The Guide: The events to see, the shows to book and the ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

The Rest is History

Tuesday, May 16th, Vicar Street, Dublin; 7.30pm; €27.50; ticketmaster.ie

Who says history is boring? Not this podcast listener and certainly not historians and broadcasters Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland, who co-host the Rest is History in such a silver-tongued way that makes it very easy to ignore their in-parallel posh tones (if that kind of thing irks your ears). Whether the pair investigate the differences between Caligula and Richard Nixon, the lack of civil wars, who exactly is St Cuthbert the Great or, as in a recent episode, the greatest dogs in history (Hitler’s German Shepherd, Blondi, perhaps?) you are guaranteed well-researched insights filtered with wry humour.

Gigs

Michael Bublé

Saturday, May 13th/Sunday, May 14th, 3Arena, Dublin; 6.30pm; from €89.50; ticketmaster.ie

All seated show. No support act. No intermission. With Canadian crooner Michael Bublé, you get the works: charming, canoodling, crying, chuckling as he performs a plethora of Great American Songbook standards and quite a few contemporary pop tunes. Bublé knows what his audience want and he give it to them in spades but, alongside the patter, the sentimentality and the heartfelt is a naturally classy booted-and-suited singer of the “they-don’t-make-them-like-that-anymore” variety.

Metronome

Thursday, May 18th- Tuesday, May 30th, NCH (Studio), Dublin; 8.30pm; various prices; nch.ie

NCH’s collaborative series gathers pace with a few intriguing events taking place this month. Thursday, May 19th, sees R. Kitt (aka Robbie Kitt, younger brother of singer-songwriter David) deliver a succession of electronica aligned with work from visual artists Kev Freeney and Aisling Phelan. On Friday, May 19th, Irish producer/musician Stephen Shannon launches his new album, Fathoms, with a cast of accomplished string and synth-driven performers. Metronome in May concludes on Tuesday, May 30th, with a launch of Daniel Luke’s debut album, Shadow Dance.

Duke Special

Friday, May 19th, Whelan’s, Dublin; 7.30pm; €22.50; ticketmaster.ie

It’s a happy 21st birthday to the debut EP by Belfast’s Duke Special (aka Peter Wilson), whose work over the past two decades has included songs for several theatre productions and albums inspired by US writer Paul Auster (2010′s the Silent World of Hector Mann), photographers Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and Paul Strand (2011′s Under the Dark Cloth), and the poetry of Michael Longley (2017′s Hallow).

These celebratory tour dates continue into June and July and are highly recommended. The man’s a genius – fact.

Literature

International Literature Festival Dublin 2023

Friday, May 19th-Saturday, May 28th, Merrion Square Park, Dublin; various times/prices; ilfdublin.com

Schitt’s Creek writer, Monica Helsey, will be at the International Literary Festival Dublin, reading from her debut novel. Photograph: Rachel Sherlock

The 26th edition of the International Literature Festival Dublin bases itself once again in Merrion Square Park’s pop-up Literary Village and delivers its most comprehensive programme to date. Across ten days, over 180 events (36 specifically family-oriented) are scheduled. Highlights are numerous and include US actor Stanley Tucci (discussing his memoir-cum-cookbook, Taste), Schitt’s Creek writer Monica Helsey (reading from her debut novel, Really Good, Actually) and Mary Gaitskill (whose most recent work is 2021′s the Devil’s Treasure: A Book of Stories and Dreams). Irish authors appearing/talking/reading include Joseph O’Connor, Jane Casey, Karl Geary, Niamh Mulvey, Roddy Doyle and Elaine Feeney.

Stage

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Tuesday, May 16th-Saturday, May 20th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin; 7.30pm; €48/€44/€40/€35/€21.50; ticketmaster.ie

Deborah Moggach’s 2004 novel, These Foolish Things, was adapted for the cinema as the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in 2011 (a sequel arrived in 2015) and then tailored into a stage play in 2022. The premise of a group of pensioners travelling to India to start their lives anew has been tweaked to include an Irish angle, with actors Patrick Bergin and Rosaleen Linehan. Advance reviews tell us to expect superb sets, A/V atmosphere, a foot-tapping mix of Bollywood and classical Indian music and a cast highly attuned to deliver equal measures of pathos and humour.

Dance

Dublin Dance Festival

Tuesday, May 16th- Saturday, May 28th, various venues/times/prices; dublindancefestival.ie

A crucial showcase for artists and the creation and production of new work, the programme for this year’s Dublin Dance Festival acts (states the festival’s current Artists Director, Jazmin Chiodi) “as a vital interchange between contemporary dance artists and audiences”. Must-see performances include Trajal Harrell and Schauspielhaus Zürich Dance Ensemble (Abbey Theatre), Liz Roche & Lightscape (ESB Head Office), Compagnie Catherine Gaudet (Project Arts Centre), Oona Doherty (Abbey Theatre), Marc Brew (The Ark), Luke Murphy’s Attic Projects (Project Arts Centre) and Emma Martin (The Complex). Full details on performance times and prices from the festival website.

Film

Joe Comerford Retrospective

From Saturday, May 13th-Saturday, May 20th, Irish Film Institute, Dublin; various times/prices; ifi.ie

The social themes presented by Dublin-born director Joe Comerford have always been against the grain and, thanks to the IFI, there’s a chance to see most of his highly regarded work. The retrospective includes features (Traveller, High Boot Benny, Reefer and the Model) and shorts (Emtigon, Withdrawal, Down the Corner, Roadside, Waterbag), and concludes at 5.40pm on Saturday, May 20th (following the showing of Reefer and the Model) with an In Conversation event with Comerford, hosted by IFI Head of Irish Film Programming, Sunniva O’Flynn. The discussion will focus on the director’s work and the numerous committed interests that motivate it.

Still Running

Phizzfest

Until Sunday, May 14th, Phibsborough, Dublin; various venues/times/prices; phizzfest.ie

Urban village arts festivals are terrific ideas and very few do it as well as Phizzfest, which continues across the weekend with music (John Francis Flynn, Landless), conversation (Joseph O’Connor), nature (Eoghan Dalton), a visual arts trail and a tribute (by author Pat McCabe) to the work of Brendan Behan.

Book it this week

Sounds from a Safe Harbour, September 7th-10th, Cork; soundsfromasafeharbour.com

Mother Pride Block Party, June 23rd/24th, Dublin; eventbrite.ie

Galway Folk Festival, June 13th-18th; galwayfolkfestival.ie

Maisie Peters, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin; October 25th; ticketmaster.ie