A selection of reviews by Irish Timescritics

Camille O'SullivanSpiegeltent

Her muted entrance, lamplight in hand, betrayed little of the incendiary mix of feline sensuality, childlike wonder and unfettered raucousness of Camille O’Sullivan’s latest incarnation. This chameleon of cabaret has single-handedly managed to propel a dying art form into the 21st century. Who would have thought that Ziggy Stardust, Nine Inch Nails, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Dillie Keane could cosy up to one another, musically at least, in the surreal setting of the Spiegeltent?

With pitch-perfect orchestrations, fuelled by long- time collaborator Malachy Robinson on double bass, O'Sullivan weaved complex tapestries: tall and short, sordid, sad and hilarious tales peopled by characters who cleave to life's scintillating underbelly. Her willingness to excavate the emotional depth of each song left her at times in rag doll order: spun-out but utterly charming, bewitched and bewitching. A magical snapshot of an artist happily returning to her peak. SIOBHAN LONG

Nurse MeSt Brendan's Hospital

The hospital at Grangegorman tells a story of its own; its damp peppermint-green licked walls and threadbare carpets evoke a different era. Two nurses dressed in starched uniforms and false smiles greet us, growing the unsettling atmosphere as they open their mouths; their affected voices are tinny and strange.

A combination of immersive experiences (lavender incense and candle-filled rooms) and dense literary monologues, Nurse Meis not sure whether to appeal to the intellect or the senses. However, the vignettes of past case-histories eventually provides the viewer with a visceral narrative focus. By invoking religious repression, loveless marriages and "illegitimate pregnancies", writers and performers Kate Nic Chonaonaigh and Louise White seem to be evoking a time long past. However, the real impact comes with the realisation that

St Brendan's still operates as a psychiatric unit. An intriguing piece, but one that doesn't quite work itself out. SARA KEATING

Your Letter, At Last!Absolut Fringe Factory

A simple, polished collaboration between French performing artist Guillaume Pigé and Irish theatre/performance designer Ciarán O’Melia turns on the conceit of love letters. Passionate missives can be posted to a beloved, even if they’re living next door, but romance and self- delusion are deepened with distance.

And so, Pigé plays the hapless lover who has chosen exile from his native Shanghai for the strangeness of Montreal. On a stage, bare but for a solitary chair, Pigé moves and talks. A long, ideogrammed ribbon drapes around him, is a talisman, but it can become a backpack, a flying kite, a woolly scarf against the ever-falling Canadian snow, a scroll of warm memories and the dream figure of that faraway love to whom he sends letters endlessly. His gestures are quiet and neat, his body rises and falls with anticipation and disappointment, with wonder, dreams and frustration as he waits ever impatiently to receive. SEONA MAC REAMOINN