The Irish drama-thriller Calm with Horses features a brutal but poignant script, skilful feature directorial debut and a bravura lead acting performance. Douglas “Arm” Armstrong (Cosmo Jarvis) is a former boxer who fell in with a ruthless family. The family’s two no-nonsense brothers, Paudi (Ned Dennehy) and Hector Devers (David Wilmot), rule with an iron…
You have to love the Irish! They seem to have an optimism and cheeriness that’s so infectious, you can’t help but smile. Now, combine that with a Catholic nun named Sister Winnie, who likes a sneaky smoke and a Guinness, and the foundations for a heart-warming tale are set. Folk is easy theatre to watch….
The first thought that comes to mind when I think of Glen Hansard is that opening sequence in the movie Once, where we hear the singer/songwriter alone on acoustic guitar as the camera moves in one seamless longshot along the streets of Dublin, until we finally see him playing his acoustic guitar and singing out,…
It mightn’t be Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, but Irish Celtic has elements of both and a more linear story. Having toured France and Germany, the 90 minute hour show features performers from the top Irish dance companies. Twelve talented dancers – five men and seven women – together with a five-piece band perform…
Some people should not see this play – the squeamish, religious zealots and those who don’t have a sense of humour! Everyone else, line up for two hours of enthralling entertainment thanks to Deborah Mulhall’s successfully creative directorship. The New Theatre is a small, intimate venue and the audience had a great experience from any…
One of my favorite musical scenes in film is that long opening sequence at the beginning of the movie Once, where you can hear Glen Hansard playing guitar and singing while the camera tracks along the dark streets of Dublin before settling on the singer/songwriter busking in front of a storefront. Knowing that Hansard’s career…
