STREAMING: RIPLEY
Great Scott! After his acclaimed role onscreen in All Of Us Strangers and onstage in Vanya, Andrew Scott tackles author Patricia Highsmith's charming sociopath Tom Ripley - previous played by Dennis Hopper, Matt Damon and John Malkovich, movie trivia nerds - in writer/director Steven Zaillian's mini-series, based on Highsmith's classic The Talented Mr. Ripley. As if he needed to look any cooler, it's all in black & white (Netflix, now streaming)
VISUAL ART: WE REALIZED THE POWER OF IT
Curated by Sara Greavu and Ciara Phillips, the new an exhibition-project at IMMA deals with the history of the radical film collective, Derry Film and Video Workshop (DFVW) - the project includes footage, photographs and documents that trace its history, exploring subjects such as gender, class, collective organising, the Irish 'national question' and the legacies of imperialism. It's another essential and timely show from the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA, Dublin, 30 March - 22 Sep 2024)
OPERA: ELSEWHERE
In 1919, the staff of the Monaghan Asylum barricaded the hospital gates and declared themselves an independent Soviet commune. Their strike brought asylum workers and patients together in collective action, presenting a revolutionary vision of what a care-centred society could look like. The new opera by Michael Gallen, wth a libretto from Gallen, Annemarie Ní Churreáin and Carys D Coburn, reimagines this true tale to extraordinary effect, and played to packed houses (and a pair of Irish Times Awards nominations) when it premiered in 2021 - now it's embarking on a nationwide tour, with dates in Dublin, Castleblaney, Cork and Galway - find out more here (8 – 9 April at the O'Reilly Theatre, Dublin, then touring)
BOOK: QUICKLY, WHILE THEY STILL HAVE HORSES
Belfast-based author Jan Carson is a formidable literary talent - her last novel, 2022's The Raptures, was nominated for Irish Book Of The Year at the Irish Book Awards, and remains on of the finest Irish reads of the past decade. Now she returns with a collection of 16 short stories touching upon (amongst other subjects) the thrill of growing up, the grief when youth is over; first love, mature love, parenthood and loss - we can't wait to get stuck in (Transworld, out now)
FILM: ONE NIGHT IN MILLSTREET
In 1995, a high-stakes prize fight in Millstreet, Cork saw then-unknown underdog Steve 'The Celtic Warrior' Collins face off against larger-than-life champion Chris ‘Simply The Best’ Eubank - an against-all-odds sporting event that had an entire country on the edge of its seat. This highly entertaining documentary revisits what many consider one of the great nights in Irish sports, as Collins and Eubank themselves revisit a night that changed both their lives forever (Selected cinemas nationwide)
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