Wicked review: The brilliant Laura Pick and Sarah O’Connor shine in this top-quality production
Theatre: Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s musical features evenly matched leads who reach impossible notes with vigour and expression
Children’s reads: From superbly conceived non-fiction to a fitting capstone for a wonderful career
Timely offerings from Jen Breach, Sarah Webb, the late Kate Saunders, Sarah Bowie, Erika McGann and Atinuke
Wild Atlantic writers: the vibrant aesthetic of the Whole Wild World bus was ‘shaped with the input of children’
The Whole Wild World bus will ferry our finest children’s authors and illustrators along the west coast
Best new children’s fiction, from a fairy disguised as a rabbit to a boy who turns into a dinosaur
Valuable offerings from Edwina Guckian, Sinéad O’Hart, Shane Hegarty, Jen Wallace and more
Aladdin review: A show-stopping Genie finally brings Disney’s stage musical fully to life
Theatre: Yeukayi Ushe’s commanding turn earns a fourth star for what is otherwise a merely serviceable adaptation of the animated film
Julian Gough: ‘Low rent is key to maintaining a vibrant artistic community’
Author says living in Berlin for almost two decades has allowed him to continue taking creative risks
A whole new world: How Disney turned Aladdin into the stage musical that’s coming to Ireland
Disney ushered in a new era on Broadway when it began to put its animated classics on stage. Creative head Thomas Schumacher takes us behind the scenes
Life of Pi review: A lush visual spectacle delivered with wondrous cinematic fluidity
Theatre: The dialogue may feel leaden, but Max Webster’s production more than compensates
Sister Act review: Conviction for the devoted, but unlikely to convert apostates to musicals
Theatre: Glenn Slater’s lyrics and the book by Cheri and Bill Steinkiller provide a solid skeleton on which to hang characters’ conflicts
Life of Pi in Ireland: ‘There was a script, but then the question was, how do we do the tiger?’
Lolita Chakrabarti, an actor and playwright, had written a script about the unbelievable adventures of Pi
Best new children’s books: From time-travelling penguins to a pioneering vet
Stimulate kids’ minds with the latest offerings from Mary Murphy, Sheena Dempsey, Steve Webb, Jennifer Farley, Pádraig Kenny and Muireann Ní Chíobháin
Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan: ‘Just facing a school day can feel like a heroic quest’
Writer isn’t a fan of the 2010s films made of his bestselling fantasy books - so he has become involved in every step of Disney’s new TV version
Jeanette Winterson: ‘I am not afraid of technology. I am afraid of humans’
The writer, who is giving this year’s TS Eliot lecture at the Abbey Theatre, on scientific advances’ ramifications for art, literature and the human race
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Musical storytelling disappoints, but excellent performances compensate
Theatre: Show offers a golden ticket reinforcing seasonal message that goodness will be its own reward
From the Santa chimney mystery to the frozen children: the best new children’s books for Christmas
Festive stories by Mac Barnett, Maddie Moate, Tanya Hennessy, Eva Franz, Sophie Anderson and MJ Leonard