Entertainment

May 2020

Musician to release music during lockdown

A Greystones musician intends to release a series of songs over the coming months which were recoded during Covid-19 lockdown.

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Modern-day parable movie 'Styx' available online

Lux Prize nominated film 'Styx' is being made available to view online via Mermaid Arts Centre, in partnership with access>CINEMA and 606 Distribution.

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Frontline portraits

A group of Wicklow artists have created portraits of frontline workers as part of a new online exhibition.

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Shallow, bland Maneater a throwaway title

Maneater feels like a game from a different era of gaming - one where surrealness and difference for difference's sake were rewarded more handsomely than fine-tuned gameplay and solid progression systems.

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Top films to watch on TV this week

Thursday: Beast (2017) Film4, 9pm - Shot partly on location in Jersey, Beast is a brooding adult fairy tale of female empowerment and sexual awakening.

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Retro top ten: this week in 1980

A song commissioned to be 'the stupidest song every written' was sitting on the top of the pop charts this week 40 years ago.

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10 String Symphony online

A special performance by a group that had been due to play in the Courthouse Arts Centre in Tinahely has been released online.

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Retro top 10: this week in 1989

The Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans, crushed to death during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on April 15, 1989.

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A perfectly addictive co-op game for lockdown

The combination of endless wit and buttery-smooth gameplay is one that is rarely achieved but Deep Rock Galactic succeeds where many others have failed, weaving endless charm and solid gameplay into an explosive co-operative experience teeming with replayability.

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Top films to watch on TV this week

Sunday - Jurassic Park (1993) ITV, 5.45p.m. Steven Spielberg's monster blockbuster sees a group of scientists (including Sam Neill and Laura Dern) being given a sneak preview of a safari park set up on a remote island by an eccentric tycoon (Richard Attenborough).

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Storytelling to mark the summer solstice

Storytelling greats Liz Weir MBE from Antrim, Paddy O'Brien from Cork and Galway's Órla McGovern will host 'Summer Solstice Stories' online with Mermaid Arts Centre on Friday, June 19, at 8 p.m.

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Niamh Strong to sing Eva Cassidy material

Singer Niamh Strong will sing Eva Cassidy material at the Hot Spot Music Club in Greystones on Sunday, October 10, at 8 p.m.

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Wicklow woman directs new TG4 series on the Burren

Wicklow resident Martina Durac has produced and directed new series for TG4 called An Bhoirinn.

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First of a series of Turfboy singles

Grunge band Turfboy has just released a new single called '(L)earn' from their upcoming album 'At Tension'.

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Jason says to 'Mind your Loaf'

Despite not being able to perform to a live audience these days because of the restrictions in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, comedian Jason Byrne is finding new ways to keep his fans entertained - and has also shown his more serious and reflective side with his new podcast on mental health and keeping and maintaining a positive mind and a healthy body through exercise.

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Screening of 'This is Nicholas' at Whale

Wicklow Triple A Alliance presents a screening of 'This is Nicholas' at Whale Theatre on Friday, September 17, at 8 p.m., with writer and director Nicholas Ryan Purcell in attendance for a Q&A.

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Who knew Kew was such a mine of information?

If your reporter appears bloodshot and frowning, like a man who has been held prisoner for an extended spell in a darkened room, then there is good reason. I have been submersing myself in material held at Kew Gardens in London, at the suggestion of Coollattin specialist historian Kevin Lee.

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World film for free

Mermaid Arts Centre has announced that through its screening partner Access Cinema, viewers can avail of 90 days of free access to world cinema.

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Glenmalure poet brings listeners on Miners' Way walk

Wicklow based poet Jane Clarke walked the Miners Way which has inspired a new sequence of poems as part of a BBC4 radio show.

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Mermaid brings the arts online

The team at Mermaid Arts Centre has been making plans to bring material to arts lovers digitally via 'Mermaid Moments'.

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Hothouse Flowers show

Hothouse Flowers are due to perform at Whale Theatre on Saturday, June 13, at 8 p.m. Something amazing happens when Hothouse Flowers step onto the stage - something that has been shaped by over 30 years of singing and playing all over the world, yet no two shows have ever been the same!

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Eogan continues to entertain

Broadcasting veteran Nick Eogan of Mountainview Drive in Bray has found a way to entertain the online masses while on lock-down.

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April 2020

In Birdboy's head

A play for children called 'Birdboy', presented by United Fall, will take place at Mermaid Arts Centre on Friday, May 22, at 7pm.

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Online cinema debut with Mermaid centre

This week's 'Mermaid Moments' online movie with Mermaid Arts Centre is 'The Perfect Candidate' and includes a recorded Q&A with director Haifaa Al Mansour.

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Nigel Mooney set to play the blues

Nigel Mooney will perform at the Hot Spot Music Club in Greystones on Friday, May 22 at 9pm. Hailed by the BBC as 'Ireland's King of the Blues', Nigel Mooney is long established as Ireland's leading jazz singer and guitarist.

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Search is on for new writers

Words Ireland is initiating 22 literature mentoring relationships to begin in June and July.

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Luan Parle to play at Whale Theatre

Luan Parle is due to perform at Whale Theatre in Greystones on Saturday, May 16.

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New dates for Courthouse shows

New dates for several postponed events at the Courthouse Arts Centre have been announced.

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Discover your roots to grow your family tree

Many people like the idea of looking into their family tree but often feel they don't have the time. As we face into further weeks of self isolation and social distancing, the time is ripe for dipping a toe in the genealogy pool.

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Egg-cellent work by students of history

Children from Greystones and beyond got creative over the past week, re-imagining plain old eggs as famous characters from history.