Event of the week
Gemma Hayes
Thursday, February 6th, Mike the Pies, Listowel, Co Kerry, 8pm, €25, mikethepies.com; Friday, February 7th, Source Arts Centre, Thurles, Co Tipperary, 8pm, €28, thesourceartscentre.ie
Late last year Gemma Hayes returned from self-imposed exile (aka child rearing) to release her sixth studio album, Blind Faith, her first full work since Bones + Longing in 2014. As this year gets into the swing of things, there seems to be no holding her back, with nationwide tour dates that continue throughout this month and next. The venues on this tour are possibly the best kind (compact, intimate) for Hayes’s deft, melodic blend of woozy rock and shoegaze pop, although no doubt we will be seeing her on larger stages during the summer; gemmahayes.com has more details.
Gigs
Rock Against Homelessness
Friday, February 7th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €40, ticketmaster.ie
The 10th anniversary of this calendar staple in aid of Focus Ireland is headlined by Damien Dempsey, the socially conscious songwriter, singer and performer. Anyone who has witnessed Dempsey in concert will know he is the man to raise the dust and rarely allow it to settle. The homelessness issue, he says, “has not been fixed. What are the so-called people in power doing about it? Not a lot, as far as I can see”. Dempsey will be performing songs from his latest album, Hold Your Joy, and other chest-beating crowd-pleasers. Guests include Pillow Queens, Zeztra, JyellowL and Pastiche.
Literature
Joseph O’Connor
Saturday, February 1st, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, 8pm, €30/€16, paviliontheatre.ie
Joseph O’Connor’s new historical novel, The Ghosts of Rome, is the second in his Escape Line trilogy, which is inspired by the story of the heroic anti-Nazi activism of Msgr Hugh O’Flaherty during the second World War. The Kerry-born cleric first appeared in O’Connor’s novel, My Father’s House, from 2023, which was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and for the Walter Scott Prize. O’Connor will be in conversation with literary journalist, editor and podcast host Alex Clark.
Comedy
Atsuko Okatsuka
Tuesday, February 4th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €31, ticketmaster.ie
The Taiwanese-American stand-up Atsuko Okatsuka first came to wider prominence three years ago, when Variety magazine named her as one of its top 10 comedians to watch. Since then she has charmed her way into the mainstream with funny guest appearances on the US late-night talkshow circuit (including Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert). She’s set to become even more well known later this year, when her second comedy special premieres on Disney+, and with an appearance in the Apple TV+ comedy film Outcome.
St Brigid’s Day: 10 things to see and do this bank holiday weekend
Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in February
Festivals in Ireland 2025: From Longitude to All Together Now - a guide to 80 of the best
Forget the gym: Here’s four fitness lessons from around the world
Stage
Dr Strangelove
From Wednesday, February 5th, until Saturday, February 22nd, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm (plus 2.30pm matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays), €75/€68/€60/€50/€40, ticketmaster.ie
Transferring from the West End of London, where it finished at the Noël Coward Theatre last week, this stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s political satire from 1964 features Steve Coogan playing multiple roles (as Peter Sellers did in the film) in a parody of cold-war fears of nuclear conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. The script is by Sean Foley and Armando Iannucci; Foley also directs.
Opera
Die Fledermaus
Saturday, February 1st, Siamsa Tíre, Tralee, Co Kerry, 7.30pm, €30, siamsatire.com; Tuesday, February 4th, Cork Opera House, 7.30pm, €35, corkoperahouse.ie; Thursday, February 6th, Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny, 7.30pm, €32, watergatetheatre.com
Johann Strauss’s opera, with its Viennese inflection and comic storyline about a missing husband, a housebound wife, a dutiful maid and a masked ball is staged by Irish National Opera with a cast that includes the Irish sopranos Jade Phoenix and Sarah Shine, the Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty and US tenor Alex McKissick. This 11-date tour continues until Sunday February 23rd; irishnationalopera.ie has more details.
Classical
Jess Gillam with the Irish Chamber Orchestra: Bach to Bowie
Thursday, February 6th, Town Hall Theatre, Galway, 8pm, €30/€25, tht.ie; Friday, February 7th, Lark Concert Hall, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, 7.30pm, €30/€25, thelark.ie; Saturday, February 8th, University Concert Hall, Limerick, 7.30pm, €30/€25, uch.ie
The plaudits: Jess Gillam, a 26-year-old from Cumbria, northwest England, is the first saxophonist to sign with Decca Classics, the youngest presenter on BBC Radio 3, the first saxophonist to reach the finals of BBC Young Musician and the youngest soloist at the BBC Proms. Following her Irish debut at West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival, in 2023, Gillam returns with a programme that skips lightly from Bach (Flute Concerto in A Minor) to Mendelssohn (String Symphony No 2) and from Boulanger (Cantique) to David Bowie (Life on Mars?).
Film
Between Heaven and Hell: The Films of Ingmar Bergman
From Saturday, February 1st, until Saturday, March 29th, IFI, Dublin, ifi.ie
Over the next two months the Irish Film Institute will present a retrospective of films by Ingmar Bergman, one of cinema’s most groundbreaking and influential directors. The programme includes some of the Swede’s masterpieces (including The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander, and Persona) plus lesser-known early works (including Prison, from 1949, and To Joy, from 1950). One of the season’s special guests will be Jan Holmberg, head of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, who will be taking part in a talk on Bergman’s work on March 30th.
Still running
All We Have Are Days
Until Monday, February 3rd, Limerick city, various venues, times and prices, allwehavearedays.com
Highlights of this smart addition to the arts festival calendar include DJ sets from Donal Dineen, B+ aka Brian Cross, Dandelion and Aoife Nic Canna, a conversation with the musician Bren Berry, and performances from Emma Langford, Niamh Regan, John Francis Flynn and Shark School.
