Latest news with #CorkMidsummerFestival
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
10 gigs for June: Macklemore, Pulp, Kneecap, and Picture This
Macklemore, Thursday, June 5, Musgrave Park (Virgin Media Park) Multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning rapper, Macklemore, makes a highly anticipated return to Ireland by opening this year's Musgrave Park (Virgin Media Park) gigs with special guests RUDIM3NTAL. Martha Wainwright, Monday, June 9, Cork Opera House, Cork Martha Wainwright. Picture: Gaëlle Leroyer Celebrating her ground-breaking debut studio album's 20th anniversary, acclaimed singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright brings the highly anticipated 20th Anniversary Tour to Cork. Pulp, Tues, June 10, 3Arena, Dublin Two years after their acclaimed sold-out comeback Dublin show at St Anne's, Pulp will play 3Arena this summer, marking the release of their new album More on June 6 — their first in almost 24 years. Cork Midsummer Festival, Friday, June 13 to Sunday, June 22, various venues across Cork city The Cork Midsummer Festival will transform Cork city into a hub of creativity and celebration. The vibrant arts festival features an array of events, including live performances of music, theatre, literature, and visual arts, showcasing both local and international artists. Charli XCX, Tuesday, June 17, Malahide Castle, Dublin Singer-songwriter and producer Charli XCX will be joined by special guests FIFI and The Japanese House. Kneecap, Thursday, June 19, Fairview Park, Dublin Members of Kneecap, Liam Og O Hannaigh (Mo Chara), JJ O'Dochartaigh (aDJ Provai) and Naoise O Caireallain (Moglai Bap) Award-winning Belfast rappers Kneecap, who have been making headlines lately for their ongoing support of the people of Palestine, play their biggest ever live show at Fairview Park on June 19. Picture This, Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26, Live at the Marquee, Cork Kicking off this season of summer gigs at the Live at the Marquee venue with two shows, following on from performing for 60,000 fans across sold-out shows in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork last year. Olivia Rodrigo, Tuesday, June 24, Marlay Park, Dublin Olivia Rodrigo will play Marlay Park alongside special guest Beabadoobee. Peggy Seeger, Friday, June 27, Live at St Luke's, Cork Peggy Seeger. Picture: Vicki Sharp The grande dame of American and British Folk music, embarks on her last-ever concert tour alongside her sons, Neill and Calum MacColl, in celebration of her 90th birthday in June. Steven Gerrard, Friday, June 27, Vicar Street, Dublin Former Liverpool FC Captain Steven Gerrard will take to the stage at Vicar Street to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the club's historic Champions League triumph in Istanbul. Read More Culture That Made Me: Music legend Brush Shiels picks his touchstones
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
A Stitch in summertime: Shandon Street shop to host one of Irene Kelleher's plays
Cork writer and actor Irene Kelleher has two one-woman shows at the Cork Midsummer Festival (CMF) in June. One of them is site-specific, taking place in an old shop on Shandon Street. The former J Nolan Stationery shop felt perfect for Kelleher's show, Stitch, which she describes as 'haunting". The play is set in a garment alteration shop in 1989. Pins and Needles, as it is called, is about to close down and be taken over by Xtravision. 'It was a family business but the only people left are seamstress Alice and her aunt Katie who live over the shop,' says Kelleher. 'It's going to be a huge change for Alice who, when the play opens, has been down in the basement for seven months, only coming up at night when there's nobody on the street. She has been doing her work in the basement. The place has quite a history.' The play, loosely inspired by Frankenstein, is set at Halloween. Alice is particularly busy getting costumes ready for the spooky night ahead. Kelleher says that for her character, the past is lingering in the walls. Why the site specific setting rather than a traditional theatre space? 'When I performed my show, Gone Full Havisham, in the penthouse of the Clayton Hotel in 2019 for the CMF, there was something incredibly special for audiences about seeing it there," says Kelleher. "We created a world into which the audience was thrown. When I write a play, I always think of the audience experience, trying to create it in my head. I thought it would be amazing if Stitch could be done in a shop where there's ghosts in the walls. "When I went to see the shop, there was an old Singer sewing machine there which I took as a sign.' Irene Kelleher. Kelleher's other play, Footnote, set in a bookshop, will be performed by her at the Cork Theatre Collective Studio at the Triskel. The comedy already had a performance as a work-in-progress on Culture Night at Cork City Library last year. It was inspired by Kelleher's experience of working in the former Liam Ruiseal's bookshop while she was studying English, and Theatre and Drama Studies at UCC. It is directed by Laura O'Mahony who also worked in the shop as a student of drama. 'We always thought a bookshop would be a great setting for a play. Laura has done some brilliant comedic sketches set in a bookshop over the years. I always wanted to write something in that setting but it took me a while to come up with the central character.' Kelleher created the character of Noreen, a struggling writer, who lives in the shadow of her famous (fictional) mother, a poet and feminist activist. Whether Kelleher's real-life daughters will live in her shadow remains to be seen. The writer/actor is no pushy stage mom. While Marie (three-and-a-half) and Katie (two) will be free to pursue their own interests, which for the eldest child, involves attending dance classes, Kelleher says, half-jokingly, she hopes Marie will go into credit control. Such is her attitude to the insecure nature of working in the arts. However, Kelleher says she would 'go insane' if she had a more regular job. 'I always knew this is what I wanted to do. It's important for me to keep working and to keep creative. I know I'm in a privileged position in that I don't have to work full time.' Cork Midsummer Festival As the chief carer for her daughters, Kelleher says she is now very particular about what work she will take on. Writing plays was initially an outlet for performance but Kelleher has really grown to love the art form and she can work at it around her children's activities. Her husband, Denis O'Sullivan, works from home for an American IT company and Kelleher says he is very supportive. Kelleher will be busy for six weeks in the lead up to and during the CMF. 'We make it work. Denis will be off for two weeks during my busy time. After that, the cavalry – the grannies and aunties – will help out," she explains. The two shows are produced by Mighty Oak Productions, with Stitch directed by Regina Crowley. Cormac O'Connor has designed the soundscape and has also branched into lighting. Costumes are a huge part of Stitch and are designed by Valentia Gambardella. Kelleher says she feels honoured to have two shows being staged in the CMF. 'They are very different and they reflect me as an artist.' Stitch is on from June 13-22 apart from June 16 and 17 at J Nolan 21, Shandon Street. Footnote is on June 14, 16 and 17 at the Triskel. See
Irish Examiner
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Win a pair of tickets to a Cork Midsummer Festival show and an overnight stay
To celebrate the upcoming Cork Midsummer Festival, which runs from from June 13-22, we're excited to offer valued Irish Examiner subscribers the chance to win an exclusive prize! The winner will receive a pair of tickets to the 24-hour theatrical marathon The Second Woman along with a night's accommodation at Cork's newest hotel destination, Moxy Cork, where you can sip cocktails, meet fellow travelers, and enjoy easy access to Cork's top attractions in a stylish, social city hub. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Subscribe to access all of the Irish Examiner. Annual €120€60 Best value Monthly €10€4 / month Unlimited access. Subscriber content. Daily ePaper. Additional benefits.
Belfast Telegraph
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
Irene Kelleher: ‘When I took my one-woman show to the Edinburgh Fringe, I had to live on one pack of Jammie Dodgers'
She performed her play A Safe Passage, co-starring Seamus O'Rourke, at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin last weekend. Kelleher, whose screen credits include Game of Thrones, will be performing in two productions, 'Stitch' and 'Footnote', at the Cork Midsummer Festival in July. For more information, go to How did your upbringing influence your relationship with money? My upbringing and family money habits aren't an excuse for my own terrible money management. My family didn't have much money. My dad came from a family of eight on Blarney Street, on Cork's northside. His father died young. My dad was only 17 – and as the eldest boy he had to take responsibility. He worked extremely hard and saved so he could put himself through college as a mature student and pay for our college fees. Both my parents were extremely careful with money and taught us the importance of saving. My sister and brother learned from this – but from a young age, anytime I had money I got too excited and couldn't wait to spend it. Have you ever felt broke? More times than I can count. When I was bringing my first show to the Edinburgh Fringe, I'd spent the first week's money sending a big present home to mam because I was missing her birthday. I lived on one packet of Jammie Dodgers over two days – one for breakfast, one for lunch, one before the show. Grim. (But I still eat them.) What has your acting career taught you about money? That I should know better. And that I will make it my life's work to encourage my two daughters to become credit controllers. I've gotten a bit better in the past few years: becoming a mother has meant I've no choice but to be more responsible with money. With acting and writing, you could get a great gig that pays well – like a good voiceover, film work or a writing commission, but then you might be months waiting for the next one to come along. What's the most expensive place you've ever been to? Iceland, for our honeymoon. We knew it was going to be expensive – but it was the most special holiday we'd ever go on, so we didn't mind splashing out. What was your biggest ever extravagance? My wedding dress. I got it made by a wonderful designer, Samantha Kennedy. I'm just under five foot so all the dresses I tried on in the shops made me look like I was making my Communion. I promised myself I'd wear it to other events, as it doesn't look like an obvious wedding dress. I haven't worn it since – but every now and then I take it out of its box, stroke it lovingly, and think: 'Ahhh, lovely.' Would you buy Irish property now? We'll have to soon. Ever since having our second daughter, our house has gotten smaller. Sometimes my husband and I feel like Charlie Bucket and his grandparents all in the one bed. What was your worst ever job? A job that was billed to me as a play. It was not a play. It was a 'Halloween experience' in a very fancy hotel. The pay wasn't great but I was told that I could stay on the property and all meals would be provided. It turned out to be the tiniest caravan I'd ever seen (think the holiday episode in Fr Ted) and my 'room' had an infestation of bees. The 'meals' were bread and cheese. They never took my costume measurements so the dress was three sizes too big – I had to be cable-tied into it and cut out of it when I needed the bathroom.
Irish Examiner
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Actor Irene Kelleher: 'I felt a really strong presence of my dad before I went on stage'
In February 2016, my dad was told he had oesophageal cancer, terminal – the doctors said six months… He was the most positive person. He didn't let 'terminal' affect how he'd cope with the diagnosis. A favourite book of his was Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, about how he survived Auschwitz – there's a quote my dad kept looking to for inspiration and hope: 'he who has a 'why' to live can bear almost any how'. To Dad, it meant 'I've so many reasons to live – I'm going to find my way through this'. My mum, my brother, sister, me – we took this great positivity that Dad always believed in. My wedding was nine weeks after his diagnosis. He walked me down the aisle, sang 'Beautiful Dreamer' that evening, a moment to cherish. It's not that we forgot, but in summer 2016, he was doing so well that even the specialists thought maybe there was hope. He was good for the first half of 2017. Then he regressed. He had to get a stent so he could swallow and eat. I'd been working as an actor for 10 years, and I'd booked a tour to the Edinburgh Fringe, three-and-a-half weeks in August, with 'Mary and Me', the first play I wrote. It was a dream to bring it to Edinburgh. Dad went into hospital in late June. As time went on and he was still there I got worried – I'd almost decided to pull the tour, but my mum told me: 'If you don't go, you can't come into hospital for three-and-a-half weeks because you'll break your father's heart by not going'…. Dad was always my champion, cheering me. He'd drive me to the train for every audition. The day before leaving for Edinburgh, I asked was there anything he'd like me to buy him there. He mentioned oak bookends – then said no, he'd pick them up when he next went with my mother. That's how positive he was, he was so convincing… Halfway into the first week in Edinburgh, the play started to sell out. It was getting all four- and five-star reviews. That Thursday was the highlight of my career up to then – a four-star review from a leading theatre review journal, an email from a publisher to discuss publication. I was on an absolute high. Around 4pm, I had a video call with Dad, I wanted to share the news with him. He was delighted for me. He'd had his stent operation – he was just after his first bowl of soup. Irene Kelleher performs in two productions at Cork Midsummer Festival 2025, July 13 to 22. Here, she is pictured ahead of Cork City Library Culture Night Promo in 2024. Picture: Marcin Lewandowski. That evening, my brother, Tim, rang: 'You have to come home – Dad has taken a turn'. My first instinct was confusion – I said, 'No, Dad's fine, he's just had a bowl of soup'. I went straight into denial. Tim had to repeatedly say it before it sank in. The quickest flight home was the next morning. That whole night, I felt helpless. I had an hour's sleep, dreamt about Dad. He was asleep in a hospital bed, but in a forest. I walked up to him. He said 'let's go for a walk', and we went for a walk, and he looked healthy and we were really happy – there was no sense of goodbye. I messaged my sister – 'is Dad still here'. Yes, he was. Up to the 7 am flight, we messaged back-and-forth, she reassuring me 'you'll get here'… Outside Cork Airport, I saw her from a distance. We looked at each other. I knew straightaway, I saw it in her eyes: Dad was gone…. What I clung onto was guilt. The guilt of not being there – I was so close to him, I should have been there. I clung onto guilt because grief was too much. The day of the funeral passed. And I was at home. Mum mentioned going back to Edinburgh to finish the run, which I dismissed. But the pain of being home, with Dad not there, the house so quiet…Mum saying finishing it is definitely what Dad would have wanted. So I went back to Edinburgh to do the last week. Backstage, just about to start: 'What am I doing? My dad has just died, and here I am in another country, about to do a play?' I closed my eyes, said, 'Dad, I need you here with me'. I felt a really strong presence of my dad with me, saying the last thing he'd always say driving me to auditions: 'Give 'em holly'. I just felt his presence so close, I felt his strength, and – for the first time since the phone call – I felt his warmth. I felt connected with him again, and I went onstage and I'd say I gave the best performance I ever gave of that play. I wouldn't say I'm particularly spiritual, but it's the closest I've ever come to it. I've kept that. I visit his grave, but I never feel close there like I do side-stage, just about to go on, to perform – that's where I have my chats with my dad. I was 31 that day in August 2017. It's when I feel I have become an adult, able to carry on as an adult, because of feeling I have my dad minding me, so I'm never alone. Irene Kelleher performs in two productions at Cork Midsummer Festival 2025, July 13 to 22. Stitch, described as an Irish Horror Show, will be staged in site-specific venue J Nolan Stationery Shop, Shandon Street; and Footnote in the TCD at Triskel, both Cork City. Booking: Read More RTÉ radio host Joe Duffy retiring after 37 years
