Monday
Eclectic Images: Recent Acquisitions 2011-2016
National Gallery of Ireland, Clare Street, Dublin Until December 7
nationalgallery.ie
The centrepiece of this show is made up of 60 prints and illustrated books from the extensive collection generously gifted to the gallery by artist and writer Brian Lalor in 2014, a collection that effectively charts the development of printmaking from the 16th century onwards. Other works acquired by gift or purchase include pieces by Fernand Lèger, Walter Osborne, Berthe Morisot and Michael Farrell.
Tuesday
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme
Abbey Theatre. Ends Sep 24 7.30pm (Sat mat 2pm) €13-€45
abbeytheatre.ie
The last display of the Abbey's 1916 commemoration programme, this multi-headed Cerberus of a co-production from the Abbey, London's Headlong, Glasgow's Citizens Theatre and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres has already covered more distance than the far-flung characters in Frank McGuinness's 1985 play. Directed by Headlong's renowned Jeremy Herrin, its tour of duty began back in May, in Glasgow, and has wound its way through the UK (and Donegal), to conclude finally in Dublin. Like the production's heroic detour to briefly perform at the actual Somme battlefield – a huge gesture guaranteed to delight any literalist who has missed the point of the play – there's an obvious symbolism in that journey, but it's hard to say it has paid off. To assert the Protestant experience – the tragedy, sacrifice and belligerism behind an identity – as an integral part of the Ireland we have inherited, is important, just as it is important to trace the homosocial and homosexual in Irish history. But importance never makes for great theatre. Herrin, a director rightly celebrated for his bold imagination, seems subordinate to a play now shouldering the dull accretions of "classic" status. It all makes for something entirely serviceable, observable and forgettable.
White Denim
Whelan's, Wexford Street, Dublin 2 8pm €18.50
whelanslive.com
White Denom are a band from Austin, Texas, influenced by prog rock, blues, psychedelia, jazz, soul and dub – expect thrill-ride music that pivots around experimental jamming and angular song structures. Special guests are the slightly more serene, if not fragrant, Irish band Wyvern Lingo.
Wednesday
The Dream of Eithlinn
Smock Alley Theatre. Aug 17-20 8pm (Sat mat 3pm) €15/€12
smockalley.com
There's something simultaneously heartening and gravely concerning about new companies who emerge with new ideas that are as old as the hills. But lets give Candlelit Tales the benefit of the doubt. Inspired by Irish mythology, but keen to express thaie adaptation using music, dance and storytelling, they are summoning all the fresh, innovative thinking of WB Yeats in his early years. Director Aron Hegarty's production focuses on Eithlinn, locked in her crystal tower on Tory Island. I don't know who that is either. But having brought their work to Body and Soul, Vantastival and KnockanStockan already, Candlelit are determined to shine a flickering light on myths that have led our way.
Ozymandias: Ulrich Vogl, Joe Scullion and Tadhg McSweeney
Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Chancery Lane, Dublin 8 Until Aug 27
kevinkavanagh.ie
There's always a hint of the epic in Joe Scullion's disarmingly small-scale visualisations of "fictional monuments", well-matched in the company of Tadhg McSweeney's equally unmonumental – though always dazzlingly inventive - bricolage sculptures. Add Ulrich Vogl's deft way of fundamentally reinventing and diverting familiar materials and objects and you have a cognitive adventure playground of an exhibition.
Thursday
Grandaddy
Vicar St, Dublin 7.30pm €31.50
ticketmaster.ie
It takes gumption for a once very successful band to attempt a comeback following a six-year absence, but from 2012 this California act (below) – best known for their indie psychedelic rock albums Under the Western Freeway (1997) and The Sophtware Slump (2000) – has grasped
the nettle with little care for the accompanying stings. Loyal and hardcore fans swill come out in force for this one.
So Near & So Far: Roscommon in the 1980s – Photographs by Martin Parr
Roscommon Arts Centre, Circular Road, Roscommon Until October 11
roscommonartscentre.ie
Something of a scoop for Roscommon Arts Centre. Renowned Magnum photographer Martin Parr, known for his sharply observant eye and ability to pin down social fashions and conventions, lived in Boyle from 1981-1983. The photographs in this show date from the period. They offer an insight into Ireland as was, recording the growing impact of relative prosperity – and Americanisation. They formed the substance of his third book, A Fair Day.
