Tara Flynn is an actor and writer in theatre, radio and TV. Her acclaimed one-woman show Not A Funny Word (THISISPOPBABY and the Abbey Theatre) played to sold-out crowds, and TV work includes Irish Pictorial Weekly, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle and Line of Duty. She's also the bestselling author of You’re Grand, Giving Out Yards and Rage-In.

This weekend, Tara will take part in Notes from a Quiet Land which will be streamed live from the National Concert Hall on Saturday March 6 at 8 pm in advance of International Women’s Day, and streamed lived on RTÉ Culture and via the NCH YouTube and Facebook.

Curated by Sinéad Gleeson, the concert will also feature Anne Enright, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Gemma Dunleavy, Aoife Nessa Frances, Fehdah, Annemarie Ní Churreáin and Felispeaks.

We asked Tara for her choice cultural picks...

FILM

I’m feeling a deep need for comfort and nostalgia at the moment, so I’m probably going to go old-school on a lot of these options. (Not all, I promise.) I want nothing more right now than to dig out my DVD of the Muppet Christmas Carol. I don’t care what time of year it is, give me a quest for goodness. good jokes and talking meeses. Michael Caine acts his socks off as Scrooge and the songs are superb. COVID has meant time means nothing, so sue me, I’m going in. 

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

MUSIC

If you’re looking for bright, shiny pop, go straight to the masters: ABBA. You can’t beat the harmonies and no one surpasses the songwriting for finding the melancholy in a total bop. I think that really chimes with where we’re at right now. If you’ve only ever heard the singles, dive in to the Voulez Vous album this weekend. Bangers and glorious oddness. 

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

BOOK

I don’t mean this as a plug, though I am working with Marian Keyes right now (on Between Ourselves for BBC Radio 4), but her work always makes me smile. And think. Nothing like digesting a life lesson or reflection with a smile on your face. Her fiction is super-well known, but I’m recommending her non-fiction books Under the Duvet or Making it Up As We Go Along. Wisdom and wise-cracks. Would I steer you wrong? 

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

PLAY

I recently watched the live stream from Project Arts Centre of The Approach by Mark O’Rowe. Incredible cast, and hope for the future of theatre if the houses have to remain shut, which has been devastating. I still missed the collective gasp of sitting elbow to elbow with others immersing themselves in a story or world, but watching it live, apart, together was a pretty good approximation – even if the cat tried to block the screen a couple of times. It’s why I don’t bring her to the theatre. 

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

TV

Ted Lasso. Just watch it. I know nothing about football but it’s so funny and tender and joyous. Just watch. 

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

GIG

What I wouldn’t give to go and see some live comedy improv. The gigs are online right now but there’s just something about the "permission to laugh" of being in the room with other people looking for a lift. Check out MOB Theatre Dublin and Dublin Comedy Improv for the next best thing. 

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

ART

I’d take anything right now. It’s hard to understand why we can’t find a way to open galleries or museums. Staggered entry? I don’t know. I’d even take one of those installations with barbed wire and a description. I just want to take in work in a beautiful or interesting or strange place. Painting, sculpture, old teabags…please, please, just let us back in. 

TECH

My only social media left is Instagram (@taraflynnirl) and I love it there. We all understand it’s curated heavily by ourselves and we don’t necessarily want to share our tears, but it’s a pretty gentle and enjoyable space to witness other people’s best sides, or dogs, or sunsets. High art or basic as you like. We’re with you. Connection’s more important than ever and if you like that selfie, post it. 

We need your consent to load this Instagram contentWe use Instagram to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

THE NEXT BIG THING

I mean, it’s Denise Chaila, rght? It’s fantastic she’s having recognition here but we’re going to miss her when touring starts again and she’s rarely home. What an artist. What a woman. 

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Notes from a Quiet Land will be streamed live from the National Concert Hall on Saturday, March 6 at 8 pm and streamed lived on RTÉ Culture and via the NCH YouTube and Facebook.