Abbey Theatre announces 20 shows for the Peacock studio spaceThe self-described ‘Engine room of Irish theatre’ has spluttered in recent years. With the announcement of 20 productions, the Abbey hopes to set it humming againWed Mar 01 2017 - 15:00
Catastrophe review: seriously good comedy that’s oddly, unceasingly sincereLike any good double act, Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney have great chemistry, but what sets their comedy apart is its remarkable and scabrous honestyWed Mar 01 2017 - 13:28
Abbey rejuvenates Peacock and Fiona Shaw comes to WexfordA version of ‘The Tempest’, set in west Kerry, called ‘A Shitstorm’, is slated for theatreWed Mar 01 2017 - 13:08
Broadchurch review: A show that treats rape with unstinting realism and sensitivityThe detective series is a study in division,and it also asks tough questions about our approach to victimsTue Feb 28 2017 - 13:14
Jericho review: A show that wrestles with all of human historyDealing with nothing smaller than human history, Malaprop’s stimulating new show might have taken on more than any one metaphor can properly smack down. Unless wrestling is the answer . . .Fri Feb 24 2017 - 19:25
Chef’s Table review: sit down for one episode, binge on threeTo eat at Jeong Kwan’s, one must have embarked fully on the road to spiritual enlightenment – which makes it an easier booking than NomaThu Feb 23 2017 - 13:00
Billions TV review: A cabal of frat boys re-enact Shakespearean battlesIt would be nice to take Billions as a leering satire on the new Masters of the Universe, but next to the real thing is small potatoesWed Feb 22 2017 - 09:57
SS-GB review: isolated Britain falling under fascist rule. Imagine thatAn economically suffering Britain falls under the influence of fascist rule. Thankfully nothing as unsettling as the BBC’s gripping alternative history could happen in reality. Wait a minute . . .Mon Feb 20 2017 - 12:48
In the age of surveillance, what do any of us have left to hide?To be young now is to be hounded for personal data in exchange for trinkets and servicesFri Feb 17 2017 - 13:31
Russia’s Hooligan Army review: Vainglorious idiots from the home of Ivan the TerribleThis documentary purports to examine what Russian hooligans plan for the World Cup when it’s on their home turf. But instead it gets seduced by their self-inflated macho cultureThu Feb 16 2017 - 23:00
Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon and Charles Dance return to the Gate for Michael Colgan’s farewell programmeThe starry line-up features work by Samuel Beckett, Brian Friel and Harold PinterThu Feb 16 2017 - 15:58
The Kettering Incident review: things get super-spooky on the far side of the worldSet in Tasmania, The Kettering Incident ought to be poles apart from the wanderlust mysteries we’ve become used to. So why does this moody work seem so familiar?Thu Feb 16 2017 - 11:00
Toughest Place To Be . . . review: Get away from the frying pan with a week in the fireAfter a horror show in Honduras, most viewers will find the sight of a bleeding Irish farmer oddly comforting, as one hardworking Irish nurse is sent around the worldTue Feb 14 2017 - 11:00
Sneaky Pete review: Who can resist a good con artist?Bryan Cranston plays the kingpin to Giovanni Ribisi’s slick grifter in Amazon’s deft and zippy swindleThu Feb 09 2017 - 12:43
Apple Tree Yard review: Slippery about the truth, absorbing till the endAn affair that begins impulsively in a broom cupboard and is conducted in sheltered alleyways ends in the harsh scrutiny of a public murder trial – and a compelling BBC showWed Feb 08 2017 - 14:00
Fake News Show: 'Was Spicer in on the joke? Who can tell anymore?'Panellists compete for scores measured in clicks and spread bait on Twitter in a quiz that looks to reclaim fake news for satireWed Feb 08 2017 - 10:13
Jacques Brel’s vision is very alive and well in DublinThe Belgian songwriter’s caustic social criticism is at the heart of the Gate Theatre productionTue Feb 07 2017 - 05:00
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris review: spinning in nostalgiaThe appeal of Brel’s songs has always been their urgency, but despite commanding performances, the Gate’s new staging feels like a slab of nostalgia for the good old days as its theatre slides into ruinsThu Feb 02 2017 - 16:25
An Klondike review: No need for this North Western to clean up its actThere's plenty of beauty and energy in the Connemara filmed series, but the dangerous pleasure in An Klondike 2 is to see life reduced to an addictive game of chanceThu Feb 02 2017 - 13:00
Adam Clayton on U2: the band, the business arrangement, the marriageTV review: These are tough times for cultural programming and arts criticism, discovers the new series of The Works Presents - even Adam Clayton, GQ’s contributing arts editor, has to hold down two jobsWed Feb 01 2017 - 11:23
Medication Nation review: documentary proves a tough pill to swallowDr Eva Orsmond’s new documentary diagnoses a problem but fails to prescribe for itMon Jan 30 2017 - 22:35
Fortitude TV review: We’ve got chills, they’re multiplyingIt’s grim up north as series two of Sky Atlantic's glossy Norwegian drama turns into a zombie thriller on iceThu Jan 26 2017 - 22:00
A Series of Unfortunate Events TV review: They happily lived unhappily ever afterThe Lemony Snicket books get the treatment they deserve, and no special effect is quite as farfetched as Neil Patrick HarrisThu Jan 26 2017 - 16:08
The Spinning Heart review: an ensemble performance of an atomised communityIn director Paul Brennan’s staging of Donal Ryan’s novel, each performer is given an uncontested moment to shineWed Jan 25 2017 - 17:05
Striking Out series review: Amy Huberman vehicle judders to a sudden stopRTÉ’s latest glossy show was originally titled Cheaters, and after just four episodes, that gives a better indication of where its sympathies lieMon Jan 23 2017 - 12:23
What happens when an artist becomes commander-in-chief?Vaclav Havel provided a stirring example of leadership in challenging times, whether picking generals or asking citizens to ‘live in the truth’Fri Jan 20 2017 - 12:00
Generation F’d review: when there’s a price, these people payThere is little sign of recovery in this furious, stylised documentary seriesThu Jan 19 2017 - 23:24
Danse, Morob review: a magical-realist imagining of a dark time in the TroublesLaurent Gaudé’s play, translated by co-director and star Olwen Fouéré, tells the tale of a Republican hunger striker’s remains disappearing between myth and realityWed Jan 18 2017 - 15:31
Then Comes Marriage? review: a fine advertisement for lifelong solitudeThe people most likely to benefit from this show are those whose relationships are founded on the solid basis of judging other couplesTue Jan 17 2017 - 14:06
Kevin Barry: ‘I love reading my work. I’m 98% ham’You can’t keep the darkly comic writer from the theatre – hardly surprising for a ‘frustrated actor’. He talks about his play Autumn RoyalTue Jan 17 2017 - 05:00
Sherlock TV review: the show got hacked twice over the weekendRussian hackers may have leaked the episode, but the show’s makers have taken a once smart and nimble show and made it bloated and bedazzledMon Jan 16 2017 - 11:02
‘We can’t keep funding productions and not the time for their development’The ‘Irish Times’ IrishTheatre Awards judges have been impressed by the sector's strength in depth but concerned about the effect of funding cutsSat Jan 14 2017 - 05:00
La Cage aux Folles review: A gentle push back against repressionThis admirable performance is risqué rather than truly risk-takingWed Jan 11 2017 - 16:26
David Bowie: The Last Five Years - a final flourish that was a lifetime in the makingThe BBC’s fine portrait of the final years of Bowie’s life revealed the touching mortality of the man as well as canny self-awareness of the rock starTue Jan 10 2017 - 19:14
The Great Irish Sell-Off - turning the spotlight on Ireland’s vulture capitalistsBeyond its chilling indictment, RTÉ’s film was a stirring call to actionTue Jan 10 2017 - 12:57
Taboo TV review: the grime and gloss of an imperial wrecking ballTom Hardy, a genetic stalemate between beauty and brutishness, is picking a fight with the British empire in the BBC’s new antihero vehicleMon Jan 09 2017 - 05:00
Search Party TV review: warm, self aware and razor sharp – and no one gets out aliveSomeone goes missing in Brooklyn, and her sort-of friends almost try and find her while being busy making their feelings known on social media. Welcome to a show that knows its ageThu Jan 05 2017 - 13:39
Seven small-screen reasons to welcome 2017There are many things we could resolve to do this year – join a gym, fight fascism – but if the TV screen wins out instead, there are some promising shows to while away the hoursTue Jan 03 2017 - 05:00
Sherlock review: a TV show that seems keen to avoid its final destinationThe latest instalment scatters pleasing clues, mysterious and literary, through its narrative. But rather than settle on any one mystery, it seems determined to go all around the houses. How long can it keep moving?Tue Jan 03 2017 - 05:00
Striking Out review: RTÉ’s new drama all sheen and surfaceAmy Huberman and the rest of the cast seem lost in the weird comedy and supposed drama of this showMon Jan 02 2017 - 16:53
The OA review: the less you know about this show, the betterMeet The OA, a Netflix show shrink-wrapped in manufactured mystery. It seems to have come from nowhere, which is also where it is leading usTue Dec 27 2016 - 05:00
Uplifted by Godot and let down by The FallCulture review 2016: The familiar delivered fresh revelations, while ghosts haunted many of our stagesSat Dec 24 2016 - 05:00
The Waiting Game review: ‘There is no glamour. It’s endless. Absolute murder’It’s taken eight years for this tour diary to make it on to our screens, and for Johnny Murphy it marked the end of his acting roadWed Dec 21 2016 - 15:53
Barry review: a bittersweet vision of young Barack ObamaThe new Netflix release tells an elegant story of a young man learning to become visible – and throws his imminent departure into sharp reliefFri Dec 16 2016 - 10:56
The Affair review: dissecting the anatomy of desire, adultery and self-delusionDominic West and Ruth Wilson continue their dangerous liaisons the third series in Sky Atlantic’s dramaThu Dec 15 2016 - 05:00
The Crossing review: ‘It’s the people not screaming you have to get to first’One of the rare and essential skills of RTÉ’s The Crossing, an uncommonly powerful documentary on an Irish response to the migrant crisis, is to bring some clarity to its chaosTue Dec 13 2016 - 05:00
Signs of comedy life in the year that defeated satireTV Review: ‘This Is Ireland’, ‘Westworld’, ‘This Is Us’Fri Dec 09 2016 - 14:00
Westworld review: may the robots rise up to meet usWestworld shows you “who you really are”, say its more evangelical visitors, and few series better reward their fans’ obsession with detailTue Dec 06 2016 - 22:40
This is Ireland review: Only satire can save us now, but it needs to be sharper than thisAfter an uncertain debut, Des Bishop’s new show seems to be picking cynicism over outrage. But an intervention from Blindboy Boatclub suggests there’s cause for hopeTue Dec 06 2016 - 12:44
Abbey Theatre announces programme for 2017The first programme from the national theatre’s new directors is ‘pragmatic and philosophical’, with an adaptation of Room, a 'greatest hits' of Irish theatre, and work by Roddy Doyle in pubs around the countryTue Nov 29 2016 - 05:00
