Everlasting Moments kicks off film club’s spring schedule

Fri, Jan 29, 2010

Ballina Film Club’s spring programme kicks off on Tuesday February 9 with Everlasting Moments. Jan Troell’s period drama tells the story of Maria (Maria Heiskanen), a simple woman married to a charming but hopeless redneck, who became a photographer at a time when no woman would have dreamt of embracing such a profession and no man, certainly not the kind of working class lout she had for a husband, would condone it. Maria wins a camera in a lottery, but ignores it for years, being far too busy working her fingers to the bone, first as a cleaning woman and then as a seamstress. One day she tries to sell the camera to the local photographer (Jesper Christensen), who insists she should try it first before getting rid of it and offers her some useful tips. This is the beginning of a beautiful platonic friendship which her husband hates and distrusts. Told in a precise, authoritative, manner, the dense fabric of the plot and all its various ingredients are put together in an exemplarily clear narrative, accompanied by a spectacular visual style. Film starts at 8pm. Admission is €7 and seasonal membership rates are available.

Finbar Hoban Presents returns to Castlebar

Fri, Jan 29, 2010

Finbar Hoban Presents returns after a long dark January month next Saturday night February 6 for the first weekend of spring as the long evenings begin to draw in. This is a re-scheduled gig from November, which was postponed due to bad weather. Bats who have toured Ireland with Adebisi Shank before could well be Ireland’s best kept secret. More bands like Bats need to write songs as snappy as the opener from their first EP Cruel Sea Scientist titled ‘Death to Kent Hovind’, heck it should be made compulsory.

Our Lady’s Belmullet present Chicago

Fri, Jan 22, 2010

Song, dance, drama, and suspense. These are only some of the luxuries you can expect from Chicago, the musical, courtesy of the transition year students of Our Lady’s Secondary School, Belmullet. The students have been working vigorously with the help of teachers Mr Mc Nally their musical director, Mr Slater their stage director and vocal tutor, Mr Chambers their musical supervisor and Mrs Boyce their choreographer for this fantastic production.

World cinema treat for film fans at the Linenhall

Fri, Jan 22, 2010

The next film in the Linenhall Film Club’s Spring season is the visually stunning The Good, The Bad, The Weird, South Korean director Kim Ji-woon’s homage to Sergio Leone’s seminal The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, set in the lawless badlands of Japanese-occupied 1930s Manchuria. A psychotic dandy gangster, a bounty hunter and an opportunistic small-time thief find themselves in a race to secure a stolen map, pursued by an international syndicate of bandits, some double-dealing drug dealers, and the amassed forces of the Japanese imperialist army. A film filled with train robberies, gun battles, knife fights, opium dens, horse chases and tense Mexican stand-offs, constant tonal surprise, occasional violence, offbeat comedic moments and grand action set-pieces. Energetic, stylish, outrageous - yes, it’s as amazing as it sounds.

Guided tour of Jack B Yeats and the West of Ireland at Ballina Arts Centre

Fri, Jan 22, 2010

Guided tour of Jack B Yeats and the West of Ireland at Ballina Arts Centre

Teen comedy for Belmullet

Fri, Jan 22, 2010

Ger Carey’s Psycho Spaghetti will appear here in Áras Inis Gluaire, Belmullet Arts Centre, on Tuesday January 26 at 11.30am. This is a brilliant comedy written specifically for young people aged between 15 and 18. This hilarious one-man show attempts to answer the age-old question: Just what is going on inside the teenage brain? The show aims to get teenagers to laugh at themselves and view themselves as part of a bigger picture.

This comedy shows takes a sideways look at being in your late teens and takes a comic look at those collective elements that make up the modern teenage brain. The influence of film and television, school life, home life, music, food, the mobile phone. The dream world of being rich and famous. The daftness of the average teenager!

St Patrick’s Drama group gear up for Makem and Clancy are Coming

Fri, Jan 15, 2010

This light-hearted, reminiscent play Makem and Clancy are Coming tells the story of two middle-aged brothers living in a small sea-side village in Ireland in the 1970’s.  Like most siblings their characters couldn’t be more different – Peter McCormack (played by Tony Varley) oozes sensitivity with a poetic approach to life whilst Michael, his brother (played by Liam MacNamara) prefers to use his quick wit with the bluntness of a sledgehammer!

Covies launches online

Fri, Jan 15, 2010

Ireland’s first ever online soap opera, Covies, set in Westport, Co Mayo, was officially launched last Sunday at a very special red carpet reception held in the Castlecourt Hotel, where the first three episodes of the soap will be shown at a private screening. The first episode of Covies debuted on Monday online on www.tvwestport.com

There’s still no Valentine’s show like a Joe show

Fri, Jan 08, 2010

Now the magic of Ireland’s best-loved and greatest entertainer is set to come back to Castlebar. The Reunion Show – On Tour, will feature the star himself, Joe Dolan, in an outstanding live production that reunites his former band mates, including his brother Ben and nephews Ray and Adrian, with a state of the art video-projected Joe. All music heard is performed live except for Joe’s vocals in this specially adapted touring show. Also, Ben Dolan will narrate the life story of his younger brother Joe, with whom he’d shared a stage for 47 fun-filled and much travelled years.

Jack B Yeats and the West of Ireland at Ballina Arts Centre

Fri, Jan 08, 2010

Throughout January and February Ballina Arts Centre will present Jack B Yeats and the west of Ireland, a special exhibition of the artist’s works from Sligo and Mayo.

Though Yeats was born in London, he spent most of his childhood in Sligo in the care of his maternal grandparents, often travelling around Sligo and Mayo with his grandfather, a wealthy merchant.

Hannah Montana and High School Musical tribute a real new year treat

Fri, Jan 08, 2010

Direct from sell a sell-out run at the Helix Theatre in Dublin, Hannah Montana and High School Musical fans are sure to get the best of both worlds when this magical tribute show arrives in Castlebar on Saturday January 9. It’s a foot stompin', all singin' and dancin' tribute feast that will have even mums and dads on their feet. This show is the culmination of three months’ intensive choreography, vocal coaching, and drama rehearsals for a team of fully trained young actors and performers from Britain.

Dazzling trad at the Linenhall leads the New Year line up

Fri, Jan 08, 2010

Four top Irish traditional musicians return to their native soil for The Homecoming, a night of dazzling music at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Thursday January 21 at 8pm.

E-paper

Read this weeks E-paper. Past editions also available from within this weeks digital copy.