Theatre: “The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)”

Venue: dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin

Dates: 19th – 20th Apr 2023 Show time: 8pm Admission: €15 Running time: 70min, no interval

Shakespeare may be turning in his grave, but the show that’s become a cult classic contains all 37 plays (plus sonnets) in just 97 minutes. As the comedies aren’t anywhere near as funny as the tragedies, all sixteen have been condensed with the history plays transformed into a game of American football, Othello is performed in rap and Titus Andronicus becomes a TV cookery programme. For the finale, Hamlet is staged first as a psychological exploration of Hamlet’s Ego and Ophelia’s Id, then performed in a matter of minutes and, for the finale, performed backwards. For lovers of Shakespeare everywhere.

[Info from dlr Mill Theatre website here]

Theatre: Richard Head’s “Hic et Ubique” (1663) at Smock Alley Theatre

Irish Renaissance Seminar at Queen’s University Belfast

IRS

Queen’s University Belfast

Saturday 28 January 2023

12.00-12:45 Arrival

12:45-1:45 Welcome Ramona Wray (QUB)/Jane Grogan (UCD) and Opening Plenary

Andrew Murphy (TCD): ‘Shakespeare comes to Dublin: Culture and colonialism in eighteenth-century Ireland’, Chair: Ramona Wray (QUB)

1:45-2:45pm Marie Curie Projects at IRS

Emer McHugh (QUB), Maria Shmygol (University of Galway), Helen Newsome (UCD), Chair: Ann-Maria Walsh (QUB)

2:45-3:45 New work in Shakespearean Adaptation

Edel Semple (University College Cork), Stephen O’Neill (Maynooth University), Mark Thornton Burnett (QUB), Chair: Edel Lamb (QUB)

3:45-4:15pm Break

4:15-5:15pm PGR Projects at IRS

Hannah Gregg (QUB), Alan Waldron (Maynooth University), Annie Khabaza (UCD), Chair: Anna Graham (QUB)

5:15-6:15pm Closing Plenary

Lillie Arnott (QUB) ‘Witnessing Grief: Sight, Subjectivity and Gender in Early Modern Literature’, Chair: Mark Thornton Burnett (QUB)

6:15-7:30 Reception

For all enquiries on this meeting of the IRS, please contact Dr Ramona Wray.

Theatre: “The Spanish Tragedy” by Dublin Youth Theatre

[From the Project Arts Centre website here]

Dates: Weds 17th – Sat 20th August 2022. ISL interpreted performance: 19 Aug, 7:30pm Relaxed Performance: 20 August, 1pm. Show Time: 7:30pm, 1pm Matinée (Duration 2.30mins incl. Interval)

Contains mature themes, violence and suicide. Suitable for audiences 14+.

Witness Thomas Kyd’s classic revenge tragedy, The Spanish Tragedy, brought to the Project Arts Centre stage in a bold contemporary production by Dublin Youth Theatre, directed by Aoife Spillane-Hinks.

Against a backdrop of warring kingdoms, two young lovers dare to steal a secret moment of forbidden tenderness. But when the murderous jealousy and ambition of powerful enemies leads to devastating violence, a grieving father is left to fight for justice for his murdered son.

Written in the late 16th century, Kyd’s play asks troubling questions that still ring true today: What is the value of justice in a system that seems designed only to protect the powerful and wealthy? What is the life of an individual worth compared to the fate of nations? And if justice is denied, is revenge the only alternative…and at what cost?

Tickets on the Project Arts Centre website here

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The Spanish Tragedy: Special Fundraising Opening Night

Celebrate Dublin Youth Theatre’s 45th birthday with a special fundraising Opening Night of Thomas Kyd’s classic revenge tragedy, The Spanish Tragedy. With a dress to impress dress-code, and a post-show discussion with dramaturg Dr Tanya Dean, a ticket to our Opening Night will be a night to remember and will support Dublin Youth Theatre’s programmes that focus on the personal, social and artistic development of young people in Dublin through the medium of theatre.

Theatre: “King John” and “Two Gentlemen of Verona” by PurpleDoor at Smock Alley, Dublin

[Info from Smock Alley website here.]

Experience the best upcoming talent from the North of England as one cast stage two of Shakespeare’s least known plays…

What comes to mind when you think of King John? The Magna Carta? Forget it. Shakespeare’s rarely staged tragedy about Britain’s most useless king rediscovers this overlooked gem, relocated to the middle of Thatcher’s Britain amid the miner’s strike that led to a bloody revolution. Shakespeare’s play examines the responsibility of power, the need for war, and the inability of men to rule, in an uneasily patriotic play that raises as many questions about our leaders today as it did 400 years ago.

Paired in rep with King John, The Two Gentlemen of Verona takes you to mid-90’s Liverpool in a riotous production that celebrates the messy, filthy joy of young love. What happens when you fall in love with your best friend’s other half? Come on a sensory journey with us, in a production which seeks to bring the joy of togetherness after too many solitary years of Covid. Get your shellsuit and your pagers ready, it’s time to spice up your life.

Both productions alternate on different nights with the same cast. Book both shows for the price of €25.

TICKETS €15 | €13.50 CONCESSION (STUDENT/OAP) RUNNING TIME 120 MINS

WRITTEN BY William Shakespeare
DIRECTED BY Karl Falconer

About the company
PurpleDoor are a Liverpool based theatre (formerly PurpleCoat), whose work has toured the UK and Ireland and been produced in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Nominated for a National Lottery Award, PurpleDoor have been hailed as ‘one of the UK’s fastest rising ensembles’ with a body of work that has been championed by figures including Stephen Fry and Judi Dench. They aim to champion undiscovered talent and help new audiences enjoy Shakespeare.

Theatre: “Measure for Measure” at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght

[Info from Civic Theatre website.]

Measure for Measure

Civic Theatre, Tallaght, Dublin
3rd – 7th December 2019

 

Set in Vienna, Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure is a dark comedy in five acts and was written in the early 1600’s. Vienna is overrun with brothels and loose morality and when a young novice nun is compromised by a corrupt official, who offers to save her brother from execution in return for sex, she has no idea where to turn for help. When she threatens to expose him, he tells her that no one would believe her.

The themes run from religion, morality, virtue, sin, punishment, death, and atonement, with Shakespeare choosing moral justice to prevail over strict civil justice. Measure for Measure sheds a critical eye on the policing of society by a corrupt government and politics. Whether it be 1604 or 2019, this play has resonance in the 21st Century.

Presented by Liberties College, Bull Alley
Duration: 110 minutes. One interval.
Suitable for ages 14+

Tickets available from the Civic Theatre website.

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Talks: Jewish books in Marsh’s Library – 5th November 2019

[Text and images from Marsh’s Library website.]

A small library in working-class, south inner-city Dublin is probably the last place you would expect to find a significant collection of Hebrew and Yiddish books dating from 1489 to 1700, but…..

Marsh’s Library does indeed hold some very important early Jewish printed books.

 

 

 

With funding from the Irish Research Council, Dr Brad Anderson of Dublin City University has organised a free public event to explain why these books are so important, and how they ended up in Dublin.

The speakers at this event are:

1. Professor Emile Schrijver (University of Amsterdam/ Jewish Cultural Quarter): “Hebrew Manuscripts Since the Invention of Printing”
2. Michelle Chesner (Columbia University, USA/Footprints Project): “Footprints in an Irish Tone: The Marsh’s Library, its Jewish Books, and their Travels to Dublin”
3. Dr Javier del Barco (Madrid, CSIC / Spanish National Research Council): “The Oxford Period in Marsh’s Collection of Hebrew Books”
4. Dr Rahel Fronda (Oxford University/Bodleian Library): “Marsh’s Legacy in Oxford: The Bodleian Library as a Home for his Manuscripts”

When: Tuesday 5 November 2019, 10am – 4pm
Where: Marsh’s Library, St Patrick’s Close, Dublin D08 FK79

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please contact Dr Brad Anderson at brad.anderson@dcu.ie

 

[Text and images from Marsh’s Library website.]

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Shakespeare’s “Pericles” at the Lir, Dublin

From the Lir website.

This new contemporary adaptation of Pericles at The Lir Academy turns William Shakespeare’s classical tale into a modern-day take on the refugee crisis, in a story of resilience and hope.

When Antiochus, the malign ruler of Syria becomes a threat, Pericles must escape conflict and flee his country, risking his life at sea. In this modern-day adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s Romances, Pericles becomes a refugee, a modern hero. His strength and resilience will be tested by the Gods as he seeks asylum in different lands, meets love, faces loss, and is ultimately restored to his rightful place.

Director Conall Morrison brings a unique spin to a classic text , a remarkable play that fuses struggle and strife with love, magic and redemption.

Note: This production contains strobe lighting, smoke effects and loud noises.

Performances

Friday 8th Feb 7.30pm to Thursday 14th Feb 7.30pm — Studio One
Matinee: Tuesday 12th Feb 1.00pm — Studio One

Ticket info.

See the Lir website here.

Theatre: Macbeth, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 15 – 19 September 2019

Tickets from €16 at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

The ruined aftermath of a bloody civil war.  Ruthlessly fighting to survive, the Macbeths are thrust towards the crown by forces of elemental darkness.

The National Theatre, creators of War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, bring this epic and visually daring production of Shakespeare’s most intense tragedy on a tour of the UK and Ireland immediately following a sold-out run in London.

Directed by National Theatre Artistic Director Rufus Norris (Cabaret, London Road) and designed by Rae Smith (War Horse, This House) this new production propels Shakespeare’s classic title into a post-apocalyptic world of anarchy and uncertainty.

Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing, 3 – 7 July, St Enda’s Park, Rathfarnham

From dlr Mill Theatre Dundrum:

Balally Players Summer Shakespeare will be performing Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare outdoors in the beautiful walled garden of St Enda’s Park.

This witty and most popular comedy deals with the stormy loves of two couples: the confirmed bachelor Benedick and the spirited Beatrice, and the naive and innocent Hero and the gullible and hot-tempered Claudio.

While ‘the course of true love never did run smooth’, in Much Ado it is helped and hindered by friends and villains alike. As Hero says ‘some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps’.

Full of wit and banter, fools, clowns and music, it has been described as “Shakespeare’s greatest sex-war comedy” (The Telegraph, 2017)

 

Book tickets online, or visit or phone the box office (+353 01 296 9340).