'I write in books as much as in individual poems'

Thu, Nov 03, 2016

GALWAY POET Mary O'Malley recently published her latest volume of poems, Playing the Octopus, her fourth collection with Carcanet Press and her eighth in all since her 1990 debut, A Consideration of Silk.

'So many passages in Playboy are almost songs anyway'

Thu, Oct 27, 2016

A PRIZE-winner in New York and an audience hit at Cúirt, Justin McCarthy and Diarmuid de Faoite’s rollicking musical version of Playboy of the Western World hits the Town Hall Theatre next week for a five night run.

'I approach it all in a pretty gentle way, but I'm nasty as hell'

Thu, Oct 13, 2016

WHEN AUSTRALIAN comedian Sam Simmons brings his award winning show, Not A People Person, to this month's Vodafone Comedy Carnival, it will be a double first debut for the Adelaide native.

Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards touches down at Comedy Carnival

Thu, Oct 06, 2016

AMONG THE many colourful characters rocking up in Galway for the Vodafone Comedy Carnival, few are more colourful than Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards, the unlikely star of 1988’s Winter Olympics in Calgary and Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic ski jumper.

The Queen Has Vanished – a play about loss and hope

Thu, Oct 06, 2016

THE BABORÓ International Children's Festival is just a couple of weeks away and one of the top attractions will be the Flemish ensemble Kopergietery, one of Europe’s most exciting theatre companies, with its original play, The Queen Has Vanished, a beautiful story that speaks about loss, sadness and hope.

Rubber souls

Thu, Sep 29, 2016

“A MAN is least himself when he talks in his own person,” observed Oscar Wilde. “Give him a mask and he’ll tell you the truth.” While Wilde would undoubtedly have sniffed at their suspect sartorial style - cheap tracksuits, gaudy jewellery, balaclavas expertly fashioned from plastic shopping bags - it seems likely he would have otherwise heartily approved of comedy hip-hop duo The Rubberbandits.

'It takes over your whole life'

Thu, Sep 29, 2016

THE COMPLEX subject of anorexia is addressed in a powerful, award-winning play, Overshadowed, written by Eva O’Connor, which comes to the Town Hall Theatre for one night only.

Whose Line is it Anyway? star Colin Mochrie in Comedy Carnival ‘improv summit’

Thu, Sep 22, 2016

IN THE 1980s and 1990s, Whose Line Is It Anyway? was the cream of Channel 4’s comedy output. It was unmissable, and spawned a host of spin-offs including the hugely successful US series of the same name. If you have ever watched the show you will understand that when it goes right it is the funniest thing ever. When it goes wrong, it’s even better.

'I can only write about immediate horror, like pulling a muscle in your back'

Mon, Sep 19, 2016

SO COW'S last album found him pondering the effect of his thirties, both personal and social, on his life, but his latest opus is full blown self consciousness about middle age, social anxiety, and backaches.

‘He’s a lonely guy but with a huge heart’

Thu, Sep 08, 2016

TWENTY YEARS after they gave the play its world premiere and it became one of the company’s greatest successes, Druid are revisiting The Beauty Queen of Leenane for a landmark new production which opens this month in the Town Hall Theatre.

'Whenever I hear Brahms' music I feel spine tinglingly alive'

Wed, Sep 07, 2016

SYBIL FAWLTY may not have appreciated the eternal genius of Johannes Brahms, calling his Symphony No 3 "that racket". Thankfully Galway has a better appreciation of the man's music than Basil's "little nest of vipers".

'I've always had a love affair with innuendo'

Thu, Sep 01, 2016

WHEN AL Porter first discovered Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd, he declared "I have found my people", seeing in their bawdy, innuendo laden, humour, a sense of mirth chiming very deeply with his own.

Proust Questionnaire

Thu, Aug 18, 2016

Sharon Nolan is a bisexual rainbow-haired activist living in Galway city. She’s also the director of social media on the 2016 Galway Pride Festival committee.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

The joyful sounds of The Dustbowl Revival

Thu, Aug 11, 2016

BLUEGRASS, SWING, hot jazz, pre-war blues, Southern soul, New Orleans funk - The Dustbowl Revival is an American roots orchestra with eight full-time members — and they play it all, mashing the sounds of traditional American music into a genre-hopping, time-bending, dance party.

'It's a name that suits the kind of music we produce'

Thu, Aug 04, 2016

"OVERHEAD THE albatross, hangs motionless upon the air, and deep beneath the rolling waves, in labyrinths of coral caves, an echo of a distant time, comes willowing across the sand, and everything is green and submarine."

Of veils and voyeurs

Thu, Jul 28, 2016

THE TOWN Hall Theatre bar is currently hosting a fine photography exhibition by Irish artist Tony Carragher which is well worth making the effort to catch before it finishes on August 10.

'You can’t beat the live experience'

Thu, Jul 21, 2016

ONE OF the hottest Irish acts on the circuit right now is soulful Cork troubadour Brian Deady, whose latest album, Non-Fiction, has met with wide critical acclaim. The Sunday Times called it "bare-knuckle and remarkable" while The Irish Times declared Deady as "a new soul star".

'I couldn't believe people had no problem with who I was'

Thu, Jul 14, 2016

THERE IS no standing still in the world of Villagers' leader, vocalist, and songwriter Conor J O'Brien. The Ivor Novello winning, Mercury Prize nominated, artist has undergone a prolific last 18 months, releasing two albums and seeing his music evolve in new and different directions.

'Galway is always special'

Thu, Jul 14, 2016

AMONG THE many storming music gigs I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in Galway, one of them was the first time I saw Hothouse Flowers, all of 30 years ago, during the arts festival, when they raised the roof and rocked the joint big time at the Burren Mount Hotel.

Take a journey through the life of Eileen Gray

Thu, Jul 07, 2016

EILEEN GRAY defied categorisation throughout her long life. Born in Enniscorthy, Wexford, in 1878, she was one of the foremost furniture designers and architects of the last century, with her iconic Dragon Chair fetching the highest ever price at auction for a piece of 20th century furniture, yet many people are not familiar with her.

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