Event guide: Angine de Poitrine, Gilbert O’Sullivan and the other best things to see in Ireland in the week ahead
Event of the week Angine de Poitrine Friday, October 16th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm (sold out), ticketmaster.ie Fair play to the anonymous Canadian duo Angine de Poitrine, who perform dressed head to toe in light-up black-and-white polka-dotted costumes, and who describe their increasingly popular music as “mantra-rock dada Pythago-cubist”. If you have a ticket for their debut gig in Ireland, which has been upgraded from the smaller Opium venue, don’t expect the Quebecois pair to say much. Klek de Poitrine (on drums) and Khn de Poitrine (on guitars), whose music went viral earlier this year, prefer to communicate, if that’s the right word, via triangular hand signals that their fans emulate. In The New York Times’ opinion, the band fully understand “the power of rhythm, repetition, dissonance, surprise and noise”, and while their costumes and anonymity “have clearly helped draw attention, Angine de Poitrine’s music is no gimmick; it’s a feat of live unity and dexterity, hand played with zero margin for error”. Opera Wexford Festival Opera From Thursday, October 15th, until Saturday, October 31st, Wexford Opera House and other venues, various times and prices, wexfordopera.com At 75 years of age – it began in October 1951 as the Festival of Music and Arts – Wexford Festival Opera has long been regarded as one of the world’s leading celebrations of the form. Highlights of this year’s event include Pietro Mascagni’s Iris (O’Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, October 15th, 20th, 23rd, 28th and 31st), Gioachino Rossini’s L’Equivoco (O’Reilly Theatre, National Opera House, October 16th, 21st, 25th and 29th) and the world premiere of Colm Tóibín and Conor Linehan’s The Next 75 (Green Acres Gallery, October 20th, 21st, 22nd, 28th, 29th and 30th). The festival’s admired Impossible Interview features Michael Dervan “interviewing” Rossini (depicted by Peter Camley). Gigs Gilbert O’Sullivan Saturday, October 10th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6pm, €75.25, ticketmaster.ie Gilbert O’Sullivan has been a pop singer since 1967. His profile has ebbed and flowed, but he has never lost his observational, witty and highly melodic style of songwriting, which has earned justifiable comparisons with those of Randy Newman and Paul McCartney. The Waterford-born singer may use this opportunity to preview some of the tracks from his album On the Record, which come out in early November, but you can safely bet that fans will give O’Sullivan’s best-loved songs, including Nothing Rhymed, We Will, Clair, No Matter How I Try and Alone Again (Naturally) the loudest and longest cheers. Kristin Hersh Saturday, October 10th, Cleere’s, Kilkenny, 8pm, €30 (sold out); Sunday, October 11th, Skelper Quane’s, Blennerville, Co Kerry, 8pm, €28; Monday, October 12th, Róisín Dubh, Galway, 7pm, €28.50, roisindubh.net ; Tuesday, October 13th, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, 7pm, €27.50, cyprusavenue.ie ; Sunday, November 1st, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, 7.30pm, €30, paviliontheatre.ie It’s rare for such a key figure in contemporary rock to tour Ireland so extensively, but the Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave frontwoman is no ordinary singer-songwriter, as you’ll hear if you come along to one of these gigs. Hersh is promoting her new album, Sugar on Blackstone, the 13th solo LP she has released since Hips and Makers, in 1994, but she’ll also be performing songs from the catalogues of her groundbreaking bands. ECM 2026: IBO & Crash Ensemble – Heiner Goebbels: Songs of War I Have Seen Sunday, October 11th, NCH, Dublin, 8pm, €39/€35/€30, nch.ie The German composer Heiner Goebbels is regarded as one of the most important innovators in the world of theatre, performance art and multimedia. This performance of his 2007 work Songs of War I Have Seen blends live music by Crash Ensemble and the Irish Baroque Orchestra with spoken extracts from wartime diary entries by the American writer Gertrude Stein. Expect a thought-provoking depiction of turmoil and conflict. Stage Remember That Time? A Musical Wednesday, October 14th, and Thursday, October 15th, Smock Alley, Dublin, 7.30pm, €19/€16, smockalley.com Annmarie Cullen, former member of the band Saucy Monkey, has been developing her one-woman musical for a couple of years, winning an Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Award, among other gongs, for her work. Through original songs, narration and multimedia (including on-screen appearances by the singer-songwriter Naimee Coleman and the comedian Gearóid Farrelly as outlying but encouraging friends), the Dubliner relates an autobiographical story of emigration, celebration, despair, loss of identity and staying power. In conversation Mary Beard: More Secrets Histories of Ancient Rome Thursday, October 15th, NCH, Dublin, 8pm, €45/€36/€29.50, nch.ie “What have the Romans ever done for us?” is a question that the eminent classicist Mary Beard will be answering most eloquently in her thought-provoking one-woman event. Noted for her rewriting of popular narratives, Beard is adept at drawing parallels between the politics of ancient Rome and contemporary political landscapes. Members of the audience will also have an opportunity to ask questions, but don’t expect too serious an evening. Beard is, after all, also the author of the book Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up. Poetry Circling the Square From Friday, October 16th, until Sunday, October 18th, Source Arts Centre, Thurles, Co Tipperary, various times, €20/€15/free, thesourceartscentre.ie The fifth year of the poetry and music festival celebrating the life and work of the Thurles-born poet Dennis O’Driscoll includes readings from more than 20 poets, plus a discussion about the public life of Seamus Heaney. The latter will feature Fintan O’Toole and Mick Heaney in conversation with O’Driscoll’s son, Declan. Poets reading their work, as well as O’Driscoll’s, include Rita Ann Higgins, Vona Groarke, John Kelly, Emily Cullen, Martina Evans and Katie Donovan. Next weekend Murder One Friday-Sunday, October 16th-18th, DLR Lexicon, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, various times and prices, murderone.ie All things thrilling, plot-twisting, deceitful, manipulative and, yes, lethal feature at this annual festival’s conspiracy of crime writers, which features panel discussions, public interviews, masterclasses and workshops. Authors include Jane Casey, Ardal O’Hanlon, Cecelia Ahern, Sam Blake, Jen Bray, Dr Marie Cassidy, Robert Craven, Edel Coffey, TM Logan and Andrea Mara. Book it this week Two Door Cinema Club, 3Arena, Dublin, January 23rd, ticketmaster.ie Josh Ritter, Town Hall Theatre, Galway, February 11th, joshritter.com Tindersticks, Vicar Street, Dublin, May 9th, foggynotions.ie Gracie Abrams, 3Arena, Dublin, April 19th and 20th, ticketmaster.ie