‘Just because you have great hair doesn’t mean you can’t kick ass’Sarah J Maas secured a publishing deal in 2008 and has published eight novels sinceThu Nov 03 2016 - 05:00
The Commitments review: full of heart and soul, but not dramaThe tremendous ensemble cannot be faulted but the abundant musical numbers overpower the thin storylineFri Oct 14 2016 - 21:44
Children’s theatre reviews: A revamped fairy tale and a stone-cold classicHansel and Gretel as adults and a boy who befriends a stone are among the highlights of the children’s strand at this year’s Dublin Theatre FestivalFri Oct 14 2016 - 14:15
First Love review: Beckett’s bold tale of beauty and basenessMesmerising performance but something hesitant in Barry McGovern’s deliveryThu Oct 13 2016 - 15:30
Nicotine review: Exhilarating, savvy and scandalisingNell Zink uses brilliant satire to take potshots at all sides in her third novelSat Oct 08 2016 - 05:00
Margaret Atwood’s future proofs and finding a modern language for magicWhether tackling Shakespeare, writing poetry or creating a graphic novel, the Canadian author lets her social conscience shine through – and has a habit of predicting the futureSat Oct 08 2016 - 01:00
Alien Documentary review: the secret lives of menPJ Gallagher leads a likeable trio of men who build things and talk their way around football, fishing and extraterrestrial lifeFri Oct 07 2016 - 11:00
Backstage in Biscuitland review: a Tourette’s hero saves the dayJessica Thom turns the ‘crazy language-generating machine’ that is Tourette’s to her advantageThu Oct 06 2016 - 11:00
Swan Lake review: Humour in the darkness, beauty among the ruinDublin Theatre Festival: Mikel Murfi takes multiple roles in Michael Keegan Dolan majestic retelling of the classic story-balletMon Oct 03 2016 - 09:00
Ireland Shed a Tear? review: potential that remains unharnessedDublin Theatre Festival: a powerful, necessary and moving moment of social testimony that doesn’t quite work as a piece of theatreSat Oct 01 2016 - 13:00
The Remains of Maisie Duggan review: black and bleak, absurd and appalling family dramaDublin Theatre Festival: corpse comes back to life revealing the explosive dynamic of a strange and violent familyFri Sept 30 2016 - 13:01
This is a golden age for children’s theatreHow do we capitalise on the innovative performances for young audiences? We asked the experts for their wishlistThu Sept 29 2016 - 06:00
Oliver Jeffers: ‘I keep coming back to this idea of the stoic man’The artist's latest picture book is about the way the fantasy worlds of children’s books create the fabric of the grown-up mind. He talks masculinity, maths and making artWed Sept 28 2016 - 06:00
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ as rock’n’roll improvIn the hands of Filter Theatre, live music and comedy shake up Shakespeare’s classicSat Sept 24 2016 - 01:00
Dublin Fringe reviews: Fan Fiction Comedy and Finem RespiceThree Irish comedians create their own versions of Harry Potter; Vickey Curtis tells a raw and painful storyFri Sept 23 2016 - 12:30
Paddy review: Tommy Fleming leads a sentimental celebration of Ireland as homeEmigrant’s tale is a well put-together, solidly performed, nostalgic show without ironyThu Sept 22 2016 - 09:38
Dublin Fringe reviews: RIOT is the festival's most exhilarating spectacleRIOT - Can a great night out also count as a political act?Mon Sept 19 2016 - 16:05
Ebooks: these books were made for walking‘Flâneuse: Women Walk the City’; ‘An Abbreviated Life’; ‘The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir’Sat Sept 17 2016 - 05:00
Dublin Fringe begins: reviews from the opening weekendThe opening weekend of the Fringe festival bursts into life with disturbing future visions and exhilarating burlesqueMon Sept 12 2016 - 14:00
Brokentalkers break their own free-form traditionsIn two productions, the maverick theatre group tackle big ideas about national identity, ‘which is really based on the idea that some people are better than others’Mon Sept 12 2016 - 06:00
Collapsing Horse are on their way to becoming a real repertory ensembleThe innovative group’s latest show is a version of Virgil’s epic ‘The Aeneid’Thu Sept 08 2016 - 06:00
How fringe are you? 12 shows pitch for your ticket-buying timeAs the Tiger Dublin Fringe festival prepares for this month’s event, a dozen of the artists taking part give the low-down on their showsSat Sept 03 2016 - 05:00
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child review: missing the Rowling magicLatest Potter instalment should be read for what it is: a play and not a novelSun Jul 31 2016 - 12:26
Can you stay centre-stage after having babies?Tara Derrington’s response to Waking the Feminists was to create a platform for mothers who are also artistsTue Jul 05 2016 - 01:00
When feminism met real working-class lives in RialtoNatural History of Hope, a play shaped by first-person testimonies about gender inequality in Rialto, provides a welcome alternative perspective of women’s livesTue Jun 28 2016 - 06:00
Jo Mangan: ‘Most people who produce art earn less than €10,000 a year’Arts campaigner and Carlow Festival of Arts director Jo Mangan has dedicated her life to challenging the idea that art is for the eliteTue Jun 14 2016 - 06:00
Older actors strike back against an ageist systemThe Prime project helps older actors to get on top of cyber auditions and to get ahead in a notoriously ageist industryThu May 05 2016 - 07:00
Northern Star review: Northern Star review: A riff on nationalism with profound resonancesRough Magic’s production of Stewart Parker’s play about the 1798 rebellion enriches the self-consciousness of the dramatic styleSat Apr 30 2016 - 14:15
Apps and digital books give in-depth insight into events of 1916A ‘mobile’ tour of historical places in Dublin brings the Easter Rising to lifeSat Apr 30 2016 - 00:46
Maloney’s Dream review: Rising chaos that children will loveA bilingual show for children aged eight and over brings to life the events of Easter week with clarity and humourThu Apr 28 2016 - 10:57
Towers and Tales and Storyseed: a national book-gifting initativeBook-gifting encourages parents to read to and with their children, and affords children the opportunity to have books in their home, regardless of socio-economic backgroundThu Apr 21 2016 - 15:34
Ebook reviews: Blackbar and Dictionary StoriesCensorship and the dictionary are the inspirations for interactive text-based gamesSat Apr 02 2016 - 00:33
Theatre of war: the plays putting the Rising rebels back on the streetsTwo site-specific plays around Moore Street and the GPO are among the most daring of the Rising centenary productionsThu Mar 24 2016 - 06:00
Roddy Doyle does Mozart: ‘I’m a recent convert to opera’The author has transported ‘Don Giovanni’ to Dublin for the Opera Theatre CompanySat Mar 19 2016 - 01:00
Bringing theatre alive for children with disabilitiesBelfast theatre group has devised new ways of opening access for excluded kidsTue Mar 08 2016 - 01:00
Ebooks: The thrills and limitations of digital’s distinctive qualitiesA new e-publishing company does not see material and digital forms as being in competition with each other but as two distinct, if complementary, ways of readingSat Mar 05 2016 - 00:35
Deirdre Kinahan: ‘The Rising is not just a Dublin story’The playwright’s new production Wild Sky eschews the grand Dublin narrative for a rural perspective on 1916Tue Feb 09 2016 - 06:00
Ebook reviews: Discovering new worlds with #womenintranslationAnother year, another new year’s resolution, but it’s no sacrifice to keep this oneSat Feb 06 2016 - 00:44
Ten things we learned at the Theatre of Change SymposiumTackling malevolent cupcakes, mutant lesbians and “the man problem” at the AbbeySat Jan 30 2016 - 01:00
East of Berlin review: A gripping look at the generational effects of evilHannah Moscovitch’s play tells the story of the son of a former SS doctor who is forced to come to terms with the nature of his father’s crimesTue Jan 12 2016 - 22:45
Ebook reviews: Four ways to zoom in on the dense weave of Wagner’s lifeReviews: The Wagner Files; Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg; The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and BabbageSun Jan 10 2016 - 01:15
Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch joins the Waking the Feminists debateHannah Moscovitch, whose play East of Berlin examines the Holocaust’s legacy and is coming to Dublin, is not against gender quotasMon Jan 04 2016 - 06:00
Kid's Christmas: Tracks in the Snow at the ArkThe Henry Girls’ concert for children has – refreshingly – barely a mention of ChristmasThu Dec 17 2015 - 05:46
Kid's Christmas: Aladdin at the Lambert Puppet TheatreA great first outing to the theatre for children who might be overwhelmed by larger pantomimesThu Dec 17 2015 - 05:45
Kid's Christmas: Little Light at Civic TheatreMonkeyshine Theatre draws inspiration from Nordic mythologyThu Dec 17 2015 - 05:45
Kid's Christmas: Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf review at the GaietyGreat fun for all agesThu Dec 17 2015 - 05:45
Christmas books for children: Sara Keating’s family favouritesIn December, I read nothing but winter- and Christmas-themed books with my children, which I take down from the attic on December 1st. Here are some of my favouritesTue Dec 15 2015 - 11:32
Mary Poppins review: this spoonful of sugar goes down brilliantlyRather than staying close to Disney's 1964 musical, Julian Fellowes' adaptation goes back to PL Travers' books. The result is a Mary Poppins even the author would loveThu Dec 10 2015 - 06:30
Ebooks: From self-help for cancer sufferers to the magic of realityNew titles from Sophie Sabbage, Chris Kyle, Jim Dwyer and Richard DawkinsSat Dec 05 2015 - 00:52
