Event of the week
Ricky Gervais: Mortality
Wednesday, March 26th, and Thursday, March 27th, 3Arena, Dublin, 7pm, €46.95, ticketmaster.ie
Before he became a stand-up comedian, in the late 1990s, Ricky Gervais worked in music (he was an early manager of Suede), radio and sketch-based TV comedy shows. Then, in 2001, the BBC broadcast the first series of The Office – since then he has made and starred in a string of comedies, including Extras and, most recently, After Life. He has interspersed these with his immensely successful stage shows Humanity, Supernature and Armageddon, all of which have become Netflix specials. Mortality – which has yet to be filmed – is his latest tour. In keeping with the couldn’t-care-less approach exemplified by his scathing opening monologue at the 2020 Golden Globe awards, expect snarly, divisive satire that is equally funny and not at all for the faint of heart.
Gigs
Shobsy
Saturday, March 22nd, Whelan’s, Dublin, 8pm, €19.90, ticketmaster.ie
Shobsy, aka Shane O’Brien, the former lead singer of the Irish band State Lights, has become the definition of a solo act, with a magnetic presence, a wholly unfair share of charisma and a terrific voice. He recently signed a worldwide music-publishing deal that will, if the stars align, benefit his career no end. Of more immediate concern is this Dublin show, which will showcase Shobsy’s sparkly, disco-leaning recent material, including the tracks Champagne, Entertainment, Driven and The Way We Are. Put on your dancing shoes, people.
The Game
Monday, March 24th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €55.85, ticketmaster.ie
Jayceon Terrell Taylor, aka the Game, released his debut album, Untold Story, independently in 2004. By 2005 he had signed to Dr Dre’s Aftermath Records. Once under the major-label mentorship of such a hip-hop notable (as well as being guided by the likes of Kanye West, 50 Cent and Eminem), he set about writing songs based on his life, from his foster-home childhood to his rapidly building rap career. “I know everybody was expecting gang-bang, 40-ounce, low-rider music,” he told the New York Times in 2015, “but that’s not what I gave them.” Those tracks became his second album, The Documentary, consolidating The Game as one of US hip-hop’s dominant figures. He marks the 20th anniversary of its release with a rare Irish show. Support comes from the Drogheda rapper Offica.
[ Author Jess Kidd: ‘My daughter said: Mum, do you think you might be autistic?’Opens in new window ]
Colin Meloy
Tuesday, March 25th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €49, ticketmaster.ie
The Decemberists hold a special place for fans of songs with firmly drawn characters and elaborate narratives. With that Portland indie folk-rock band resting between tours, Colin Meloy, their audience-friendly cofounder, squeezes in an Irish show, during which he will perform a mixture of Decemberists material and selections from his five solo EPs, which cover songs by Shirley Collins, The Kinks, Morrissey and Sam Cooke, among others.
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Her ‘no’ was clear. She did not want to go home with him. Still he went on. And on
Classical
Jonathan Biss and the National Symphony Orchestra
Friday, March 28th, NCH, Dublin, 7.30pm, €39/€29, nch.ie
The American pianist Jonathan Biss plays Brahms’ spirited Piano Concerto No 1, one of the most regularly performed of all piano concertos, followed by Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, which references the composer’s infatuation with the Irish actor Harriet Smithson. Lio Kuokman conducts. After the concert, in a public interview with the psychologist and writer Dr Tony Bates, Biss will talk about his experiences with anxiety and his coping mechanisms. This in-conversation event, in the NCH studio, is free to concert ticket holders on a first come, first served basis.
Visual art
Kunstkammer
From Saturday, March 22nd, until Sunday, October 26th, Lismore Castle, Co Waterford, lismorecastlearts.ie
To celebrate 20 years of Lismore Castle Arts, the culture writer Robert O’Byrne has curated this exhibition named after the German word for a private cabinet of artistic curiosities – a collection of offbeat, esoteric or uncommon objects alongside more expensive works. O’Byrne aims to reference such displays’ ambition to nurture knowledge through encounter. The exhibition, which features Dorothy Cross, Joseph Walsh, Ed Miliano, Alice Maher and the Turner Prize nominee Monster Chetwynd, among others, will be accompanied by talks, screenings and other events.
Stage
Happiness Then ...
From Monday, March 24th, until Saturday, April 12th, Bewley’s Cafe Theatre, Dublin, 1pm, €15/€12/€10, bewleyscafetheatre.com
Two sisters meet for the first time since their mother’s funeral, but despite a deep-rooted mutual need for support, their decades-long conflict continues to chafe. In Elizabeth Moynihan’s play, Bridget (Rachel Dowling) and Frances (Sorcha Furlong) channel, respectively, high anxiety and deep confusion as they discuss a former husband (gender transitioned), a missing son (drug addicted) and what it may or may not take to be a perfect woman in an imperfect world. Liam Halligan directs.
Arts festival
Five Lamps Arts Festival
From Monday, March 24th, until Sunday, April 6th, various venues, times and prices, Dublin, fivelampsarts.ie
Approaching its 20th year as a resourceful and artistically motivated community arts event, this year’s Five Lamps festival has a programme that includes a retrospective of the sculptural work of Joe Moran (Ilac Shopping Centre, 10am-8pm, free) and poetry readings by Paula Meehan and Theo Dorgan (James Joyce Centre, Saturday, March 29th, 6.30pm, €10). Full details are on the festival website.
Still running
The Flying Dutchman
From Sunday, March 23rd, until Saturday, March 29th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €74/€59/€34, ticketmaster.ie
Irish National Opera (INO) stages its first Wagner – and it’s one with a memorable score and emotional depth: the titular Dutchman is forced to traverse the oceans until he finds true love. The cast includes Giselle Allen (soprano), Jordan Shanahan (baritone) and Carolyn Dobbin (mezzo-soprano). Fergus Sheil, INO’s artistic director, conducts.
