Christmas is about pretending for the sake of those we love. It’s magic
In my own childhood, my mother held fast to the baffling belief that Santa was merely ‘a nice idea’
A deal with the devil: What will artists sacrifice to realise their ambitions?
Yfel, a new play from Pan Pan and the Australian collective Aphids, delves into our darker nature to find out
The Dead review: Joyce’s perfect story finds wonderfully playful expression in this Christmas gem
Theatre: Louise Lowe’s returning production honours Joyce without embalming him, letting his world breathe again
Lorde still has greatness within grasp. But at the RDS in Dublin, cool restraint settles into flat chill
Lorde at her best is magnetic, brooding, a touch menacing. She shouldn’t try to be too relatable
Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu: Ambitious novel reaches almost spiritual heights
Not just a love story but something sadder and more complicated
One of Us by Elizabeth Day: Darkly funny tale of envy and power
Tightly constructed thriller explores class and privilege in contemporary Britain
Cymande at Cork Jazz Festival: Easy, reaffirming rhythms of the 1970s
There’s an idealistic atmosphere here you don’t find much any more. It’s both reassuring and nostalgic
The Mirror Stage: ‘When you imagine a theatre show about psychosis, what do you see?’
Brokentalkers have teamed up with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to blend testimony, research and performance
Flashlight by Susan Choi: Family tragedy turned into political mystery
The American author’s latest novel connects a child’s trauma to political disappearances in Japan
Connie review: The deeply tragic life of an Irish actor who became a Hollywood star
Theatre: Pom Boyd stars in clever, entertaining portrayal of Constance Smith’s extraordinarily novelistic life
Pillow Queens at the NCH: A beautiful performance, but the messy, communal ache at the heart of the music is missing
These Pillow Queens songs belong to half-lit bars and the roar of a crowd that knows every word
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan: a family saga, ghost story and social history rolled into one
Debut novel tackles dark times with lightness and compassion
Caligula, at Dublin Theatre Festival, resonates as a meditation on tyranny and resistance
Dublin Theatre Festival 2025 review: This Ukrainian take on Camus’s play is a compelling political statement rather than convincing drama
Deaf Republic, at Dublin Theatre Festival, is daring, intricate and, above all, beautiful
Dublin Theatre Festival 2025 review: Dead Centre turn Ilya Kaminsky’s poetry into complex, layered, hallucinatory drama
Deep Burn by Brendan Mac Evilly: A rural Irish thriller that doubles as an art-world satire
Behind the art-world lampooning lies a portrait of the creative mind