The Belfast Ensemble brings its 3-day Bash to the Lyric TheatreA retrospective celebration of the extraordinary canon of work in just two yearsWed Jun 19 2019 - 05:00
All Mod Cons review: A swirl of issues crowd out the heart of an overworked playErica Muray’s second play is well acted and pacily directed, but it tries to do too muchMon May 27 2019 - 09:30
Cotton Fingers has its Irish debut: ‘Here is a young woman and her circumstances’Amy Molloy stars in the Welsh play about an unwanted pregnancy in Northern IrelandMon May 20 2019 - 05:00
A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe review: A heartfelt, well-researched playDominic Montague offers a glimpse of gay life amid sectarianism, violence and bigotryThu Mar 28 2019 - 16:07
Reveal-ed: How investment helped the arts in the NorthA three-day showcase of new work by northern artists highlights the work of a grant from the Paul Hamlyn FoundationSat Jan 12 2019 - 05:00
Panto review: Alice: The Musical at the Lyric Theatre, BelfastA big, blousy performance that hints at Theresa in BrexitlandMon Dec 10 2018 - 11:27
Panto review: Jack and the BeanstalkFolksy visuals combine with 21st century stage technology in this dazzling showMon Dec 10 2018 - 11:27
The Lyric Theatre at 50: a cultural bridge in a divided cityIt opened its doors on the cusp of the Troubles, but Belfast’s Lyric has survivedMon Oct 29 2018 - 05:00
Dear Arabella: Softer, subtler, but Marie Jones sharp-eyed as everBelfast International Arts Festival review: Three lonely women gain a new sense of purposeThu Oct 18 2018 - 12:10
Event of the Week: Belfast International Arts Festival 2018With Isabella Rossellini heading the line-up, this year’s festival is hitting the refresh buttonSat Oct 13 2018 - 05:00
DU Dance: making the world a better placeIt’s about more than just dance; it’s about transforming lives and bridging cultural dividesSat Jul 28 2018 - 05:00
Imagine: a festival merging arts and politicsPeter O’Neill’s Belfast brainchild aims to ‘engage with the power of reason’Sat Mar 03 2018 - 05:00
Men in pieces: Raw displays of vulnerabilityAfter a year in which three well-known Northern actors took their lives, a three-week programme of events, Edgefest, focuses on male mental healthWed Jan 31 2018 - 10:00
Beauty and the Beast in Belfast: Bloodless, bland and banalUndoing Disney was brave but there is no magic in this rock opera alternativeWed Dec 20 2017 - 17:54
The Suppliant Women review at the Belfast International Arts FestivalThis stunning newly translated version of Aeschylus’ poetic tidal wave is tailor-made for a 21st century audienceFri Sept 29 2017 - 11:26
The Ladykillers review: at last, some killer roles for womenGraham Linehan’s staging of the Ealing comedy features an all-female cast for the first time, but the quality of the performances means tokenism is not an issueMon Jun 19 2017 - 22:04
Helen McLean: ‘Mosaic art, which dates back to 2,000 BC, is a dying art’She fervently believes that the best creativity comes from the heart and the soul, emerging organically out of human contact, collaboration and shared instinctsMon Jan 02 2017 - 05:00
Cinderella review: a subversive take on the fairytale favouriteDignity gets thrown to the wind and the show is all the better for itMon Dec 19 2016 - 11:24
Three Sisters review: Russian drama heads North and gets detached from its fiery sourceThere is little about these Belfast sisters that bears a resemblance to Chekhov’s original dramaFri Oct 21 2016 - 16:04
The Nest review: Small forgotten people hatch a terrible truthConor McPherson and PJ Harvey collaborate on a domestic drama with a heart of darknessMon Oct 10 2016 - 10:58
St Joan review: Shaw adaptation is an Arc of triumphJimmy Fay’s contemporary take on George Bernard Shaw's play finds new meaning in the post-Brexit political landscapeTue Sept 20 2016 - 12:30
Opera in Belfast: A canter through 500 years of history, set in a deconsecrated churchSung in the city’s unmistakable twang, ‘Long Story Short: The Belfast Opera’ is fresh, contemporary and slightly daringWed Jun 15 2016 - 01:00
A Moon for the Misbegotten reviewDesign outshines performances in Eugene O’Neill’s swansongTue Mar 22 2016 - 15:36
Educating Rita review: A damaged couple who are living to learnWilly Russell’s Liverpool drama travels to Belfast and gets a different accent and a calm ferocityFri Feb 05 2016 - 14:02
Review – Rumpelstiltskin: Dragged into the modern day and ageThe title character is reimagined as a bog-eyed punk in a fairytale that tries too hard to live beyond its yearsMon Dec 21 2015 - 19:30
Kid's Christmas: Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf at the LyricBelfast show’s spectacular opening offers a tantalising indication of things to comeThu Dec 17 2015 - 05:45
Review – Scorch: A compelling look at teenage identityStacey Gregg’s fine new play is made up of equal parts courage and discomfortFri Nov 27 2015 - 18:30
Review – Trouble: A rock and a hard placeA chilling and challenging piece shows how far equality and gay rights have come in Northern Ireland – and how far is left to goTue Nov 17 2015 - 15:23
The Last Five Years: A classy musical about doomed love | ReviewBlunt Fringe keeps up the quality with a stylish take on Jason Robert Brown’s intricate musicalWed Jul 01 2015 - 11:09
Review: My English Tongue, My Irish HeartMartin Lynch is a natural storyteller and here he merges a modern story with a dizzying series of period extracts that struggle to make their voices heardMon May 11 2015 - 12:19
Lally the Scut review: grotesque caricatures abound in an insular Border communityIn spite of a fast-moving narrative, the action sometimes feels labouredFri Apr 17 2015 - 14:25
‘The arts are an easy target’: Northern Ireland’s budget bluesAll funding has been cut to six organisations, including leading independent publishers and theatre companies. Job losses are a certainty and the long-term impact on the sector could be disastrousTue Apr 07 2015 - 02:00
Theatre review: The Lost MartiniAccidental is to be applauded for going out on a limb with a genre of theatre new and strange to Belfast, but it runs the risk of losing the plotFri Mar 13 2015 - 13:17
Theatre review: God of CarnageA biting comedy of manners that spirals into a shaming demonstration of bad mannersThu Feb 12 2015 - 14:53
The young Irish film-makers whose projects are under threatCinemagic, which gets young people involved in film, has just made a family Christmas movie, starring Suranne Jones and Rob James-Collier, in Ireland. But now its budget could be halvedSat Dec 20 2014 - 01:00
Children’s christmas show review: Jack and the BeanstalkThis show is as eager as its audienceFri Dec 12 2014 - 15:29
Children’s Christmas show review: Sleeping BeautyA short and sweet piece of family theatre with a knowing subversive edgeThu Dec 11 2014 - 16:27
Children’s show review: The Family Hoffmann’s Christmas Mystery PalaceThis production in Belfast demonstrates how illusion works best when wrapped around a good storyThu Dec 11 2014 - 16:21
Review: I Went to the House But Did Not EnterA shimmering gem of a performance comprising interpretations of texts by TS Eliot, Maurice Blanchot, Franz Kafka and Samuel BeckettMon Aug 11 2014 - 14:38
Teenage kicks, teenage angstSimon Stephens’s ‘Punk Rock’ is coming to the Lyric, in a statement of intent by the Belfast theatre’s new boss. So will it deliver something ‘live, direct, physical and unpredictable’?Sat Aug 02 2014 - 01:00
Bringing some southern soul to a northern beautyThe new executive producer of Belfast’s Lyric Theatre Jimmy Fay aims to put it at the centre of Irish cultureSat Jul 05 2014 - 01:00
Review: Terjas VerdesThe final part in the Mac’s Chilean trilogy makes the horrors of the Pinochet regime resonate much closer to homeThu Jun 05 2014 - 17:02
Review: UprisingHarrowing tragedies and hip-hop meet uncomfortably in this strange Belfast brewTue Jun 03 2014 - 18:00
Parallel worlds: A Chilean trilogy that could be about the NorthA young ‘disappeared’ woman, the debate over how a building linked to past conflict should be redeployed, and an exploration of a political leader feature in Prime Cut’s ambitious new trio of plays in BelfastTue May 27 2014 - 01:00
Review: Flesh and Blood WomenMaria Connolly steals the show in this trio of plays of new writingMon May 12 2014 - 17:14
Review: DementedSet up as a rip-roaring comedy, Demented falls short of the markMon May 12 2014 - 17:05
Review: The NoseGogol’s absurdist drama is updated into a stylish skewer of tabloid tacticsFri Mar 28 2014 - 17:01
Review: Molly SweeneyAbigail Graham’s refreshing production looks anew upon Friel’s richly layered playFri Feb 14 2014 - 17:00
