‘It’s a good brassy broad of a part’: Maria Callas’s Juilliard masterclasses get an Irish stagingThe star’s New York classes inspired Terrence McNally to write his Tony-winning play. Caitríona Ní Mhurchú brings the soprano to life in a new Dublin stagingTue May 09 2023 - 05:15
Children’s fiction: Exploring the ups and downs of friendshipBrief reviews of Wally the World’s Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat; Bear and Bird; The Táin; Kevin’s in a Mood; Emerald and the Ocean Parade; and Ivy Newt and the Storm WitchThu Apr 27 2023 - 04:29
Ghosts: Emotional authenticity is the primary driver of this understated productionMark O’Rowe’s scrupulously naturalistic dialogue balances plot’s tendency towards melodramaThu Apr 20 2023 - 11:30
The Price: Simon Delaney balances restraint with rage in the Gate’s assured staging of Arthur Miller’s playTheatre: Abigail McGibbon, as Delaney’s wife, is also excellent under Conleth Hill’s direction – but the interval is a bad ideaWed Apr 19 2023 - 12:03
Conleth Hill: ‘It’s very liberating to play a person with no conscience’The one-time Game of Thrones star is loving not having to learn lines as director of Arthur Miller’s The Price at The GateSat Apr 15 2023 - 05:00
Ibsen’s Ghosts: ‘We are still stuffing our secrets back into the ground’Actor Cathy Belton and dramatist Mark O’Rowe’s fascination with the Norwegian’s 1881 play bears fruit in a new version coming to the AbbeySat Apr 01 2023 - 05:00
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: Ingeniously immersive and often quite genuinely scaryTheatre: The staging of the supernatural work of Neil Gaiman is big-budget showbiz at its bestThu Mar 30 2023 - 08:48
Bosco Hogan: ‘On the stage I feel most alive’The actor, who is receiving a Special Tribute Award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards, on his early days at Radio Éireann and a ghostly encounter with WB YeatsSat Mar 25 2023 - 05:00
Mother Goose: Ian McKellen gets to strut his stuff with this modern flavoured storyTheatre: Verbal entendres matched with physical gestures suggest the demographic pitch is the adult audienceThu Mar 23 2023 - 17:07
Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen review: Deep psychological study of guilt and griefProduction reveals itself as a taut theatrical thriller that leaves aside the tired tropes of his early Oirish comediesThu Mar 16 2023 - 12:48
Gold in the Water review: Ridiculous fun and puns, plus deeper meaning, in this new family musicalTheatre: Clever writing keeps focus on character, action and spectacle even as this take on modern parenting raises sociopolitical issuesMon Mar 13 2023 - 10:47
Tartuffe: An effervescent production in which great actors have a brilliant timeTheatre: It is better to submit to the pleasure of this sumptuous production than to ask questions about its deeper meaningFri Mar 10 2023 - 11:50
The Table review: An exploration of the Civil War with fairy tale flavourTheatre: Production has lots to admire with a child-friendly context for Ireland’s Civil WarFri Mar 03 2023 - 13:47
The New Electric Ballroom: Enda Walsh’s play gets a brilliant staging at the Gate TheatreTheatre: Barbara and Jane Brennan star as the sisters who re-enact scenes from a night 40 years ago in Emma Jordan’s outstanding Dublin productionWed Mar 01 2023 - 12:08
Bunker Cabaret: Kyiv’s Hooligan Art Community brings tales from the combat zone to IrelandDispersed around Europe at the outset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the collective are bringing their exploration of life during wartime on tourTue Feb 28 2023 - 05:00
Manifest review: What does a young boy need to become a good man? Brokentalkers sketch out an answer Theatre: As the show’s facilitator asks, with chilling rhetorical resonance, would you rather ‘be a warrior in a garden or a gardener in a war?’Mon Feb 27 2023 - 15:00
Children’s fiction: Daisy Hirst’s inspirational tale, a slippery adventure and an Irish enchanted fantasyNew books by Paddy Donnelly, Marita Conlon-McKenna, Lynne Reid Bank and Sinéad O’HartThu Feb 23 2023 - 04:56
Romeo and Juliet review: Fair Verona with Aperol spritzLyric Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s doomed romance emphasises the contemporary at expense of the universalMon Feb 20 2023 - 11:51
Sisters on stage: ‘There’s an emotional shorthand between us’Barbara and Jane Brennan have come together to star in a new production of Enda Walsh’s The New Electric BallroomSat Feb 18 2023 - 00:01
Danti Dan review: An excoriating portrayal of teenage sexuality in repressed 1970s IrelandGina Moxley’s uncompromising portrait of smalltown anxieties remains as shocking as it was when it first premieredTue Feb 07 2023 - 09:14
Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards: This year’s nominations revealedIrish theatre in 2022 pushed the boundaries of theatrical production, with opera, in particular, reaching new heightsSat Feb 04 2023 - 10:32
Why the classical world still grips the contemporary imaginationThis year’s Classics Now festival recognises how the current classical cultural resurgence has been driven by prominent female writers and historiansWed Jan 18 2023 - 00:00
The stage is (almost) set: Theatre coming our way in 2023Including Frigid, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Twelfth Night, Reggie’s Guide to Social Climbing and HangmenSat Dec 31 2022 - 05:00
Sara Keating on the best new children’s booksFrom a stunning achievement involving time-travel and wonderful art to a sensitive story that will give emotional confirmation to sick kidsTue Dec 20 2022 - 04:14
Toy Show the Musical: We went to the opening night. The news isn’t goodTheatre: Plenty of talent is evident both on stage and behind it, but ultimately this comes across as a self-congratulatory, if spectacular, marketing ployThu Dec 15 2022 - 10:31
Polar Bear and Penguin review: A warm tale of melting iceTheatre: Audience treated to a celebration of difference and the power of friendshipTue Dec 13 2022 - 11:38
Theatre in 2022: A joyous, riotous returnBig casts, full houses and genre-busting shows made for a vibrant yearSat Dec 10 2022 - 05:00
The Weir: The Abbey stages an atmospheric revival of Conor McPherson’s 1990s play Theatre: Caitríona McLaughlin’s production runs for 100 minutes but holds your attention throughoutFri Dec 02 2022 - 11:22
The Jungle Book review: A brilliant first Panto for young families at the GaietyTheatre: Refreshingly, this production is pitched at children. A brilliant first pantomime for young familiesThu Dec 01 2022 - 12:46
Beauty and the Beast The Musical review: Visually spectacular productionTheatre: Be Our Guest routine will be seared into imagination of viewers young and old for years to comeWed Nov 30 2022 - 12:59
Hansel and Gretel review: Pantomime balances tradition with a contemporary pop twistTheatre: Plenty of songs and laughs in this crowd-pleasing show that honours panto’s legacyMon Nov 28 2022 - 15:17
The Irish Times books of the year: Best children’s books of 2022Sara Keating selects her favourite children's titles of the yearSat Nov 26 2022 - 06:00
From the Gaiety to An Grianán: 41 pantos and other Christmas shows around Ireland this festive seasonThis year’s productions include Aladdin at the Waterfront in Belfast, Cinderella at the Everyman in Cork, and The Jungle Book at the Gaiety in DublinMon Nov 21 2022 - 05:00
Gay rights, women’s right, a ‘bad’ abortion and a nervous collapse: Panti Bliss and Tara Flynn’s double billTheatre review: In Haunted and If These Wigs Could Talk, from the Abbey and Thisispopbaby, the activists and performers reflect on success and its priceWed Nov 16 2022 - 12:17
The Gate, after a challenging decade, looks to ‘become the type of civic space a theatre should be’Reports of a problematic workplace culture were followed by financial concerns. The Dublin theatre’s new directors, Róisín McBrinn and Colm O’Callaghan, are looking to the futureTue Nov 15 2022 - 05:00
Solar Bones review: Words worth listening toStanley Townsend carries the weight of this haunting adaptation of Mike McCormack’s novelTue Oct 25 2022 - 13:06
I Wish I Was a Mountain review: Once upon a time with real peopleDublin Theatre Festival 2022: An exquisite escape for young audiences from the noise of modern lifeMon Oct 17 2022 - 11:08
Bros review: Divisive depiction of totalitarian torture Dublin Theatre Festival 2022: Disturbing and demanding drama echos a resurgent European right-wingMon Oct 17 2022 - 10:28
The best new children’s books for OctoberReviews: The Sackville Street Caper; The Light Thieves; Don’t!; An Slipéar Gloine; The Book of Secrets; Girls Who Slay Monsters; The Lost Girl KingSat Oct 15 2022 - 05:00
The Boy Who Never Was review: An always interesting, surprisingly funny take on Sjón’s MoonstoneDublin Theatre Festival 2022: In expanding the story to include the recent pandemic, Brokentalkers don’t quite illuminate the novel that is their original sourceFri Oct 14 2022 - 16:53
Short of Lying review: Luanda Casella grabs our attention, then keeps us on the edge of our seatsDublin Theatre Festival 2022: Structured like a Ted talk, this tricksy performance tackles identity and culture in the internet ageWed Oct 12 2022 - 12:23
Chalk About review: Mature, challenging dance theatre for an eight-plus audienceDublin Theatre Festival 2022: There is plenty of art in this piece, which refuses to patronise its audienceMon Oct 10 2022 - 11:27
A Whistle in the Dark review: This blistering production is a fight for the survival of classic dramaDublin Theatre Festival 2022: Tom Murphy’s 1961 play is about more than toxic masculinity and tribal dysfunctionMon Oct 10 2022 - 10:45
Animals review: Politics and polemic in the farmyardDublin Theatre Festival 2022: This Brechtian reimagining of Orwell’s fable is great funFri Oct 07 2022 - 14:43
The Cold Sings review: Sylvia Plath remains enigmaticDublin Theatre Festival 2022: Junk Ensemble’s latest dance-theatre piece is involving but not illuminatingFri Oct 07 2022 - 12:55
Colic review: Inhabiting the troubling space of struggling adultsDublin Theatre Festival 2022: Eoghan Quinn asks ‘who’s the baby?’ in an unsettling play about parenthoodThu Oct 06 2022 - 13:50
All Hardest of Woman review: At Holles Street, a troubling meditation on life and its fragilityDublin Theatre Festival 2022: Anu and Emilie Pine stage a site-specific production at the National Maternity HospitalTue Oct 04 2022 - 13:45
Grand Soft Day review: A gentle celebration of sensory pleasureDublin Theatre Festival 2022: Mostly wordless performance has wide appeal for two- to six-year-old target audienceMon Oct 03 2022 - 12:40
Lost Lear review: Layered retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy set in a nursing homeDublin Theatre Festival 2022: Venetia Bowe gives a heart-crushing performance of emotional power and physical prowessMon Oct 03 2022 - 11:28
Good Sex review: Raw, unsettling, seductive, provocative and very, very funnyDublin Theatre Festival: This ingenious production from Emilie Pine and Dead Centre celebrates physical intimacy and the live experienceFri Sept 30 2022 - 11:35
