The Guide: Ruby Wax, St Vincent, Crowded House and other events to see, shows to book and ones to catch before they end

October 12th-18th, 2024: The best movies, music, art and more coming your way this week

Ruby Wax: at Everyman, Cork, on Thursday, October 17th, and Theatre Royal, Waterford, on Friday, October 18th
Ruby Wax: at Everyman, Cork, on Thursday, October 17th, and Theatre Royal, Waterford, on Friday, October 18th

Event of the week

Ruby Wax

Thursday, October 17th, Everyman, Cork, 8pm, €35, everymancork.com; Friday, October 18th, Theatre Royal, Waterford, 8pm, €35, theatreroyal.ie

Visiting Ireland to tie in with the publication of her latest book, I’m Not as Well as I Thought I Was, the comedian Ruby Wax leans into the potentially problematic mix of squeezing laughs out of serious topics – in her case checking into a mental-health clinic in 2022 (which, she writes, “wasn’t exactly on my radar”). But, as Wax is a long-established pro (as well as the author of How to Be Human: The Manual), a smoothly delivered combination of jokes and mindfulness is guaranteed. Her tour of Ireland continues on Saturday, October 19th, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin; Sunday, October 20th, Mac, Belfast; Monday, October 21st, Lark, Balbriggan, Co Dublin; Tuesday, October 22nd, Town Hall Theatre, Galway.

Gigs

St Vincent

Sunday, October 13th, 3Olympia, Dublin, 7.30pm, €49.90, ticketmaster.ie
St. Vincent: 3Olympia, Dublin, on Sunday, October 13th
St. Vincent: 3Olympia, Dublin, on Sunday, October 13th

The creative shapeshifter Anne Clark, who began her music career as a member of the choral rock band Polyphonic Spree and of Sufjan Stevens’s touring band, has long mined a rich countercultural seam. Songs from her latest album, All Born Screaming (“post-plague pop”, as Clark describes them) will mostly feature here, but fans can rest assured that previous albums such as Masseduction (2017) and Daddy’s Home (2021) will be dutifully represented.

Crowded House

Monday, October 14th, 3 Arena, Dublin, 7pm, €54.85, ticketmaster.ie

You only have to list a handful of songs – Don’t Dream It’s Over, Something So Strong, Four Seasons in One Day, Distant Sun – to realise how vivid a mark New Zealand’s Neil Finn and Crowded House have left on the pop music landscape. You could easily add another dozen to that brief inventory. Next year, with Finn and bassist Nick Seymour as the sole constant members, the band celebrates its 40th birthday, but it will surely continue with the recent additions of Finn’s sons, Liam and Elroy. You’ll leave the venue whistling the tunes, whatever the weather.

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi

Thursday, October 17th, Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €35, eventbrite.ie
Rhiannon Giddens performs a charity concert in aid of Ruhama and Solas on Thursday, October 17th at Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin
Rhiannon Giddens performs a charity concert in aid of Ruhama and Solas on Thursday, October 17th at Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin

When it comes to stretching creative envelopes without breaking them, Rhiannon Giddens (in partnership with Francesco Turrisi) is world-renowned. Expect the usual exemplary performance from “one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet”, as American Songwriter describes her. This is a charity concert in aid of Ruhama, which offers nationwide support to women affected by prostitution, sex trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation, and of Sonas, which supports women experiencing domestic abuse.

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Opera

Wexford Festival Opera

From Friday, October 18th, until Saturday, November 2nd, various venues, times and prices, wexfordopera.com
Le Maschere, by Pietro Mascagni, features at Wexford Festival Opera
Le Maschere, by Pietro Mascagni, features at Wexford Festival Opera

With 70 events over 16 days, including three main-stage operas – Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali, by Gaetano Donizetti, from 1827; Le Maschere, by Pietro Mascagni, from 1901; and The Critic, by Charles Villiers Stanford, from 1916 – and two Pocket Operas (including work by Alberto Caruso with a libretto by Colm Tóibín), Wexford Festival Opera has set the stage for another series of innovative experiences. In addition, this year’s Festival Forum features a public interview with Garry Hynes, cofounder and artistic director of Druid theatre company.

Literature

Murder One 2024

From Thursday, October 17th, until Sunday, October 20th, DLR Lexicon, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, various times and prices, murderone.ie

It’s all in the details, right? Murder One returns to the scene of previous adventures with a line-up of notable crime-fiction figures. Highlights include a masterclass with Catherine Ryan Howard, public interviews with the bestselling authors Peter James and Steve Cavanagh, and themed discussions about the sometimes unpredictable nature of friendship (with Karen Perry), adapting books for the small screen (with Jo Spain and Jane Casey) and the importance of location in crime novels (with Stuart Neville).

Poetry

Brian Bilston

Friday, October 18th, Ambassador Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €24, ticketmaster.ie
Writer Brian Bilston: Friday, October 18th, Ambassador Theatre, Dublin
Writer Brian Bilston: Friday, October 18th, Ambassador Theatre, Dublin

“The Banksy of the poetry world” and “the poet laureate of Twitter” are but two descriptions of Brian Bilston, the 54-year-old British writer who in the past 10 years has written more whimsical and gently satirical poems than anyone surely has a right to read. On the page, form plays a part in the enjoyment, as poems can appear as spreadsheets, diagrams and Scrabble clues. Off the page? The success of Bilston’s live shows could hinge on his performance skills, which by all accounts pivot between well-honed comic timing, poker-faced delivery and very clever yet heartfelt wordplay.

Photography

Ruth Medjber: Her, Allure

From Tuesday, October 15th, until Saturday, October 19th, Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin, free, photomuseumireland.ie
Image from Her, Allure, by Ruth Medjber, from Tuesday, October 15th, until Saturday, October 19th, Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin
Image from Her, Allure, by Ruth Medjber, from Tuesday, October 15th, until Saturday, October 19th, Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin

Her, Allure is billed as a “photographic odyssey” through the work and career of the Dublin photographer Ruth Medjber. From her teenage years taking photos of emerging bands to being Hozier’s on-tour photographer (not forgetting her official coverage of the Glastonbury festival for the BBC, and her remarkable pandemic portrait collection, Twilight Together), Medjber has always had a restless but fortifying impulse to connect. She’ll take part in a public interview with the musician MayKay (who features across a sequence of exhibition images) at Photo Museum Ireland on Saturday, October 19th, at 1pm.

Still running

Kerry International Film Festival

From Thursday, October 17th, until Sunday, October 20th, various venues, times and prices, kerryfilmfestival.com
The documentary Housewife of the Year opens the Kerry International Film Festival, Thursday, October 17th, until Sunday, October 20th
The documentary Housewife of the Year opens the Kerry International Film Festival, Thursday, October 17th, until Sunday, October 20th

Twenty-five years later and Kerry International Film Festival is still going strong. Must-sees include the schedule of short films across the weekend, the documentary (and opening film) Housewife of the Year, and a special screening of the forthcoming Cillian Murphy film Small Things Like These.

Book it this week

Marble City Music Festival, Kilkenny/Cork, November 28th-December 6th, marblecitymusicfestival.com

Jarlath Regan, 3Olympia, Dublin, January 8th-11th, ticketmaster.ie

Ralph McTell, nationwide tour, April 24th-May 18th, ralphmctell.com

Remembering Christy Dignam, Vicar Street, Dublin, May 29th, ticketmaster.ie

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in popular culture