Dublin Choristers New Dublin Voices sent us a link to their version of The Beatles’ Lady Madonna. They’re an Irish Chamber choir but they’re attempting to attract a new audience to choir singing by performing up-to-date and more exciting pieces. If you’re feeling attracted, you’ll catch all their dates and other bits over here: facebook.com/newdublinvoices. We note that they’ve released two CDs so they clearly mean business.
Fledging theatre company Outlandish Theatre have been in touch to give us a head’s up about their debut production ‘The Living Room’. Based on the ancient tale Bluebeard (which scared the bejaysus out of at least one member of the Culch.ie team as a child) it’s being performed in a ‘Georgian living room space’ at the Pearse Centre on Pearse Street and it’s happening from Mon 15th – Sun 21st of August at 8 pm, Matinees Thur/Sat/Sun at 2pm. The official blurb goes: “Story-telling is Mother Maria’s religion. Maria believes that the power of ‘Bluebeard’, an ancient Eastern European folk tale about sexual curiosity and the loss of innocence, will keep her daughter Lena from marrying Sebastian and ensure she stays with her forever. All Daughter Lena wants is to escape from her mother’s reign. Every night at 12 pm ‘story-time’ begins and the battle between the old and the new, and the eternal powers … There’s more
… what the FUCK you gonna do about it? Back for a last hurrah is THEATREclub’s divine ‘THEATREclub Stole Your CLOCK RADIO what the FUCK you gonna do about it?’ In the perfectly pitched words of THEATREclub themselves: On August 6th, at 8pm at Project Arts Centre, we are having a PARTY. A PARTY and a PLAY. We’re giving THEATREclub stole your CLOCK RADIO what the FUCK you gonna do about it? the epic going away party it deserves. The Culch gang were excited and delighted to see this show the first time around, you can check out our review here, and it’s only bleedin’ deadly to hear that it’s getting the send off it warrants. It’s a disjointed, engaging tale of the times we find ourselves in told from the points of view of three central teenage characters and now they tell us there’s the added bonus of a shindig. It’s your … There’s more
We spent a very sunny Saturday in a very black tent for The International Comedy Club show at The Vodafone Comedy Festival in the Iveagh Gardens last weekend. On the Thursday we caught Maeve Higgins, Tig Notaro and Eleanor Tiernan in an unexpectedly awesome all-female line-up. We can’t find official video from the weekend online just yet, but with Tig Notaro and Nick Thune being two brilliant new-t0-us acts that we’ve come away loving, we’re doing our duty to pop culture and telling you to check them out. The Comedy Fest, by the way, has lots of newfangled venue names like ‘The Cherry Top’ and ‘The V Room’ now that new sponsor Vodafone’s on board, but it’s still the same awesome weekend of comedy. Missing it and looking forward to next year already.
The Rubberbandits appear to have rode their horse outside all the way to America and pitched up on MTV’s front lawn and the teaser trailer for ‘Rubberbandits in NYC’ popped into Culch’s inbox today. It’s not that good but presumably they thought it was because everything is better with a bag of glue. Too hash harsh? I’ll be honest, I’m over the ‘bandits. Base humour about gays, fat people and getting off your face isn’t really sustainable after the first half-hearted lol. Mind you, the million+ views on all their songs tell a different story so clearly I’m just ancient. Thoughts, learned culchies? PS I tagged this post under ‘comedy’ and ‘performance art’ - now that’s funny.
In Galway for the races? Even if you’re not, read on for the chance of a free pint! There’s an open invite to the Galway Races Budweiser Ice Cold Index party at The Skeffington Arms Hotel in Eyre Square on Saturday from 4pm. Rugby star DJ Cian Healy is on the decks and Jennifer Maguire is MC for the Galway leg of the auditions to find Scott Campbell’s weather presenting co-star for a national TV campaign. The Budweiser Ice Cold Index (a smartphone app that gives you money off your pint on hot days ‘the hotter the day the less you pay’ if you haven’t heard the spiel) are holding three heats to find a co-star for their weatherman Scott Campbell. The Dublin date has already passed but there’s still a chance to try out in Galway on Saturday or next month in Cork. Each heat has one winner who … There’s more
Back on our pop culture radar is the annual Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival with their just-launched, kick-ass programme. In keeping with previous years, there’s plenty of variety and you’ll find it all here but if you’re a bit overwhelmed by the scale of it all, we have a few recommendations. For starters, we’re big fans of Chekhov. First introduced to team Culch via the Chekhov’s Comedy Shorts series on Sky Arts (find it if you can, it’s hilarious and unexpectedly crammed with big names), we’re looking forward to seeing two Chekhov-inspired works during the festival. “DONKA, A LETTER TO CHEKHOV” is pegged as an extravaganza of acrobatics and magic (it’s performed by acrobats and a troupe of clowns), inspired by Chekhov’s plays and diaries it’s promising to be surreal and escapist. (Gaiety Theatre, September 29th - October 2nd.) Meanwhile, “16 POSSIBLE GLIMPSES” focuses on the life and death of the … There’s more
Druid have announced that John B Keane’s ‘Big Maggie’ is set for the stage once more with a run in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre (November 11th - 19th) and Dublin’s Gaiety (November 21st - 26th). Culch.ie have announced that they’re rather delighted by the news! One of Keane’s best, it deals with all the go-to themes of Irish theatre: money, land, and in this case some secretive sex and black humour as title character Maggie, recently-widowed, becomes the steadfast matriarch in the face of her squabbling, inheritance-hungry children. If you’ve never seen or read Big Maggie then we recommend making it your business this time around. It’s ten years since Garry Hynes directed it for The Abbey and it was commended for how well it was brought into the modern day at the time (it originally premiered in 1969). Hynes is once more in the director’s chair for this production … There’s more
We’ve got our wristbands on, here we come, da da dum, we’ve got our wristbands on, hit and run, then we’re gone… Day 1 of Oxegen at saw team Culch arriving at Punchestown to the strains of Weezer before hitting up the new Captain Morgan tent to meet the man himself. From there we split up to hit My Chemical Romance, Tinie Tempah and Example before huddling together again for the first big rainfall of the festival at The Script. Friday impressions say the ground is squelchy and calls for wellies, the staff and security on-site are the best of helpful form and somehow, there seem to be more places to sit this year. Our recommendations so far include Crepes in the City (go for streaky bacon with cheese and salad leaves…yum); a cocktail from either Captain Morgan or the gang over at the Electric Ballroom; and getting your wellies … There’s more
We’re off to Oxegen. We were gonna write our own survival guide, but, well, this one’s pretty good, and funny, and we’re quite tired, sooo… reblogged with permission from the kind folk at Red Bull Ireland. It’s almost Oxegen time. This rite of passage rolls around but once a year but before you pull on your wellies we recommend you take a quick look at our Festival survival guide: You wake up face down on the grass. You are sunburnt, confused and everything you own is wet. Someone has drawn a disturbingly detailed penis on your back. A man with an obnoxiously large cowboy hat and a pair of luminous sunglasses stands over you, pointing and laughing. And to make matters worse you have slept through all of your favourite acts. Ok, so the above situation may be on the extreme and comical end of the spectrum but everyone has … There’s more
10 Days in Dublin, which kicks off on Thursday July 7th and runs all the way through to the following Saturday is something we very much like the look of. Covering music, theatre and comedy it’s got an excellent and awesomely cheap line up (seriously, most shows are a fiver) and you’ll definitely bump into some of team Culch at the gigs (in the unlikely event that bumping into us is a selling point for anyone). Happening across a few entirely likable venues (The Workman’s and The International for the music and comedy and a bunch of others for the theatre listings), here’s a breakdown of some of the things we recommend catching: Comedy Conor O’Toole’s Manual of Style - A new comedy show about font - The International - 6:30pm, Thursday 7th July - €5. It’s been described as ‘quirky and endearing’ by Chortle (aka The Comedy Bible). If … There’s more
We’re not normally fashion bloggers at Culch.ie but sometimes it’s hard to resist. Spotted on my Facebook newsfeed today, the latest from Dunnes Stores: Which reminded me of a recent Penney’s attempt to be down with the kids: About as cringey as when your mother says ‘LOL’.
We presume we’ve been fairly quick sticks about this because it’s only had 50-odd views at time of writing. Oh online platforms, how swift and deadly you are. They’re playing the Marquee in Cork on Friday, if you’re into that sort of thing. (Cork, we mean.)
We won’t really get to decide until October but the trailer gives us a preview of what’s to come. What do we think…. The reboot: Or the original: I’m of the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ persuasion myself.
Pictured are some of the lads and ladies who attended last week’s launch of Tonight It’s Miller Time. The shindig at Krystle, Harcourt Street, was to announce details of Miller’s Tonight Dublin, Tomorrow Ibiza event happening this Friday July 1st. 75 venues are taking part, 75 winners will be selected on the night and they and a friend will board Miller’s private flight to Ibiza for 24 hours on the club scene on July 2nd. Interested? Here’s the real money shot, details of the bars that are taking part…
