Five For Your Radar: Hank Wedel, Wes Anderson, Listowel Writers...
General release, Friday, May 23
We'll always make time for Wes Anderson though even his most ardent fans might agree his films have been too whimsical of late at expense of plot. His latest comes two years after Asteroid City and features an all-star cast headed by Benicio Del Toro and Mia Threapleton, a breakout star/nepo baby — she's Kate Winslet's daughter. The bio: The story of a family and a family business.
Comedy: DirtBirds: Girls World Tour
Everyman, Cork, Friday, May 23
Sinead Culbert and Sue Collins are the Dirtbirds — 'real women, real issues, real funny'. After their last sell-out tour of Ireland and the UK, Girls World Tour mixes standup and sketches as they explore the female mind and ask: Why do we enter 1,000 calories into our Noom app when we've really consumed over 6,000? Why do we hold onto tights when they've ladders in them? Why do we keep buying creams that we know won't stop our faces from sliding down our necks?
Dance: Chora
Cork Opera House, Wednesday, May 28
National dance company Luail brings its inaugural performance, Chora, to Cork Opera House.
New national dance company Luail presents its inaugural work, a triple bill of new dance works by choreographers Maria Campos and Guy Nader, Liz Roche, and Mufutau Yusuf, in collaboration with the Irish Chamber Orchestra.
With set and costume design by Katie Davenport and lighting design by Sinéad McKenna, and featuring Cork composer Sam Perkin, Chora sees the dancers and musicians draw on their bodies, instruments, and ultimately, each other.
Literary: Listowel Writers Week
Various venues, From Thursday, May 29
Ireland's oldest literary and arts festival — it began in 1971 — returns over the June bank holiday weekend. Kicking off on Thursday, a literary and historical walking tour of the Kerry town takes place at 10am, playwright Jimmy Murphy hosts the John B Keane Memorial Lecture, while there are also events focused on poetry, short stories, history, and Athea Drama Group puts on the lyrical folk play Sharon's Grave. And that's just the first day of Writers Week!
Music: Hank Wedel
Speak To Me (with Princes Street and Carol Barrett Ford), Wednesday, May 28
A singer-songwriter born in the US and based in Cork city, Hank Wedel was 25 in 1988, when he returned after two years performing in New York. He formed Princes Street who released the mini-album The Night John Lynch Lost His Glasses in 1989.
That long player featured the classic tune Speak to Me, a song which became a favourite at the band's numerous live shows during the era. Now the track is finally getting a digital release - it will be available on all streamers from Wednesday.
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