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Once

A few years ago on a Saturday afternoon in New York I took myself to a matinee performance of an Irish musical, ONCE, staged by the New York Theatre Workshop mostly, because it was Directed by John Tiffany. Mr Tiffany had, also, that season (2013-14) Directed a production of THE GLASS MENAGERIE, and I had been very excited by it. Alas, his production of ONCE, with the same artistic team was an irritating disappointment. The production was on a Broadway scale, even to a working bar on the theatre stage where you could imbibe and meet your neighbours, before the show and…

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Misterman

  Siren Theatre Co in association with Red Line Productions present MISTERMAN by Enda Walsh, at the Old Fitz Theatre, Woolloomooloo, 11 June – 27 June. MISTERMAN (1999) is the third play by Irish playwright, Enda Walsh, that the Director, Kate Gaul has Produced and Directed for Sydney audiences. The achievements of Ms Gaul’s work on THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM (2005) and PENELOPE (2010) speaks clearly to the simpatico that she has with the writing and world of Mr Walsh. MISTERMAN is a 55 minute Irish monologue. The technical demands of the play are immense and it would need a…

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Once

Photo by Sara Krulwich, The New York Times New York Theatre Workshop present ONCE, Book Enda Walsh. Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway, New York. ONCE, the musical, is an adaptation of a low budget, small Independent film from Ireland, directed by John Carney in 2007. Both, the film and the musical play, tell the story of a young Irish busker with a broken heart, called “Guy” who meets a young married Czech refugee called “Girl” (yes, really) and find that they can make music together. The twist is that…

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Penelope

Siren Theatre Company presents PENELOPE by Enda Walsh at the Tap Gallery, Darlinghurst. Siren Theatre Company under the direction of Kate Gaul is presenting PENELOPE by Enda Walsh. In March, last year, Ms Gaul presented THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM at the Griffin Theatre , also by Mr Walsh, and I presume Ms Gaul is simply following the old adage that when you are onto a good thing stick to it. PENELOPE is another wonderful example of the Irish storytellers ability to spin the English language into fabulous concoctions of delight. This time Mr Walsh stretches into the world of Homer’s Odyssey…

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