Event of the week
Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma
Wednesday, April 2nd, and Thursday, April 3rd, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €46.20 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie
It’s time to move beyond the headlines and cliches, according to the producers of Moonlight, a musical-theatre show that covers the developing years of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy. Taking a five-year snapshot from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the production’s creators, John Merrigan and Danielle Morgan, aim to honour the Dublin singer and songwriter who fronted one of the most important Irish rock groups of the past 50 years. In the role of Lynott, Peter M Smith leads a live band (including the original Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell), playing the group’s songs plus new original music. The Ifta-nominated Jason Figgis directs. Also, Wednesday, April 9th (sold out), and from Friday, June 20th, until Sunday, June 22nd.
Gigs
Gabrielle
Saturday, March 29th, 3Arena, Dublin, 7pm, €61.85/€58.85/€51.20, ticketmaster.ie
Between 1993 and 2004 the Londoner had 13 top-20 hits in the UK; although she hasn’t dented its singles chart since then, those songs have become evergreen, with regular radio play and movie syncs. In 2021 Gabrielle appeared on the TV show The Masked Singer and subsequently topped the UK’s R&B album chart with her covers album Do It Again. Anyone hankering after classy soul-pop songs such as Dreams, Going Nowhere, If You Ever, Rise and Out of Reach is advised to start queuqueuingeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds: The Spirit of Man
Sunday, March 30th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €45, ticketmaster.ie
A double-album, prog-rock retelling of HG Wells’s classic science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds was hardly what punk needed in 1978, but unlike many of the era’s scorched-earth notables, Jeff Wayne’s musical version has endured. Staying (relatively) true to Wells’s story, the musical has been reimagined several times, and advances in technology over the decades have reinvigorated it for more demanding audiences. New vocalists for this iteration include Charlie Simpson (from Busted), Rou Reynolds (Enter Shikari) and Max George (The Wanted).
New Music Dublin
From Wednesday, April 2nd, until Sunday, April 6th, various venues, times and prices, Dublin, newmusicdublin.ie
Hands up for “sonic sculptures”, “compositions shaped by environmental recordings” and (our favourite) “free improvisation in complete darkness in a disused fridge”. New Music Dublin reaches parts of the brain that other festivals don’t even want to think about, let alone programme. The event merrily defies pigeonholing, which makes it even more worth your while. Highlights across its five days include Nocturne (Wednesday, April 2nd, Dunsink Observatory, 7pm, €25), Blood of a Poet (Thursday, April 3rd, NCH, 7.30pm, €25), In the Dark (Friday, April 4th, The Cooler, Smithfield, 11pm, €15) and Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore (Saturday, April 5th, NCH, 7pm, €37).
Visual art
Kerry Art Now!
Until Wednesday, June 18th, Government Offices, Killarney, Co Kerry, free (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm)
Providing a showcase for 20 professional artists in their home county, Kerry Art Now! is curated by Lucy and Robert Carter of Grilse Gallery, in Killorglin. Featuring emerging and established artists, it includes work by Regine Bartsch, Lisa Fingleton, Karen Hendy, Darragh Kinch, Niall Naessens, Ciara O’Connor and Úna ní Shé. Midway through the exhibition’s run, new work will be featured, while on Wednesday, May 7th, Joe McGill of Radio Kerry will host an in-conversation event with several of the exhibiting artists.
Musical
The Book of Mormon
From Tuesday, April 1st, until Saturday, May 3rd, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €75/€68/€60/€50/€40, ticketmaster.ie
Satirising organised religion is akin to walking on a knife’s edge. Matt Stone, one of The Book of Mormon’s creators, has described the musical as “an atheist’s love letter to religion”. The plot follows two Mormon missionaries on an assignment in a remote African village and their struggles to convert locals. “The ardently devout and comedically challenged are sure to disagree,” the Washington Post remarked, “but this is one of the most joyously acidic bundles Broadway has unwrapped in years.”
Literature
One Dublin One Book
From Tuesday, April 1st, until Thursday, May 1st, various venues and times, Dublin, free, booking required, onedublinonebook.ie
The One City One Book concept – created in 1998 by a Seattle librarian, Nancy Pearl – get as many people in a community as possible to read the same book at the same time. It quickly took root, with Dublin following in 2005. This year’s title is the anthology Dublin, Written in Our Hearts, published by Stinging Fly Press. he excellent dip-in book features work by Kevin Barry, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Belinda McKeon, Paula Meehan and Stephen James Smith. Events taking place throughout April include Dublin You Are ... Tallaght (Tuesday, April 8th, Tallaght library, 6pm) and The Artist and the City (Thursday, April 24th, Hugh Lane Gallery, 6.30pm).
Still running
Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical
From Tuesday, April 1st, until Saturday, April 5th, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €48.50/€40/€35, ticketmaster.ie
Despite the divisive source material – Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th-century novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, by way of the 1999 teen film of the same name – park this jukebox musical alongside the likes of @ Juliet and you have a sprightly, confident piece of entertainment that whips through two dozen pop and rock songs.
Book it this week
West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Bantry, Co Cork, June 27th-July 6th, westcorkmusic.ie
Adebisi Shank, Button Factory, Dublin, August 22nd-23rd, foggynotions.ie
Matt Berninger, Vicar Street, Dublin, August 23rd, ticketmaster.ie
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Vicar Street, Dublin, October 22nd-23rd, ticketmaster.ie
