Concert for Gaza, Sally Rooney and more events to see, shows to book and those you must see before they end – The Irish Times

Event of the week

IFI Documentary Film Festival

Wednesday-Sunday, September 25-29, IFI, Dublin, various times and prices, ifi.ie/docfest

Telling intimate stories, presenting alternative narratives and highlighting underserved and/or underrepresented communities: the Irish Film Institute’s annual documentary festival always provides great insight into a diverse range of topics and issues. This year’s festival of 14 documentaries includes two world premieres and seven Irish premieres, as well as several Q&As with the filmmakers after the screenings. Feature highlights include The Song Cycle, directed by Nick Kelly (Friday 27 September, 6:20pm), Housewife of the Year, directed by Ciarán Cassidy (Saturday 28 September, 3:30pm) and The Ban, directed by Róisín Agnew (Sunday 29 September, 1:10pm).

Scene

Dublin Theatre Festival 2024

From Thursday 26 September to Sunday 13 October, various venues, times and prices, dublintheatrefestival.ie

Premieres of new Irish work are a big part of this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival, with Ross Dungan, Kate Heffernan, Caitlin Magnall-Kearns, Amy Kidd and Dee Roycroft all making their festival debuts as writers. International highlights include Benji Reid’s multidisciplinary Find Your Eyes. Opening the festival is Nobodaddy, a new, large-scale dance work by Michael Keegan-Dolan and Teach Damhsy, with music by Sam Amidon.

( Movement and excitement: watching Michael Keegan-Dolan’s Nobodaddy take shape at Teach DamhsOpens in a new window )

Concerts

RTÉ Concert Orchestra performing Leonard Cohen’s music

Saturday 21 September, 3Arena, Dublin, 8pm, €59, ticketmaster.ie

Ireland loved Leonard Cohen, and with a dozen performances between 2008 and 2013, it’s safe to say Cohen had a real connection to Ireland. On what would have been the Canadian songwriter and poet’s 90th birthday, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, conducted by Gavin Maloney, amplifies strings and gathers guest singers to celebrate the great man’s music. Performers include Mick Flannery, Suzanne Savage, Phelim Drew and Jess Kav.

Concert for Gaza

Thursday 26 September, Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €25, eventbrite.ie

The voluntary performances by all the musicians involved add to the fundraiser for the non-profit Middle East Children’s Alliance. Royal traditional musicians Paddy Glackin, Sean Potts and Donegal Gaeltacht sisters Tríona and Mairghead Ní Dhomhnaill take to the stage. Actor Stephen Rea will perform spoken word, while Irish-Palestinian singer Róisín El Cherif, Jim Page and Damien Dempsey will perform songs. Dr Mona El Farra, the alliance’s director of Gaza projects, will speak about the dire situation facing children there.

Marc Almond

Thursday 26 September, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €53.35, ticketmaster.ie

Ever the chameleon, Marc Almond may be best known to casual music lovers as one half of British electro-pop band Soft Cell, but die-hard fans know him as a high-quality interpreter of other people’s material. Almond’s latest tour is in support of his recently released album I’m Not Anyone, on which he covers 11 songs you may not have heard the first time around. (Blue Cheer, King Crimson, Colin Blunstone, anyone?) Not that it matters: Almond is a true professional, so he won’t have hits like Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, Torch and Tainted Love locked away for too long.

( Marc Almond: “I was hysterical about everything. Everything was a total drama”Opens in a new window )

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve

Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, September 27, 28, 30 and October 1, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm (sold out), ticketmaster.ie

“I want to discover, rediscover, dismantle and reassemble songs ‘in front of you’, as stage magicians used to announce before their next trick.” So says Elvis Costello, who, along with his trusted friend and collaborator Steve Nieve, returns to Dublin for four shows that are loosely structured but delve into his considerable, absurdly diverse catalogue. Building on the pair’s inventive nights at the National Concert Hall last year, they’ll be performing songs you know very well, and some you might want to Shazam. However the mop fails, if you’re a long-time fan, you’re in for a treat.

( Elvis Costello: “If I knew how to be successful with songs, I probably wouldn’t be talking to you right now”Opens in a new window )

In conversation

Sally Rooney

Saturday 21st September, NCH, Dublin, 7.30pm, €20 (sold out), nch.ie

Ireland is, naturally, first in line, as Sally Rooney begins a global promotional tour for her new novel Intermezzo, which follows her international bestsellers Conversations with Friends, Normal People and Beautiful World, Where Are You. Unearthing the gritty intricacies of the author’s work of grief, siblings, family relationships and romantic trysts is Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole, who will be able to buy copies of the novel a few days before its publication next Tuesday.

( Sally Rooney: “There is something Christian about my work, although I wouldn’t describe myself as a religious person”Opens in a new window )

Traditional

Nollaig Casey, Niall McCabe and Mike McGoldrick

Tuesday, September 24, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, 8pm, €25; Wednesday, September 25, Sugar Club, Dublin, 7.30pm, €25; Friday, September 27, Clifden Town Hall, Co. Galway, 4pm, €15; musicnetwork.ie

The trio of musical virtuosos – fiddler (and former Planxty member) Nollaig Casey, agile guitarist Niall McCabe and Mike McGoldrick, a master of the wooden flute, low whistle and uilleann bagpipes – are embarking on a tour featuring the band’s songs and world premieres of pieces commissioned by each member of the trio through Music Network. The tour will conclude with a concert at St Michael’s Church in Waterville, Co Kerry, on Sunday 6 October.

It still works

Murphy’s Ballycotton Comedy Festival

Thursday 26th September to Sunday 29th September, Ballycotton, Co Cork, seachurch.ie

A picturesque seaside village in East Cork, a lovingly restored 19th century church (St Colman’s), a charming traditional pub (The Blackbird) and a line-up of Irish comedians? The reasons to attend the fourth Ballycotton Comedy Festival are further enhanced by performances from John Colleary, Danny O’Brien, Emma Doran, Laura O’Mahoney and Ross Browne.

Book this week

Galway Comedy Festival, 22nd-28th October, galwaycomedyfestival.ie

West Wicklow Festival, Tulfarris, Co Wicklow, 14-17 November, westwicklowfestival.com

Bell X1 and Theodora Byrne Ensemble, Helix, Dublin, December 20-21, ticketmaster.ie

Dua Lipa, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, June 27, ticketmaster.ie