Being somewhat of an art neophyte when it comes to physical artistic products- both sculptures and paintings generally confound me in their simplicity- I felt somewhat vulnerable in the Museum of Modern Art this weekend. Surrounded by camera yielding tourists and genuine art junkies in unequal numbers, I felt like a fraud as I stared absently at pieces which, in my seemingly ignorant opinion, did not qualify as artful in both the most common sense of the word or even in a more forgiving Warholian sense. I strove to find something inspirational in what I saw before me. Other people seemed to be conjuring up the first chapter of their third novel as they sat staring at blank canvases and old shoes- I, like Danto’s child who saw sticks as sticks, had nothing.
(more…)
August 2009 – The Abbey Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of a new play by twice Booker-nominated writer, Sebastian Barry, as part of its programme for this year’s Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival. TALES OF BALLYCUMBER opens at the Abbey on Wednesday 7 October (previews from 30 September) and features Oscar-nominated actor, Stephen Rea, and Aaron Monaghan in the leading roles.
Artistic Director Loughlin Deegan announced details of the programme for the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival which will run from 24th Sept – 11th Oct 2009.
Loughlin acknowledged the invaluable support of their title sponsor who over the past three years has underpinned an extraordinary period of growth for the Festival. Ulster Bank, who is renowned for its championing of the arts, plays a vital role in bringing the best of Irish and International theatre to audiences in Dublin. He also credited the invaluable support of the Arts Council in its continued support of the Festival.
(more…)
A cherished dream is finally becoming a reality with the imminent re-opening of Druid’s newly refurbished home on Druid Lane in Galway. The theatre will be unveiled with a production of The Gigli Concert by Tom Murphy as part of Galway Arts Festival (July 14-25). The production will then transfer to the Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork (July 28 – August 1) before returning to Galway to the Town Hall Theatre (August 4th – 8th). Widely regarded as Tom Murphy’s masterpiece, The Gigli Concert will embark on an extensive tour of Ireland in November and December.
(more…)
Woman and Scarecrow, one of Irish playwright Marina Carr’s most recent plays, despite not being set anywhere in particular, addresses issues that are familiar to the Irish stage. While she takes a step away from the midlands of Ireland of previous plays like By the Bog of Cats and Portia Coughlan, she revisits themes and issues from these plays and develops them in a new way. Woman and Scarecrow, like numerous of Carr’s other plays, deals with issues and ideas surrounding death and the realm of the dead, the play revolving around the central character of ‘Woman’ who lingers precariously between the realms of the living and the dead, assessing and commenting upon her life from her sick bed. It plays with the boundaries of reality and fantasy or myth, the mythic realm of the dead and the undead, of ghosts and spirits.
(more…)
‘How little things can make a big difference’: that’s what this book is all about. Malcolm Gladwell, although irritatingly smug and sure of himself, is a man with the answers to questions we never thought to ask but to which we would quite like to hear the answers. Why were hush puppies so huge in the nineties? Why have we never heard of a band one minute and the next minute they’re everywhere?
While this book might reside predominantly in the technology sections of book shops, rest assured it is not just for the tech geeks amongst us. You have my word as someone who doesn’t know the difference between a URL and an SMS and couldn’t care less.
J.D. Robb is actually a very assertive looking woman by the name of Nora Roberts. Why people still use pen names I don’t know, maybe she thinks her own somewhat underwhelming. Nora Roberts however, is a fantastic storyteller.
(more…)