The sun’s back (for good, we hope), so here’s a bunch of very cool cultural events to attend this weekend that will help you keep a spring in your step...
DUBLIN: High Heels in Low Places, Draiocht, Blanchardstown, Sunday March 12th
The 'Queen of Ireland' returns to Dublin this weekend - join national treasure, performance legend and accidental activist Panti Bliss, fresh from an Australian tour of her acclaimed one-woman show. Charting brushes with infamy, near misses with fame, and adventures in the seedy underbelly, Panti invites you in to her ultra-padded, hyper-real, stiletto-shaped world, as she swaps stories from the gutter and trades secrets of the stars. Directed by Phillip McMahon, this will serve as a perfect warm-up for the eagerly awaited return of RIOT this summer.
BELFAST: Lines of Thought, Ulster Museum, until May 7th
© The Trustees of the British Museum
Placing contemporary artists side by side with master draftsmen across five centuries, this intruiging exhibition explores the history of drawing as a thinking medium, offering insight into the minds of some of the world’s greatest artists. Bringing together seventy drawings from the British Museum’s graphic collection, the show emphasises the fundamental nature of drawing, and its importance for artists from Michelangelo to Mondrian, Rembrandt to Rachel Whiteread, Piranesi to Picasso. What unites all of these artists through five centuries is the use of drawing as a way of thinking on paper. Also: Be sure to take a wander through the magnificent Botanic Gardens afterwards.
GALWAY: My Real Life, Town Hall Theatre, Friday 10th & Saturday 11th
Wexford man Noel has advanced MS and decides to end it all. While waiting for his overdose to take effect he records an increasingly rambling message for his best friend. Noel has apologies to make and messages to send. He has love in his heart and he wants to declare it even if it’s already too late.
Despite the rather bleak premise, this new one-man play from author and playwright Eoin Colfer isn't all doom and gloom; instead, it offers a vivid showcase for the talented (and underrated) Don Wycherley.
Noel spends what is possibly the last hour of his life re-living the highs and lows of the past forty years and, surprisingly perhaps, it’s not all doom and gloom. A play that will make you laugh and make you cry.
CORK: The Royal Moscow Ballet’s Swan Lake, Cork Opera House
They've always been big ballet fans in Cork, and the Royal Moscow Ballet make a welcome return to the People's Republic with their production of the most famous works of them all. Set to Tchaikovsky’s magical and mystical score, the RMB know how to put on a show - if you've never seen a ballet before, or want to introduce children to the magic of the form, then this is the perfect place to begin.
Fresh from the Sundance Film Festival, this new observational documentary film from director Neasa Ní Chianáin (Fairytale of Kathmandu) follows a year in the lives of two inspirational teachers in the only primary-age boarding school in Ireland. Headfort - a school not unlike Hogwarts with its 18th century buildings, secret doors and magical woodlands - has been home to teachers John and Amanda Leyden for 46 years and a backdrop to their extraordinary careers. It's always welcome to see a new Irish doc get a national release; this one deserves to be a word-of-mouth smash. Go here to find a screening near you.
