Theatre: The annual extravaganza, written, choreographed and directed by Daryn Crosbie, features terrific performances from the Billie Barry Kids

Theatre: Marty Rea and Maeve Fitzgerald star as Gabriel and Gretta Conroy in Louise Lowe’s promenade staging of the beloved Dubliners story

Theatre: There are no special effects, no grand coup-du-theatre, but there are oodles of old-fashioned charm

Theatre: Staged in a vintage Ulsterbus, Raphaël Amahl Khouri’s high-concept play chronicles Creith’s difficult transition as she found her true self

Theatre: Shaun Dunne and Brokentalkers’ collaboration portrays the challenges of looking after a partner with a long-term illness

Michael Patric’s play misses the opportunity to pull the drama of the end of Ireland’s sugar industry into the story of its craic-loving factory worker

Mary Norton’s story will entertain children while adults can convince themselves of its literary status

Theatre: Sandra O Malley delivers a career-defining performance in Blue Raincoat’s meticulous production of Bertolt Brecht’s 1941 play

Theatre: Al Dalton directs Ciaran Bermingham in The Cure. Leon Danza directs Niall Holland, Simon McKeon and Mike O’Dowd in After Luke

Paolo Bordogna nails the role of Mamma Agata, the manipulative helicopter mother in Donizetti’s drama of backstage power struggles

Belfast International Arts Festival 2024: Oisín Kearney and Michael Patrick’s inventive staging exposes some of the play’s bile

Conor Hanratty’s production treats the composer with all the loving care that he himself had first bestowed on Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play