That They May Face The Rising Sun – Film Review by Frank L Director – Pat Collins Writers – Eamon Little, Pat Collins Stars – Barry Ward, Anna Bederke, Ruth McCabe This is an adaptation by Pat Collins and Eamon Little of John McGahern’s 2002 novel of the same title. It was McGahern’s last novel before he died in 2006. It is set in the late seventies or early eighties in County Leitrim, where McGahern was brought up and lived for many years. At the time, rural Ireland was already transformed by electrification but telephones were rare in many small communities. The internet and the mobile phone ..read more

If Only I Could Hibernate – Film Review by Hugh Maguire Director – Zoljargal Purevdash Writer – Zoljargal Purevdash Stars – Taivanbat Alexandar, Batmandakh Batchuluun, Tuguldur Batsaikhan Frank McCourt’s Pulitzer prize-winning Angela’s Ashes (1996), and subsequent film (1999), all of twenty-five years ago, would for some capture the prize for depictions of adversity and struggle in the face of abject poverty.   McCourt depicts a world of grimness in 1930s New York and 1940s Limerick it would appear that conditions in 2020s Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, are little better, compounded by a numbing ..read more

Children of the Sun – Abbey Theatre – Review A Rough Magic and Abbey Theatre co-production – Children of the Sun By Hilary Fannin after Gorky – Directed by Lynne Parker We meet the Professor (Stuart Graham) while he is at home with his wife Melania (Fiona Bell). The Professor is obsessed with his work as he aims to explore the final frontier of science; time. His wife is more concerned with mundane matters like how the bills are going to be paid. Their house is a sprawling mansion but the couple are broke with hardly enough money to pay for food, despite the presence of maids, gardeners and o ..read more

Pearl Jam – Dark Matter  – Album Review by Killian Laher Pearl Jam are the great survivors of the 90’s Seattle grunge scene.  Never the coolest,  Eddie Vedder was always just a little too earnest, and the band were definitely more classic rock than punk.  But they figured out how to have success on their own terms, stopping ‘playing the game’ when it all got too much.  After the reflective, pleasingly plodding Gigaton, they have done something of an about-turn for their 12th album. Scared of Fear is the opener, an old-fashioned rabble-rouser that will no doubt play we ..read more

Album of the Week – 19/04/24 It’s the battle we’ve all been waiting for Taylor Swift vs the Pillow Queens! There could be only one winner, right? Of course, it’s the Pillow Queens! Other albums worth checking out this week include Eliza Hardy Jones of The War on Drugs (Pickpocket), Chanel Beads (Your Day Will Come) and A Certain Ratio (It All Comes Down to This). Album of the Week – Pillow Queens – Name Your Sorrow Albums of Note: — Eliza Hardy Jones (of The War on Drugs) – Pickpocket — Local Natives – But I’ll Wait For You — Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department — A Certain Ratio ..read more

Abigail – Film Review by Fran Winston Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett Starring: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir, Giancarlo Esposito This is ostensibly a reboot of the 1936 Universal creature feature Dracula’s Daughter. I am a huge fan of those early monster movies and as such I am familiar with the original work but it is unlikely anyone outside of the horror buffs who love these flicks will have it on their radar. Hence the filmmakers had a lot of leeway to do what they wanted with the character. As such this ..read more

The Book of Clarence – Film Review by Frank L. Director – Jeymes Samuel Writer – Jeymes Samuel Stars – LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, Anna Diop “Struggling to find a better life, Clarence is captivated by the power of the rising Messiah and soon risks everything to carve a path to a divine existence.” Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) is the drug-dealing, twin brother of Doubting Thomas (who is also played by Stanfield). However, Thomas’s doubting has taken a more powerful hold on Clarence who is an atheist. The action takes place in Jerusalem in 33 AD. Clarence is in a fix as he owes money to the loc ..read more

Tuesdays With Morrie – Gaiety Theatre – Reviewby M. Quinn Dates: 16th Apr. – 27th Apr. This is the story of Mitch Albom (Stephen Jones). At the start of the play, he is a young man going to college. His favourite lecturer is Morrie Schwartz (Dan Butler), who teaches Sociology. The two became close friends but drifted apart after Mitch left college. Many years later, Mitch watches an episode of Nightline and sees his old professor talking about his recent diagnosis of ALS also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Mitch seeks out his old professor and the two rekindle their friendship in the last few ..read more

Lennox Mutual – Candle House Collective – Reviewby M. Quinn Candle House Collective have returned with their latest creation; Lennox Mutual. Candle House Collective are a “NYC/ Chicago-based experimental theatre company specializing in remote immersive experiences”. To put it bluntly, a performance via your mobile phone! You book a slot, and then wait alone in a room for your phone to ring at the specified time. During the performance, you’ll be one-to-one with an actor in a live, interactive performance that can go in any number of directions. Candle House Collective like to keep their audien ..read more

Bunny Bunny – Smock Alley – Review by Frank L. Bunny Bunny – Written and performed by Nora Kelly Lester Lester appears on the ramp of the Boys’ School Theatre. Elevated above the audience, she is attired in a leopard-skin bathing suit, an off-white bum-freezer jacket with frogging, and black high heels. The bum freezer jacket has allusions to a ringmaster in a circus and a red clown nose brings us firmly into the world of comedy and pathos that is the world of the clown. She sports on her head a large straw hat with an upturned brim. From her mouth, she emits loudly words that are not polite a ..read more