Top Irish theatre company Prime Cut Productions brings Marina Carr’s remarkable and critically acclaimed play Woman and Scarecrow to the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Monday March 23 at 8pm.
A mother of eight and wife of an unfaithful husband lies on her deathbed, surveying her life and imagining what could have been: “Happiness! Everyone thinks they have a God-given right to it. Sure it’s only a recent invention of the Sunday papers.” Full of black humour and brutal honesty Woman and Scarecrow is a passionate and moving lament for a life half-lived.
Written by one of Ireland’s leading playwrights, Woman and Scarecrow is a fresh new production by Prime Cut, a company at the forefront of contemporary international theatre in Ireland, directed by Emma Jordan and starring Gina Moxley, Kathy Kiera Clarke and Frank O’Sullivan. Don’t miss an evening of theatre at its best. Prime Cut’s production of Woman and Scarecrow comes to the Linenhall Arts Centre on Monday March 23 at 8pm.
Johnny Duhan at the Linenhall
Veteran singer/songwriter Johnny Duhan brings his acclaimed talents to the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Wednesday March 18 at 8pm.
Johnny Duhan's songs such as “The Voyage” and “Don’t Give Up Till It’s Over” have been brought to world-wide audience by Christy Moore, The Dubliners, The Irish Tenors, Tommy Fleming, and many other Irish and international singers. After the success of his “Just Another Town” tour in 2008, Johnny's new show charts his years on the road with seminal sixties Irish band Granny's Intentions, “tilting for fame and the girl”. Many of these songs have already been popularised by the likes of Mary Black, Mary Coughlan, Dolores Keane, Eleanor Shanley and Ronnie Drew. Johnny is a songwriter’s songwriter and a sensitive and passionate performer highly respected by fans and peers alike for the depth and maturity of his music. Experience the reality for yourselves.
Mayo male voice choir
Mayo Male Voice Choir makes a welcome return visit to the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar for two concerts of choral music with special guests Donna Malone and David Durham, on Thursday March 26 and February March 27 at 8pm.
Since it was established in 2000, Mayo Male Voice Choir has grown from strength to strength and now boasts 48 members from all over Mayo, under the accomplished musical direction of Deirdre Lee. Featured guest on this occasion is Ballina native Donna Malone, who has been described as having one of the most astonishing and mature soprano voices of her generation, and has performed internationally with the Celtic Tenors. The concerts also feature regular guest baritone and international star David Durham, who recently played the lead role in The English Chamber Opera Co production of Don Giovanni. Enjoy an evening of mellifluous choral music, Mayo style. Mayo Male Voice Choir performs at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Thursday March 26 and Friday March 27 at 8pm. Booking advised. Tel: 094 9023733
Top musical theatre at the Linenhall
Described as “a work of genius”, Bruiser Theatre Company brings its dazzling production of Oh What A Lovely War! to the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Monday April 6 at 8pm.
On foot of last year’s unforgettable production of Candide, Bruiser is back with Joan Littlewood’s brilliant satirical musical that is one of the great landmarks of post-war British theatre. It is 1914 and Europe is on the brink of war. Armed with sketches, songs, and stories, a cast of Pierrot clowns mix their sombre buffoonery with the bawdy, tough, humour of the lads on the front line. Along the way the story is marked by a fantastic collection of songs from the Great War. Oh What A Lovely War! is a groundbreaking, moving, funny, lyrical evocation of the tragedy and pathos of World War I. A night of top musical theatre on the cards.
Will O’Keane at the Linenhall
The Lure of Presentiment, an exhibition of recent portrait-based paintings by Castlebar-born artist Will O’Kane, continues at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar for the month of March. In Will’s own words: “The artwork I make is focused primarily on the human figure. Although I create images based on the physical appearance of specific people I am also concerned with the notion of individuality, in a general sense. Inspiration for a painting can come about from myriad sources — newspaper articles, an interesting photograph of a person in a unique situation, or even just a person’s manner and body language. Once the painting is under way, what inspired the work becomes less significant and I consider more the aesthetic experience that will be put in place for the audience. Colour and balance become important and I hope that something new will come about that is not merely an illustration of the source material. I aim to keep an eye on how all the paintings fit together, so that a more general idea can be implied from the collection of work as a whole.” What is clearly evident in Will’s work is a combination of craft and aesthetic that is both engaging and confirmation of a potent and impressive artistic vision. The exhibition runs until Saturday March 28
La Zona next up for the film club
The next Linenhall Film Club screening is the Mexican contemporary thriller La Zona. When three teenagers from the other side of the tracks enter the wealthy residential estate of Mexico City’s ‘The Zone’, they’re ill-prepared for what awaits them: a world unto itself, protected by high gates and private security guards. As their break-in goes badly wrong, the boys panic and the true colours of the inhabitants are revealed when they resist a police investigation in favour of vigilantism. Rodrigo Plá's short sharp shock of a thriller is a Ballardian moral fable about fear, paranoia, exclusion and the uncomfortable relationship that exists between rich and poor.
Full details about the Linenhall Film Club and its forthcoming programme from the Linenhall Arts Centre. Tel: 094 9023733 And check out the great ‘Season Package’ deal! Linenhall Film Club is a member of access>CINEMA, promoting the development of regional cultural cinema in Ireland. access>CINEMA is a member of the International Federation of Film Societies.
