On Thursday, October 6, Ballina Arts Centre will present: An Evening with Mike Absalom. The Swinford-based painter, poet, raconteur, multi-instrumentalist, multi-linguist, potter, printmaker, songwriter – the list goes on – has done it all. Forty-odd years ago, he performed at the Royal Albert Hall. Monty Python’s Flying Circus hired him to distract a studio audience during scene changes. This brought songwriting success and the Old Grey Whistle Test and endless tours. And then he flew away and like a bee in a flower garden touched down in so many honeyed spots that there is no space here to list them. From Tierra del Fuego to the Yukon, from Iran to Paraguay and even for the World Harp Congress he sang and wrote and told stories and played his harp or his guitar. Now he’s coming to tell them here at home.
This intimate evening will feature Mike reminiscing about his career in the arts, interspersed with tunes and songs. Booking is advised and the show starts at 8pm.
Ballina Film Club presents Snap
Ballina Film Club continues to present the best in independent and international arthouse cinema next week (Tuesday, October 4, at 8pm ), with Snap, the first feature from acclaimed playwright Carmel Winters.
A constant air of mystery pervades this mesmerising psychological drama. As Sandra (Aisling O'Sullivan ) divulges her side of the story to a documentary crew, the film flashes back to an incident involving her 15-year-old son, Stephen (Stephen Moran ), who abducted a toddler and held him captive in his grandfather's home. We don't know why Stephen took the child, nor what he will do with him; we only see them playing games and watching old home movies. As the film oscillates between Stephen in the past and Sandra in the present; their stories begin to unravel and soon the puzzle pieces fit together to reveal the full picture of the abduction.
First-time writer/ director Winters brings a quiet intensity to her debut, creating an unsettling but tantalising atmosphere. Admission is €5.
