Tea in a China Cup review: Before Derry Girls, there was Christina Reid’s knockout comedy
Amy Molloy, Mary Moulds, Marie Jones and Katie Tumelty star in Dan Gordon’s revival of the Belfast writer’s first play
Lyric Theatre
Michael Patrick, pioneering Irish actor, dies from motor neuron disease at 35
Actor was first with a disability to play Shakespeare’s Richard III on the island of Ireland, at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast in 2024
Lyric Theatre at 75: ‘It was as improbable then as it is now. It took real vision’
The Belfast cultural institution began life in 1951, when the indomitable Mary O’Malley formed Lyric Players Theatre
2026 on stage: 20 headline plays in the year ahead, including Jodie Comer in Prima Facie
From a portrait of a declining Judy Gardland to comedy, film adaptations and musicals, there’s much to look forward to in the coming year
Denouement review: A wedding anniversary that’s the end of the world
Belfast International Arts Festival: Patrick O’Kane and Anna Healy star in John Morton’s dark comedy for the Lyric Theatre
Tales from an Irish Persian kitchen: ‘Food is always about community, as is theatre. You’re sharing something really personal’
My English Persian Kitchen, by the Palestinian-Irish playwright Hannah Khalil, tells the story of the Belfast-based food writer Atoosa Sepehr
Irish architects have designed a new London neighbourhood. What could they do here?
A newspaper on a Tube journey led Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey to work on the flagship East Bank project
Patrick O’Kane on Denouement: ‘It’s a play about renewal in the face of an apocalypse’
Belfast International Arts Festival 2025: John Morton’s play deals with a struggling marriage faced with the ultimate existential disaster
Robin Glendinning: Founder member of North’s Alliance Party was noted playwright and poet
Teacher, politician and Irish-language enthusiast wrote dramas that reflected on the wider politics of Northern Ireland
The Velveteen Rabbit, reimagined: ‘I had to think what would persuade me to go to a children’s play and enjoy it’
Jan Carson and Duke Special are bringing Margery Williams’s classic book to the stage for Belfast Children’s Festival
Game of Thrones actor Conleth Hill: ‘I was resistant for a long time. I’m not into wizards’
The `Shakespearean' HBO fantasy brought the Northern actor to a wider audience, and he's not complaining
2025 on stage: 21 plays, operas and dance works to see over the next 12 months
From King Lear at the Gate to Dr Strangelove starring Steve Coogan, the coming year’s stage line-up includes jukebox musicals, period romcom and a play that probes the Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstake
The Tragedy of Richard III: Editing Shakespeare’s crude portrait of the disabled royal
Belfast International Arts Festival 2024: Oisín Kearney and Michael Patrick’s inventive staging exposes some of the play’s bile
Michael Patrick on Richard III: ‘It’s the first time on the island of Ireland a disabled actor has played this role’
‘We ask what happens when you have a life-threatening disease and only a few years to live,’ says the actor, who was diagnosed with MND last year
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices