Event of the week
Galway International Arts Festival
From Monday, July 14th, until Sunday, July 27th, various venues, times and prices, giaf.ie
Once more around the sun for Ireland’s most comprehensive arts festival, which this year further embeds accessibility into its programming. Highlights include photography (Joe O’Shaughnessy’s Druid, from Monday, July 14th, until Sunday, July 27th, Kenny Gallery, 9am-5pm, free), opera (Mars, from Friday, July 25th, until Sunday, July 27th, Leisureland, Salthill, 8pm, €40), Resistance to Trump: US congresswoman Pramila Jayapal in conversation with Fintan O’Toole (Saturday, July 26th, Bailey Allen Hall, University of Galway, 6pm, €15) and music (Richard Thompson, Sunday, July 27th, Monroe’s, 8pm, €40). A particular must-see is the unique Oh…, the new solo show by the long-time festival collaborator Mikel Murfi (various days, Galway Atlantaquaria, Salthill, 8pm, €25).
Gigs
The Script
Saturday, July 12th, Thomond Park, Limerick, 5pm, €82.80/€78.25/€67.40, ticketmaster.ie
Visiting Limerick as part of their Satellites world tour (named after their seventh album, from 2024), The Script continue to raise the flag for resilience. It is now more than two years since the death of Mark Sheehan, one of their original founders. Danny O’Donoghue and Glen Power (along with their long-term touring bass guitarist, Ben Sargeant) seem hell-bent on celebrating the power of positive thinking with their blend of arena-friendly pop/rock/R&B and more than a few anthemic ballads.
Jessica Pratt
Sunday, July 13th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €35, ticketmaster.ie
California’s hippie nostalgia, New York’s experimental inclinations and London’s swinging-sixties vibe run so much through Jessica Pratt’s 2024 album, Here in the Pitch, that you’re tempted to check the list of contributors to it. Is that Marianne Faithfull we hear, or Joni Mitchell? The Walker Brothers or The Beach Boys? Velvet Underground or Pentangle? The album is one of four that the Los Angeles-based musician has released since her self-titled debut, in 2012, and it more than consolidates her position as the best US singer-songwriter you’ve possibly never heard of. Well worth investigating.
Supergrass
Sunday, July 13th, Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, 6pm, €50.65, ticketmaster.ie
It’s third strike lucky for Supergrass, the Oxford band who re-formed for the second time last year. The main reason for returning is the 30th anniversary of their debut album, I Should Coco, which, as well as being nominated for the Mercury Prize, propelled the band to the forefront of the Britpop movement. Its single Alright, which reached the UK top three, only amplified their appeal. The band’s lead singer, Gaz Coombes, said the song wasn’t “supposed to be a rally cry for our generation”, but it and I Should Coco have remained just that, no matter the age of the listener.
RM Block
Visual arts
Summer Open Exhibition
Until Saturday, August 2nd, Swift Cultural Centre, Trim, Co Meath, Mon-Sat, 10am-4pm, free, swiftculturalcentre.ie
This inaugural art exhibition featuring the work of almost 50 local artists supports multidisciplinary projects that might not have been undertaken otherwise. Artists involved include Fiona Kerbey, Shane Holland, Annette Smyth, Thomas Hendy, Paula Jane Shuter, John Larkin and Lorraine Clarke. The artworks have been chosen by Belinda Quirke, director of both the Swift centre and Solstice Arts Centre, in Navan.
Musical
Kinky Boots: The Musical
Monday-Saturday, July 14th-19th, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €68.40/€60.90/€52.30/€41.05, ticketmaster.ie
Based on the British film from 2005, and with the bonus of songs by the US pop star Cyndi Lauper, Kinky Boots: The Musical arrives in Dublin for its penultimate run before concluding its tour in Oxford at the end of this month. A Tony and Olivier winner with a mix of show tunes and club bangers, it follows the (true) story of a shoe-factory owner who, in a bid to save his family business from closure, decides to produce fetish footwear for men.
Comedy
Taylor Tomlinson: Save Me
Sunday, July 13th, 3Arena, Dublin, 7pm, €59.85/€49.20, ticketmaster.ie
Taylor Tomlinson – one of the most-followed women comedians on TikTok – has, in the past five years, filmed three comedy specials for Netflix and presented the US panel show After Midnight (becoming the only woman host on late-night US television). Tomlinson’s Save Me tour, which mines her personal life for material, has its roots in her upbringing in a pious Christian community as well as the removal of her life from such controls. Topics addressed and insightfully ribbed include mental health, sexual preferences and dating.
Arts festival
Earagail Arts Festival
From Saturday, July 12th, until Saturday, July 26th, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, various venues, times and prices, eaf.ie
Thirty-eight years is a long time to keep the fires burning, but Earagail Arts Festival doesn’t seem to be tiring. Its broad range of events includes theatre/dance (Steps into the Wild & Miss Mary, Monday, July 14th, Gola Island, noon, free), music (Poor Creature, Friday, July 18th, Donegal Castle, 8pm, €20) and circus (Tumble, from Thursday, July 24th, until Saturday, July 26th, Ionad Cois Locha, Dunlewey, 3.30pm, €10/€6).
Still running
The Beacon
Until Saturday, July 19th, Everyman Theatre, Cork, 7.30pm, €39/€36, everymancork.com
Commissioned by Druid in 2016, Nancy Harris’s play receives a revival (and a Cork premiere). The story hinges on the renovation of a house on an island off the west Cork coast, and how notable feminist artist Beiv (Geraldine Hughes) oversees a deep-rooted, intriguing family mystery. Leonard Buckley and Ross O’Donnellan also feature. Sara Joyce directs.
Book it this week
Masters of Tradition Festival, Bantry, Co Cork, August 20th-24th, westcorkmusic.ie
Westport Festival of Chamber Music, Co Mayo, September 11th-14th, westportchambermusic.ie
Tom Odell, 3Arena, Dublin, October 23rd, ticketmaster.ie
Serena Terry, Cork Opera House, March 12th, serenaterry.com
