Reviewed: Evan Dando, Brian Maguire and One For Sorrow

Evan Dando

The Village, Dublin

Evan Dando is short on ceremony and high on energy. Bounding onstage before the house music has had a chance to fade, he starts fiddling with his guitar before launching straight into the set, then doesn't stop to catch a breath for quite some time. His workmanlike manner and efficiency were to the detriment of the early tracks. Dando works best when softly strumming or picking his songs, giving them a shy poignancy that his beguiling lyrics and harmonious voice are all about. Here, however, he had a tendency to race, thrashing out songs on a battered acoustic guitar rather than letting them stand on their two feet.

Midway through the set he was joined by a guitarist and Siobhán Parr on vocals, but instead of opting for his own tracks he played some Gram Parsons numbers, as if in rehearsal for next week's Parsons tribute concert in London, which Dando is headlining. These tracks were the highlight of the night, with shuffling guitars just about holding the fragile tracks together - and making very pleasant sounds indeed. When Dando was left, all too soon, alone on stage, he quipped that now the fun part was over and it was "back to the grind of playing old Lemonheads songs and my solo stuff". The impromptu trio only highlighted what this gig, and indeed Dando, seem to be crying out for: a full, rocking band.

That said, there were other good moments: The Outdoor Type and Hard Drive were right on the money, and Big Gay Heart roused the packed crowd. But you cannot help but wonder whether, if all his gigs are this well attended, Dando could stretch to a full band - or, at the very least, a roadie.- Laurence Mackin

Brian Maguire

Fenton Gallery, Cork

This exhibition of paintings, called When Love Is Buried In The Attic, highlights the stylistic qualities manifest during the halcyon days of 1980s new expressionism: explosive use of line, atmospheric colour and irascible nervous energy.

But there is also another side to the selection, as a number of paintings have an uncharacteristic vibrancy, with clear flat paint bringing an almost decorative quality to the work.

Of course it would be folly to suggest that Maguire's art has departed into the realm of eye candy, as his subject matter retains its strong sense of personal, political and social narrative. The dominant theme here is his take on conservative versus radical America, expressed through US foreign policy in the Middle East, the home-grown right-wing militia and the Branch Davidians at the centre of the Waco stand-off.

Within certain paintings, Maguire's stance is somewhat ambiguous. Take the pseudo portrait of Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser. Does the use of her image imply disdain for a protagonist within the Bush administration or tacit support for a person who has shown a more moderate and reflective tendency than her boss?

Collectively, the images of military weapons, a diagram of the Waco compound surrounded by tanks and a building in Mosul where the Husseins were holed up during the Iraqi conflict, among others, propose more conclusively Maguire's protest against oppression and violence, be it from a supremacist or a superpower. Runs until November 22nd - Mark Ewart

One For Sorrow

Bewley's Café Theatre

Mary Kelly and Noni Stapleton wrote and act in this charming one-act play. It is the simplest of coming-of-age stories, with a freshness and penetration that subvert cynicism without lapsing into sentimentality.

Doreen's mother died when she was about eight, and from then to the age of 25 she assumed the care of her sister and, to a degree, of her father.

Now she has decided, without a resentful thought in her mind, that it is time to reclaim her life, and she heads for Dublin. There she finds digs, a low-paying job, a hobby that may become a career and a male friend who may become more.

She no longer has vivid dreams of her mother but feels she is always there as a loving presence.

Kelly plays Doreen with a beguiling candour that befits her own job application stating that she is honest, hard-working and quiet - but not shy. It is a strong performance that creates a persuasive, individual personality with an open mind and a thirst for freedom. Stapleton plays all the other roles - father, sister, strangers met in passing, landlady and so on - with a versatility triggered by the slightest of gestures or facial expressions.

Together the author-actors lend conviction and completeness to their work.

They are directed by Maureen White, clearly empathetic with the play's people and purpose. Runs until November 29th - Gerry Colgan