The final week. One more week of adventure. And if you thought it couldn’t get any better then think again!
MONDAY
Tonight is the second night of Camille at the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent. Last night’s show was just fabulous and, as you’d expect, both shows are completely sold out. If you were lucky enough to get tickets then enjoy. The Hairy Ape and The Magic Tree continue all week – they are both great productions, some of the best theatre to be seen in Cork this year.
TUESDAY
Tuesday sees a lovely family show open at the Unitarian Church. Storybear is from the acclaimed Puca Puppets and is an interactive story-telling show from this award winning puppet theatre. Performances are at 11am and 3pm. And Cleaner is still running all week at 1pm at the Unitarian Church – it’s a really touching puppet/animation performance for an adult audience. Tonight at the Half Moon Theatre Lebanese theatre maker Rabih Mroué performs the Irish premiere of Make Me Stop Smoking. I first saw Rabih’s work in London a few years back and was stunned by its imagination, humanity and inventiveness. His performances take the format of multi-media lectures using dozens of anonymous personal documents, videos and newspaper clippings he has collected over the years. One of Lebanon’s most celebrated contemporary theatre makers this is Rabih’s first visit to Ireland. Meanwhile at the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent Mick Flannery plays the first gig of his much anticipated second album. The Irish Examiner Spiegeltent is open till 1am on week nights for The Last Resort.
WEDNESDAY
Time to catch up on the shows you’ve missed so far. The Magic Tree, Make Me Stop Smoking and The Hairy Ape are all playing today. You can still take an Audio Detour at any time during the day, starting from the box office in Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre, and Storybear and Cleaner are on at the Unitarian Church. The Irish Examiner Spiegeltent plays host to an evening of great jazz from The Bones of Cork.
THURSDAY
Preparations are well under way at the IAWS warehouse in the docklands for the opening of Robodock. As I write this the Robodock crew is traveling to Cork. They’ve been working on the show for the last few weeks in Amsterdam and the Cork Midsummer Festival production team has been sourcing old cars for the Robohand to crush. The Irish Examiner Spiegeltent presents one of the most talked about gigs in Cork this year. Mark E. Smith and The Fall come to the Cork Midsummer Festival to play their first Cork gig in a number of years. There are still a few tickets left. And so the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent goes out on a bang!
FRIDAY
They might be taking down the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent in Emmet Place but the Cork docklands are a hive of activity today. That’s because the robots have come to town! The two day finale of the Midsummer Festival sees Holland’s Robodock Festival present their first Irish residency. Regarded by many as Europe’s answer to Burning Man, Robodock is a festival of arts, technology and a huge dose of imagination and fun. It’s family friendly and plays at 3pm and 7pm today and at 3pm and 8pm tomorrow.
SATURDAY
The final day of the festival. Sob. And there’s plenty to do on this last day. Robodock, The Hairy Ape, The Magic Tree, the last performance of Cleaner. And for music fans we’ve got the first ever Irish gig from fantastic US purveyors of bluegrass The Hunger Mountain Boys. The gig takes place at the beautifully restored Pavilion on Carey’s Lane.
Monday, June 30, 2008
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR’S GUIDE TO WEEK 3
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
IMG00047.jpg
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld
IMG00046.jpg
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR'S GUIDE WEEK 2
SUNDAY
First night for K:The Iowa Project from brilliant Cork theatre company Hammergrin.
Julian Fox in You’ve Got To Love Dancing To Stick To It at the Half Moon. This was by far my favourite show at the Edinburgh Festival last year – sad, warm and very funny.
Cork Guitar Poets play a lazy afternoon in the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent followed by The Last Resort.
MONDAY
Week 2 has lots of great new shows opening. If you didn’t catch K:The Iowa Project or You’ve Got To Love Dancing To Stick To It tonight might be a good night as there are loads more treats later on in the week. Corcadorca have a preview performance of the much anticipated The Hairy Ape. Can’t wait – I’m going on Tuesday, the opening night. We’ve a family show up at the Firkin Crane: Aesop’s Fabulous Foibles and Fables runs all week at 11am most days. Meanwhile in the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent lunchtimes kick-off with auditions for our very own Midsummer Festival talent show Yurah Langer! Whether your showing off your hidden talents or you’ve just come to gawk at the pot-pouri of human oddity (whoops! Meant talent, honest!), it’s a great way to spend a lunchtime. If you fancy something a bit artier for lunch then there’s a great piece of animation theatre starting today at the Unitarian Church – Cleaner runs from today till the end of the festival (we give them Sunday 29 June off for good behaviour). That night back at the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent Cork band Jodavino launch their new album with an exclusive gig and later at The Last Resort you can catch the unstoppable David Hoyle as he unleashes the lunchtime heat winners of Yurah Langer! onto an unsuspecting public…. Anything could happen when David’s around and probably will (as those of you who saw the first night of The Last Resort already know!).
TUESDAY
First night of The Hairy Ape. Last chance to see You’ve Got To Love Dancing To Stick To It. Aine Duffy and Rulers of the Planet play an exclusive double bill Disco Boogie for Death Rockers in the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent (if only I was earning a tenner every time I write that!). Catch more of Yurah Langer! at lunchtime. All ends with late night japes at The Last Resort – comedy, karaoke, dancing the night away with the house band Toninio dos Santos and The Fire Angels.
WEDNESDAY
We’ve added an extra performance of Sensazione – be the first to see this amazing show at this exclusive preview performance at 7.45pm at Mardyke Walk. Be the envy of all your friends. Once is just not enough. I’ve seen this show over 4 times now and there is simply so much going on, it’s such a feast for all the senses that I’ve never managed to see or do absolutely everything on offer. It’s suitable for families but there are some rides where height restrictions may apply. I went with an 8 year-old and a 5 year-old in London. The 8 year-old could go on all the rides except for one of them and the 5 year-old loved the actors, the stories and the carnival. It’s a piece which really has the power to bring out the inner child in everyone. Simply the most fun to be had in Cork this week. For music fans we’ve got another exclusive gig at the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent: The Frank & Walters play their seminal album Grand Parade in its entirety.
THURSDAY
First night of Sensazione. There are 3 start times: 6.30pm, 7,45pm and 9pm. If you come to an earlier session you can actually stay for as long as you like. Each session lasts around 80 minutes at which point the show starts again and new ticket holders enter. There is simply so much to do: follow a story, visit the fortune teller, ride the Big Dipper or the Globoswing. If you help out by powering one of the rides they give you a token which entitles you to a drink at the free bar. Thursday also sees the first of 3 concerts performed by the legendary Scullion each night at Triskel. For each concert they will be joined by different special guests. We’ve also got the first preview of The Magic Tree at the Granary Theatre: written and directed by UCC graduate Ursula Rani Sarma this is a great new Irish play by one of Ireland’s most exciting young playwrights. If you liked Braakland be sure not to miss The Magic Tree. There’s a day packed full of nostalgia at the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent (might just call it the Examo-Spieg for short): a Summer Afternoon Tea Dance followed by Cork’s favourite swingsters in Doublteime Goes Overboard. Fancy something to do at lunch then Audio Detour and Cleaner are still running till the end of the festival and Yurah Langer! is sure to lower the tone of any lunchtime.
FRIDAY
There are two great shows opening up at the Firkin Crane today. A fab kids show called I Can’t Sleep by comedian and children’s author David O’Doherty. It’s performed by David himself and Cork comedian Maeve Higgins. It’s a real treat. We’ve also got a great dance piece from Croi Glan. Croi Glan is a great new physically integrated dance company combining the skills of disabled and able-bodied dancers. Their work is passionate, intensely physical and very visceral: they are my big recommendation for Friday. Also today, the much anticipated Taste of Cork comes to town for a 3 day stint up at Cork City Gaol. Once you have eaten your fill why not get yourself down to Red Hot Gypsy Soul Night at the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent: sure to be steamy and passionate (go easy on the garlic there now lads!).
SATURDAY
This is going to be a great day. There is simply so much on. Why not start the day with a little Audio Detour while your partner takes the kids to see one of our great family shows at the Firkin Crane. Then there’s Cleaner at the Unitarian Church. Get to Taste of Cork in the afternoon followed by Sensazione to work it all off as you power our recycled funfair. The evening will be electric with so many great shows and gigs to choose from: whether it’s a big theatre spectacle like The Hairy Ape, the weird and wonderful K: The Iowa Project, a night with Scullion or reliving the past at the Ballroom of Romance at the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent, you’re sure to have a ball. For theatre-heads the brilliant Victoria theatre company from Belgian make their Cork premiere with Propositions: 1 & 2. Victoria have had 2 smash hits in recent years at the Dublin Theatre Festival and this piece is pure magic. It’s set in an empty retail unit behind the Reel Picture Cinema in Blackpool Retail Park. And why not wash it all down with a glass of The Last Resort (groan!) with sommelier David Hoyle (his is a white wine spritzer). I happen to know David’s going to have some very special guests joining him Friday and Saturday night. Also Saturday is press night for The Magic Tree.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sensazione: extra performance added
We've added an extra performance day to Sensazione: the theatrical funfair. You can now be the first to see this incredible show (and be the envy of all your friends) by coming along to this very special preview performance on Wednesday 25 June at 7.45pm at Mardyke Walk in Cork city. We are offering a special preview two-for-one deal (while stocks last!). Hurry, hurry, hurry!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Life Shop Till You Drop
Just to annonuce there will be a post show talk after the 11am performance of Life Shop Till You Drop tomorrow. The show takes place at the Unitarian church on Princes Street.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Day of the Spencer Tunick installation
It happened this morning! Just over 1100 people came to Blarney Castle at 3am to be part of the biggest participatory artwork Ireland has ever seen. The atmosphere was exhilarating. The sense of togetherness was so strong and there was such a great rapour between Spencer and the participants. Look out for the photographs in the newspapers. They are very special. A big, big thank you to everyone who took part and to all of our volunteers who made the event run so smoothly.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Pick of the Festival: week 1
Well, it's festival time! We are finally here. We've been cooking it up for the last 12 months and it's finally about to begin.
At the beginning of each week I will give you my personal recommendations of how to get the best out of the festival programme and pack the most in. One of the reasons we expanded the festival to 3 weeks this year was so there would be fewer programme clashes and the audience could see as much as possible.
Festival highlights in week1 include The Lord Mayor's Picnic in the Park, Spencer Tunick, the Abbey Theatre's production of The Seafarer at Cork Opera House, two amazing pieces of site-specific theatre Braakland and Sensazione and ends with the start of this year's superb Irish Examiner Spiegeltent programme. But with so much else going on this week how do you even begin to choose what else to go and see? Here's my ultimate guide to getting the best out of the festival programme this week:
SUNDAY
Festival time is all about bringing people together so get down to Fitzgerald's Park with family and friends for the biggest lazy Sunday of the year at The Lord Mayor's Picnic in the Park. The action starts at noon and there's loads of fun to be had. Bring your own picnic or fill your face with the fantastic produce on sale from local Cork food producers. We can't guarantee the weather but we can guarantee there'll be a great atmosphere and that you'll bump into loads of old friends. Maybe you'll even make plans for what you'll see together during the festival...
MONDAY
Start the day by taking the Audio Detour - a fantastic alternative guided walk of Cork. Audio Detour starts at the box office in Merchant's Quay Shopping Centre, it lasts 30 minutes and starts throughout the day from 11am till 5pm. It's the perfect thing to do with a lunch break or for an afternoon off and it runs for the entire festival.
At lunchtime have a look in at Rory Gallagher Place. We've got a great street theatre act called The Duke's Box. It's a giant jukebox with a real Country & Western group inside. Choose a song from the menu (all songs cost 1 Euro - which goes to charity) and enjoy The Duke's Box unique country-style rendition!
At 7.30pm get along to the Granary Theatre to catch the first preview performance of End of the Line - it's a great new play from Romania and stars renowned Romanian actor Dan Tudor (he's also very good-looking girls!) and Cork born actress Jody O'Neil. You'll be sure to laugh and cry. Tickets are only E10 on Monday. It's just over an hour long so there'll be plenty of time to get to the Cork Arts Theatre to catch Snatch Comedy Improv at 9.30pm. These guys are great and this year they are improvising an entire play from scratch each night! You the audience get to decide what the play will be about and each night will be totally different. So why not take advantage of this special offer - if you come back to see Snatch Comedy on Tuesday or Wednesday just show your ticket stub from a previous night and you'll get a 50% discount!
TUESDAY
Yes, it's here folks! Those of you brave people who have signed up for Spencer Tunick will be setting the alarm early to take part in the biggest participatory art event that Ireland has ever seen. If you're not making this piece of art history then you're sure to see it in the press later on in the day.
After Spencer Tunick get some sleep so you are nice and fresh for the first night of The Seafarer at Cork Opera House. It's a great new play by Conor McPherson in a stunning production from the Abbey Theatre.
WEDNESDAY
Stuck for something to do at lunchtime? Then get yourself along to the Unitarian Church on Princes Street for Life Shop Till You Drop - a girl's guide to lifestyle shopping, it's the perfect piece of lunchtime theatre.
There's loads more on that evening. If you've already caught The Seafarer, then why not try Earthangel/Lake Time - a double bill of two new theatre pieces also at the Unitarian Church. After that you can catch Generic at Patrick's Street Art Gallery (just above Schuh) - this is a durational performance and you are free to come and go at any time (free but donations welcome). You can catch this and then pay a return visit to the Cork Arts Theatre to see what Snatch Comedy are up to tonight.
Meanwhile... on Emmet Place a lorry has arrived and something is being built...
THURSDAY
2 great shows open on Thursday. If you live near Youghal then come down to St. Catherine's Street car park for the Irish premiere of Sensazione - the theatrical funfair. It's a great high-octane show for all the family (height restrictions apply on certain rides) and when bring 2 children and the second goes for free! There's also the opportunity to catch Sensazione in Cork city in week 2 of the festival.
For an amazing and intense theatre experience go and see Braakland. Set in an enormous industrial wasteland you get to the secret location on a bus leaving Pope's Quay. Anyone who is a Corcadoraca fan will love Braakland.
And on Emmet Place a strange and rather beautiful tent has been erected...
FRIDAY
If you're out and about on Grand Parade at lunchtime look out for The Bicycle Ballet at 1pm.
On friday evening you're going to be spoiled for choice. You could catch up on shows you've missed from earlier in the week - perhaps End of the Line, The Seafarer or Braakland.
Or... get yourself down to Emmet Place for the first night of the Irish Examiner Spiegeltent! There are 2 gigs on tonight: at 8pm Cork Meteor Award nominated Indie Rockers Stanley Super 800 play a fantastic evening of Country music cover versions with guest stars a-plenty - Super Stan Goes Country. Come dressed country-style as there are prizes for the best costumes.
At 11pm there's the first night of The Last Resort - our nightly live chat show/cabaret with the fantastic Mr. David Hoyle. You can sing karaoke with the live backing band, enjoy guest appearances but be warned David Hoyle can be truly shocking! One of the most brilliant and acerbic comedians I've ever met, he's sure to be a legend in Cork by this time next week - no sacred cow will go unmolested! His humour is like Eddie Izzard meets Lenny Bruce and he looks like a cross between Alice Cooper and Bette Lynch.
SATURDAY
Saturday is an absolutely action-packed day. Whether you head down to Youghal for Sensazione or pack a few shows in back in Cork city there's something for everyone. If it's your first day at the festival there's loads of the 1st week programme still playing: Braakland, The Seafarer, End of the Line and Snatch Comedy.
The Irish Examiner Spiegeltent goes full throttle today. There's a great family-friendly circus show Circo-Copia at 2pm, followed by what's sure to be one of the most exciting gigs of the year when the legendary Faust play there first Irish gig in nearly a decade (doors 8pm). That's followed at 11pm by The Last Resort. It'll be one cracking night!
Check my blog daily over the next 3 weeks as I give you my festival experiences and daily recommendations. I'll be giving you my exclusive guide the porgramme at the beginning of weeks 2 and 3 as well.
Enjoy the festival!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Yurah Langer!
This year's Spiegeltent sees a bold experiment in the "15 minutes of fame" culture with our very own spoof talent show Yurah Langer! We've places for 25 budding singers, dancers, comedians, acrobats (you name it) - 5 have signed up already. The heats will take place at 1pm in the Spiegeltent from Monday 23 - Friday 27 June at 1pm. There will be 5 auditionees in each heat and the winners will perform at The Last Resort that evening. The grand final of Yurah Langer!will take place at The Last Stand at the Last Resort on Friday 4 July from 8pm. Anyone who auditions for Yurah Langer! will recieve free entry to The Last Resort for the whole of the festival.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Everything's in full swing
Things have really moved up a gear this week. On Monday I went up to Dublin for the first day of rehearsal for The Magic Tree. It's a great new play written and directed by Ursula Rani Sarma. Ursula is a really exciting playwright who went to UCC and whose plays are now performed all over the world. The Magic Tree is dark, intelligent and very original. When she gave it to me to read earlier in the year I just knew I had to produce it. The production is a co-production between Cork Midsummer Festival and the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick and the cast include some of the best young actors in Ireland. They'll be moving down to Cork to continue rehearsals once the festival begins.
All over the city rehearsals are in progress for the different Cork Midsummer Festival shows. Corcadorca are already in their huge warehouse space rehearsing The Hairy Ape - I can't wait to see this. The Hairy Ape is one of my all time favourite plays and it's such a perfect choice for Corcadorca. In the office all is a kind of organised chaos with the Midsummer Festival staff furiously multi-tasking. Dyane Hanrahan, the festival's general manager has a phone to both ears. Deidre Finn, the festival's administrator (about to leave us to have a baby) is booking flights and accommodation for the dozens of artists coming into Cork for the festival.
