The Glass Menagerie

Tennessee William's first successful play opens Rush Dramatic Society's new and 25th season at the Millbank Theatre on 23rd January.  It'll play nightly from Wednesday - Saturday for 4 weeks.  Tickets from €10 available on 843 7475 or by email.  Advance bookings are already impressive so I'd say book now if you're keen.

A hint of Strictly

I was disappointed to see that the Strictly Come Dancing live tour isn't coming to Dublin this year (or even Belfast).  While not a cheap night of entertainment, it was always highly enjoyable.  One small hint of it shows up at the National Concert Hall later this month though.  Anton du Beke and Erin Boag are doing a one-off pricey matinee gig dancing to old-fashioned Hollywood music on 26th January.  Expect a lot of Fred and Ginger type numbers.  It won't satisfy the real Strictly aficionado but it might stop you from booking a trip to Birmingham or somewhere to see the real live tour.

Tradfest

Tradfest returns to Temple Bar from 22nd - 27th January next.  Now in its 8th year, there is a veritable cornucopia of traditional Irish music to listen to and participate in - over 200 events.  This year they're tied in with The Gathering and welcoming "home" the Diaspora.  Most of the events are ticketed and not free but the quality of the musicians performing means that few will be unhappy about paying to see them.  A few selected events but obviously full details on their online programme.  There are also plenty of family friendly activities and open mic stuff too.

Mary Coughlan - a free gig at 18:00 on 26th January.  Warning: outdoors!

Sharon Shannon & Family, both 25th & 26th January (19:30 doors) at St Patrick's Cathedral - tickets are €40.

Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill & the Sands Family - 23rd January at 20:00 in Christchurch Cathedral - tickets are €35.

New exhibition in White Lady Art

From Alexa in White Lady Art:
Opening Thursday 17th January, 6pm - 10pm 14 Wellington Quay Dublin 2

 White Lady Art invites you to "Fractured, America: an exhibition of work by Dublin artist, Hawkie". These pieces of work by Hawkie are the result of time spent and enjoyed traveling across America. Fleeting impressions of characters met or seen, experiences and life in another place. "These drawings were made in November/December 2011 during a road trip in California, USA. Just before returning to Ireland I broke my neck while surfing in Venice Beach. Despite my injury (and strong medication) I continued to draw and sketch characters and scenes from Venice and beyond. Since my first 'J1' summer in 1996 I've traveled across, worked, played and got lost in the USA. What I've learned is that each city block, bus trip or random encounter will give me something for the sketchbook, probably more than anywhere else I've ever been. Many of these drawings were created by doing quick sketches right there and then, however some were retrospective...some make sense, some never will. Enjoy. Hawkie". Hawkie will be doing some live drawing on the night, and we will have a great live set from acoustic songwriter, Malojian, who will be releasing his new album "The Deer's Cry" on February 4th 2013. BYOB with some drinks for free on the night for early types, as usual!! 

www.hawk.ie 
www.whiteladyart.com 
www.malojian.com

Art exhibition in The Front Lounge

Two artists, Catherine Ryan and Gearoid MacOireachtaigh, are launching a new exhibition on Friday 11th January at 7 pm with a wine reception in The Front Lounge. Wine and art, great! The exhibition runs until the end of January 2013.

NYE party in the Little Green

From the Little Green Cafe & Bar on High Street, Dublin 8:

The NYE Summer Soulstice
The Little Green Bar & Secret Location

December 31st
18:00 - 06:00
*60's dress is essential*

Are you pining for those long summer festival days spent in the lovely company of a few friends, warm weather and a cold beer in hand....

This New Years Eve we're shaking off the winter blues and putting on our dancing shoes with a Sixties Summer Festival inspired all nighter. We've have 12 hours of Soul, Northern Soul, Funk, Rock N' Roll & Motown dished out by 12 of Dublin's best spread across two venues.

We're setting the mood by transforming The Little Green from a Café/Gallery, Bar into a charming Woodstock like festival site equipped with Tee Pee's, Bunting, Fairy Lights & all things beautifully retro and festival like. From 6pm - 1am we'll be ringing in the New year in swinging style in The Little Green before making our way to our super secret All Nighter location.

Admission to The Little Green is free, tickets for the All Nighter are E20 and the first 200 tickets are available to reserve by sending a mail to little.green.gallery@gmail.com. (Reservations of tickets is highly advised to guarantee entry as tickets available on the night are from The Little Green only and the bar will hit capacity at an early stage).

Your ticket will get you a wealth of goodies...
Your wristband to the All Nighter party
A glass of bubbly to toast in the new year
Finger food at The Little Green
**we will also be letting off 200 wish balloons at midnight**
Ticket holders will receive a helium filled balloon to write their wishes for 2013 on and let them off into the night.

Whether you're a Mod, Hippie or Go-Go we want to see you in your Fred Perry's, your Bell Bottom's, your Tie Dye, your Bandana's, your Box Shaped PVC's & your Mop Tops depending on what you're into!!|

This New Years Eve we're going to party like it's 1969!

Review: Kill Me, Deadly

No Drama Theatre's latest production is a comedy called Kill Me, Deadly, a parody of film noir gangster movies such as the 1955 film which presumably inspired the play's name, Kiss Me Deadly. This is the first Irish production of the play. The story follows private detective Charlie Nickels, played by Keith Cooper, whose investigations on behalf of a wealthy client lead him through Los Angeles' bars and seedy backalleys, in pursuit of truth, stolen goods, and a blonde femme fatale.

Although No Drama Theatre is an amateur group they have a track record of successful and entertaining productions. This time though the stagecraft was amateur in the pejorative sense - from problems with props to curtains that didn't operate properly, and most of all mismatches between lighting and the on-stage action. It's easy to take the backstage ninjas for granted, and I admit that I rarely comment on a job well done, but sadly their work is most evident when it goes wrong.

The play was saved by the actors. No Drama is primarily an improv group and perhaps this helped them cope well with surprises. I've seen professional actors horribly ignore errant props, but the actors in this production struck just the right balance between getting on with the script and responding to the unexpected. Keith Cooper's physical acknowledgement of a door not opening properly turned it into part of the comedy, something the audience could laugh at without mocking the production. Sarah Moloney, playing Mona Livingston, coped equally well when a match wouldn't light. And leaving aside the stagecraft, there's some great material to work with in the script; wonderfully clichéd noir dialogue and monologue.

Maybe the best thing I can say about this play is that it left me wanting to watch film noir. It's not a style I've seen much of - or have much cared for - but this parody makes it look interesting. Funny and enjoyable. Go see it, baby.

Kill Me Deadly runs in the Sean O'Casey Community Centre theatre until Saturday 8th December 2012. Tickets cost €12 (€10 concession) and can be booked here. The play starts at 8 pm and runs for a little over 2 hours 30 minutes including the interval.

PS It looks like there'll be a film based on the play released next year - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2022441/.

New plays

Ah, the inevitable difficulty of choosing between plays. Tonight is the opening night of a production of Kill Me Deadly by No Drama Theatre, but also the start of preview showings of Jezebel in Project Arts Centre. As Jezebel is in preview and has a longer run, I'll be going to see the No Drama production. It's on in the nice but hard-to-find-for-the-first-time Sean O'Casey Community Centre Theatre in Eastwall.

First Thursdays - December 2012

December 6th is another 'First Thursday', when galleries and other cultural spaces stay open late, frequently with launches or special events. It's run by Temple Bar Cultural Trust and details of this month's First Thursday are here.

At 5:30 pm the Christmas lights will be switched on in Temple Bar's Old City, with mulled wine and mince pies. (Actually the lights seem to have been on for some time already so I'm not quite sure what TBCT have in mind... but hey, mulled wine and mince pies.) Then at 6 pm First Thursday proper kicks off; officially it continues until 8 pm but sometimes individual venues are still open after that.

Worth a look: Project Arts Centre for their tour of their latest exhibition; Little Green Street Gallery launch a new exhibition (and their launches are fun); Science Gallery; White Lady Art, a new gallery just recently opened.

Big Smoke Writing - Winter Literary Cafe

Big Smoke Writing are holding their Winter Literary Café event later today. It's on from 6 pm to 9 pm in The Back Loft in La Catedral Studios. There'll be readings from Big Smoke's students and guests, live music and mulled wine. The event is free and based on my previous experience of this I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun.