Event of the week
Dublin Folk Festival
From Tuesday, November 7th, until Sunday, November 12th; Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin; 8pm; €30/€28; singularartists.ie
Returning after a 45-year absence – did the arrival of punk rock, in the late 1970s, bury it? – Dublin Folk Festival looks set to reclaim its place in the annual music calendar with a line-up that cleaves to the festival’s original intent: to document Ireland’s rich traditional/folk past while welcoming its future participants. Headline artists include John Spillane, Daoirí Farrell, Gemma Hayes, Scullion, Ralph McTell (whose show is sold out), and Byrne, Harper & Cooney. The latter consists of three of the most highly regarded traditional musicians and songwriters of the past 40 years: Dermot Byrne, Bríd Harper and Steve Cooney. Full details at singularartists.ie.
Gigs
Natalie Merchant
Wednesday, November 8th (sold out), and Thursday, November 9th; 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin; 7pm; €55; ticketmaster.ie
Natalie Merchant is a survivor of the male-dominated US alternative-rock scene and a craftsperson when it comes to applying all manner of music styles, from rock to folk, Middle Eastern and orchestral, to her material. She further stretches her artistic reach on her most recent album, Keep Your Courage, throughout which she writes vividly about illness, loss, melancholy and gender. Merchant also covers Lankum’s Hunting the Wren, so you never who you might see on stage.
Chris Stamey
Thursday, November 9th; Little Whelan’s, Dublin; 8pm; €19.50; whelanslive.com
Big Star, Matthew Sweet, The dBs, Alex Chilton, Yo La Tengo, Mitch Easter, Juliana Hatfield, REM, Teenage Fanclub, Peter Holsapple – all these names will be very familiar to fans of indie-pop (American or otherwise) and the way the songwriter and producer Chris Stamey has been there from the beginning to ensure that guitars jingled and jangled in just the right ways. Has Stamey ever played a solo show in Ireland before? No, he hasn’t, so fans of the genre need to be at this one.
Festival
Light Moves Festival
From Thursday, November 9th, until Sunday, November 12th; Limerick City Gallery of Art and other venues; various times and prices; lightmoves.ie
Curated by Jessie Keenan and Jürgen Simpson, the seventh edition of Light Moves bridges digital art, music, performance, dance and film in a programme of events that aims to act as a platform for activism, visibility and equality. Highlights include an exhibition of screendance works at Limerick City Gallery of Art, live performances, gallery installations, artist presentations, discussions and workshops. Featured artists include Siobhan Davies, Barbara Ellison, Liz Roche and Rosemary Lee. The festival website has full details.
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Literature
Dublin Book Festival 2023
From Wednesday, November 8th, until Sunday, November 12th; Printworks at Dublin Castle/various venues, times and prices; dublinbookfestival.com
Bigger, better, bolder: these three words aren’t enough to describe this year’s programme for Dublin Book Festival, but you get the idea. While the hub is Printworks at Dublin Castle, events will also take place across the city (from the National Library of Ireland to the Wild Duck, as well as the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin). Authors taking part include Anne Enright, Lisa McInerney, Evanne Ní Chuilinn, John Connolly, Edel Coffey, John Boyne, Michael Magee, Claire Kilroy, Megan Nolan and Paul Lynch (who in a few weeks will know whether his latest novel, Prophet Song, has won this year’s Booker Prize). The festival website has full details.
Stage
Peter Pan
Previews from Saturday, November 4th, until Friday, November 10th (opening night Saturday, November 11th, then runs until Sunday, January 14th, 2024); Gate Theatre, Dublin; 7.30pm; €46.50/€41.50/€36.50/€31.50; gatetheatre.ie
This seasonal play has all the makings of a terrific couple of hours’ entertainment as JM Barrie’s children’s classic is given an Irish makeover by no less a funny-bone tickler than Roddy Doyle. Transferred from Edwardian London to early 20th-century Dublin, the central story remains the same: Wendy, Michael and John Darling are taken by Peter Pan and Tinkerbell to Never Land, from where they join forces with the unruly Lost Boys to fight Captain Hook and his oily assistant, Smee. The cast includes Clare Dunne (as Mrs Darling/Captain Hook), Liam Bixby (as Peter Pan) and Shane O’Reilly (as Mr Darling/Smee). Look lively, me hearties – fun and games be ahead!
Comedy
Funny Women
Monday, November 6th; Whelan’s, Dublin; 8pm; €20; whelanslive.com
The UK-based producer Lynne Parker founded the comedy community Funny Women more than 20 years ago, since when, with alumni that include Sarah Millican, Zoe Lyons and Sarah Pasco, it has forever disproved the misogynist notion that women aren’t, well, funny. The formidably funny Deirdre O’Kane headlines; the bill also includes Justine Stafford (whose social-media posts are quality comedy engagement), Sinead Culbert and Amanda Brunker.
Film
Cork International Film Festival
From Thursday, November 9th, until Sunday, November 26th; various venues, times and prices; corkfilmfest.org
As the venerable festival heads for its 70th birthday, this year’s event features the Irish premiere of Poor Things, the Emma Stone-starring, award-winning new film from Yorgos Lanthimos, as its opening-gala movie. That will be followed by about 200 other works. Highlights? Far too many. The festival website has full details.
Still running
The Lion King
Until Saturday, November 11th; Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin; 7.30pm; from €26.50; ticketmaster.ie
This production of the acclaimed Disney musical ends next weekend and if the reviews are anything to go by (”an unparalleled spectacle of wonder and joy”, said this paper’s critic) you really need to get along before then.
Book it this week
RTÉ Concert Orchestra Performs the Songs of David Bowie Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, February 9th/10th, 2024; singularartists.ie
Emma Doran Vicar Street, Dublin, May 24th/31st, 2024; ticketmaster.ie
Liam Gallagher, 3Arena, Dublin, June 23rd/24th, 2024; ticketmaster.ie
Loyle Carner Fairview Park, Dublin, June 30th, 2024; ticketmaster.ie
