights: Scene + Heard festival
- Stage
- February 15, 2020, 05:00
Smock Alley’s new work showcase features 85 performance pieces on stage

What I (Don’t) Know About Autism: A riveting celebration of difference
- Stage
- February 5, 2020, 12:50
Theatre review: Jody O’Neill’s timely new play has a wide emotional register

‘We lay a trail of breadcrumbs to lead through the opera’
- Music
- February 4, 2020, 05:00
A family-friendly Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel aims to draw in children

Children’s books round-up: A book for kids to deal with loss of a pet
- Books
- February 1, 2020, 06:00
Plus Two Bears, A House Without Walls, Lost, Agent Zaiba Investigates, Demelza and the Spectre Detectors

Eileen Walsh: How I reconcile motherhood with playing Medea
- Stage
- February 1, 2020, 05:00
Taking the role of a woman who kills her children is not easy with children of your own

This week’s theatre highlights: TRAD and Flights
- Stage
- February 1, 2020, 05:00
Catch the final dates of the well-travelled and well-received production of TRAD

The best play to see in Ireland this week
- Stage
- January 25, 2020, 05:00
Shaun Dunne’s new play Restoration examines the tensions embedded in social work

Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards: Who has been nominated?
- Stage
- January 25, 2020, 05:00
From the epic to the intimate, 2019 was a year of outstanding Irish theatre

Marita Conlon-McKenna: ‘I didn’t think I would write another Famine novel’
- Books
- January 18, 2020, 06:00
Thirty years after Under the Hawthorn Tree, the author has written a Famine story for adults

Are we ready for Martin McDonagh’s satirical look at sectarian violence?
- Stage
- January 18, 2020, 05:00
In the 1990s Druid passed on The Lieutenant of Inishmore – the political temperature is different now

The best plays to go to in Ireland this week
- Stage
- January 18, 2020, 05:00
Ronan Fitzgibbon’s Blackwater Babble and Irene Kelleher’s Gone Full Havisham

Teenage dreams turned to Stardust: This week’s theatre highlight
- Stage
- January 11, 2020, 05:00
Gemma Kane’s debut play 48 sees the human side of the 1981 Stardust nightclub fire

Children’s books: Brighten up January with these new titles
- Books
- January 4, 2020, 06:00
Stories of a lost cat, a lost bird and friendships in moments of hardship and difficulty

First Fortnight Festival: National programme includes more than 60 events
- Stage
- January 4, 2020, 05:00
Shows include mass physical therapy to theatrical portraits of minds under siege

Theatre 2020: The best shows to catch in the coming year
- Stage
- December 28, 2019, 05:00
Chekhov, McDonagh and O’Casey to be staged, along with newcomers to Irish scene

This week’s best theatre shows suitable for the whole family
- Stage
- December 28, 2019, 05:00
Room on the Broom and Buddy the Elf aim to please over the holiday season

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: Magic in the mundane
- Stage
- December 21, 2019, 05:00
Abbey Theatre play’s spiritual undertones feel appropriate to Christmas time

Different class and musical sass: This week’s theatre highlights
- Stage
- December 14, 2019, 05:00
Well That’s What I Heard explores class divisions; Mamma Mia! explores Abba hits

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

‘It’s above you’: How the Gaiety made Aladdin’s magic carpet fly
- Stage
- December 10, 2019, 05:00
Meet Daryn Crosbie and the colourful crew behind the Gaiety panto

Children’s books round-up: A picturebook which is the perfect Christmas gift
- Books
- December 7, 2019, 06:00
Plus new titles from Abi Elphinstone, Shirley Hughes and Natasha Mac a’Bháird

The week’s best plays: Christmas with Orson Welles and stuck in the pub
- Stage
- December 7, 2019, 05:00
A ‘radio play within a play’ production; and an annual tradition at the Lyric in Belfast

Christmas events 2019: Your guide to pantos, concerts, festivals and more
- Culture
- December 6, 2019, 06:00
Our selection of festive events around Ireland right through to the new year

‘For me my mouth is my hand, it’s second nature for me to hold a brush’
- Parenting
- December 3, 2019, 06:01
Disabled artist Ian Parker has just illustrated a children’s book about a disabled character

The best theatre this week: From Beckett to a female-centred festival
- Stage
- November 30, 2019, 05:00
Des Keogh and Rosaleen Linehan stage a reunion; and SoloSirens comes to Tallaght

Drama at Inish gets the ‘funny fixer’ treatment
- Stage
- November 23, 2019, 05:00
Cal McCrystal has worked as a comedy adviser – from Paddington to One Man, Two Guvnors – and now comes to Dublin to direct Lennox (...)

The best theatre shows to see this week
- Stage
- November 23, 2019, 05:00
Rory Gleeson’s Blood in the Dirt, and the Bockety World of Henry Bucket

A Christmas Carol review: Only a Scrooge wouldn’t enjoy it
- Stage
- November 22, 2019, 13:05
Selina Cartmell’s ambitious Gate production is both intimate and involving

Children’s books round-up: What Greta Thunberg can teach kids
- Books
- November 9, 2019, 06:00
Plus new books on children who changed the world, the art of protest and time zone travel tales

Colm Tóibín is an ‘extraordinary’ writer of women ... ‘in the 1950s’
- Stage
- October 24, 2019, 05:00
Lisa Dwan and Colm Tóibín discuss working together on 'Pale Sister' a new piece of theatre based on the story of Antigone

‘If they’ve made it, they’ll eat it’: Smart ways to get kids cooking – and eating less fussily
- Food & Drink
- October 19, 2019, 06:00
Picture recipe book offers an imaginative way to explore world cuisines with kids

‘Totally different to creating work for adults’: Theatre makers on working with children
- Stage
- October 15, 2019, 05:00
Baboró arts festival in Galway will bring 14 theatre companies to perform for children

The Haircut! review: King Labhraidh Loingseach gets a makeover
- Stage
- October 14, 2019, 12:14
Dublin Theatre Festival: This perfectly paced production for ages eight and up retells the Irish folk tale for a new audience

Children’s books: In the Key of Code breaks new ground
- Books
- October 12, 2019, 06:00
The Children of Lir , The Fate of Fausto , Scúnc Agus Smúirín, The Ghouls of Howlfair

Philip Pullman: ‘I don’t think anyone could have predicted the ruin’
- Books
- October 12, 2019, 05:00
The author on His Dark Materials, its follow-up trilogy, and the ‘total failure’ that is Brexit

Us/Them review: A story for children that no child should ever have to hear
- Stage
- October 9, 2019, 11:53
Dublin Theatre Festival: Bronks stages a powerful, politically charged account of the Beslan massacre

Pike St review: A storm threatens Manhattan – and a family
- Stage
- October 3, 2019, 11:50
Dublin Theatre Festival: Nilaja Sun plays three generations of characters with ease

Walking to Jerusalem review: A personal and political one-man travelogue
- Stage
- October 2, 2019, 14:40
Dublin Theatre Festival: Justin Butcher serves as an energetic guide along the Roman roads out of Europe

Mám review: Stirring, sensuous showcase of the physical form
- Stage
- September 30, 2019, 10:50
Dublin Theatre Festival: Michael Keegan-Dolan’s new dance production is 90 minutes of ritualised ecstasy

Last Orders at the Dockside review: Celebration of a way of life no longer with us
- Stage
- September 27, 2019, 11:30
Dublin Theatre Festival: Dermot Bolger’s social drama offers a window into history, but may struggle with contemporary audiences

Some Names Were Changed review: Noble purpose obscured by theatrical indulgence
- Stage
- September 19, 2019, 15:13
Dublin Fringe Festival: The parodic format is entertaining but tests an audience’s patience

Afloat review: Bickering and biscuits as Dublin drowns
- Stage
- September 19, 2019, 13:09
Dublin Fringe Festival: The capital is underwater in this enlightening and confronting look at climate change

Stories for young readers: The best folktales for children
- Books
- September 15, 2019, 06:00
Catherine O’Flynn has a debut children’s novel called Lori and Max

Making a Mark review: A life worthy of celebration
- Stage
- September 13, 2019, 11:52
Dublin Fringe Festival: The victories and tragedies of Mark Smith recounted through interview and performance

Gym Swim Party review: An epic battle on a contemporary stage
- Stage
- September 13, 2019, 11:14
Dublin Fringe Festival: Much to enjoy in this ambitious production, which merges ancient myth with modern life

GAA MAAD review: Gaelic games go GAAY
- Stage
- September 11, 2019, 10:51
Dublin Fringe Festival: Vickey Curtis and Áine O’Hara practice their own version of inclusivity

Sauce review: A really funny (and very saucy) show
- Stage
- September 11, 2019, 10:47
Dublin Fringe Festival: This love letter to sauce delights in innuendo and provokes hysterics

Moop review: Neon-popped and quirky celebration of the possibilities of play
- Stage
- September 9, 2019, 11:23
Dublin Fringe Festival: Playful encounters with bowler hats, water wings and a stick bring hilarious results

Mother of God review: Alison Spittle on feminism, sexuality and the joys of rural Ireland
- Stage
- September 9, 2019, 11:12
Dublin Fringe Festival: Spittle takes to the pulpit with confidence as she rakes over her past

Marina Carr: ‘There’s a whole world of women’s work that isn’t being seen’
- Stage
- September 7, 2019, 05:00
The playwright comes full circle with the Irish premiere of Hecuba at Project Arts Centre

The incredible but true stories of Mark Smith
- Stage
- August 24, 2019, 05:00
Making documentary theatre about his life has given the actor his first opportunity to tell his own story

Children’s books round-up: Grandparents get adventurous
- Books
- August 17, 2019, 06:00
Plus a visual treat that doubles as an accessible parable about anxiety

Design and Destroy: Ireland’s entry at the Prague Quadrennial
- Culture
- July 25, 2019, 05:00
An expressionistic form-bending film, giving an insight into the process and product of stage design

Wobblers and warriors: the latest in children’s books
- Books
- July 20, 2019, 06:00
Humorous story gives an entirely different perspective on the much-maligned spider

Liz Pichon: Probably the most famous author you have never heard of
- Books
- June 29, 2019, 05:00
For the creator of the Tom Gates character, reader’s imagination is as important as her own in the books

The best new children’s books: Scary sea monsters and school creeps
- Books
- June 22, 2019, 06:00
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton, Thomas Taylor’s Malamander, Abi Elphinstone’s Rumblestar and A Girl Called Justice by (...)

Kaleidoscope: Putting family at the heart of the festival
- Culture
- June 22, 2019, 05:00
Richard Seabrooke, the man behind the upcoming three-day Kaleidoscope festival, believes that cultural experiences can fire young (...)

What happens when you ask children to design their own playground?
- Health & Family
- June 15, 2019, 06:01
Swings and roundabouts are not as important as freedom to experiment and take risks

‘If you want to be an artist with a career, don’t have children’
- Culture
- May 27, 2019, 05:00
A network, The Mothership Project, aims to develop supports for artists with children

Children’s books round-up: Shane Hegarty’s Boot has something for adults too
- Books
- May 25, 2019, 06:00
A celebration of the natural world from Nicola Skinner and delightful illustrations by Angela Brooksbank

Sea change: Upcycling the treasures of the ocean
- People
- May 18, 2019, 06:00
Siblings Chris and Lynn Haughton are combining their commitment to ethical and sustainable design, and their love for the sea, to (...)

Bartlett Sher: Brexit will hang over the plot of The King and I
- Stage
- May 11, 2019, 05:00
How do you approach work that dances so dangerously with ideas of political correctness?

Blast off: Musical youth learn to write and make their own music
- Music
- May 7, 2019, 05:00
Students are getting access to classical music with a little help from Whistleblast Quartet