Latest news with #KevinFlanagan
Scotsman
12-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Fringe dance and physical theatre reviews: I Think It Could Work
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I Think It Could Work ★★★★ Zoo Southside (Venue 82) until 17 August At the start of this utterly charming show from Chicago's Full Out Formula circus collective, we're a group of strangers sharing a space. By the end, not only do we feel like a community – but as if we're actually part of the troupe. The fact that the audience is in no way forced to take part, leave their seat, or intimidated in any way, is testament to the beating heart at the centre of this show. Performers Kevin Flanagan, Liam Bradley, and Sierra Rhoades Nicholls exude warmth from the moment they walk on stage. They might be masters of their individual skillset (acrobatics and juggling), but we're the ones in charge. Options are proffered and we decide what comes next, from simply choosing a number between one and ten, right up to dictating whether the routine is delivered upside down or not. Every interaction is devoid of ego and full of wit, reducing the children in the audience to peals of laughter and the adults chuckling happily. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad With so much contemporary circus at the Fringe, the battle for audiences often comes down to the packaging wrapped around the tricks and flips. Flanagan, Bradley and Nicholls may not be the most athletic acrobats in town, but their moves are sharply executed with a delightful off-kilter edge. 'You won't see this anywhere else' we're told at one point, and (unusually for the Fringe) they're probably right. Who would have thought watching someone balance a stick on their face, manipulate their torso to glide an egg yolk across their shoulders, or play musical chairs whilst chatting about their lives, would be so entertaining? But it very much is, and an hour in the company of this hugely likeable trio is a complete joy. Kelly Apter Inspired by Eastern Wind ★★★★ theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53) until 15 August Based on the traditional Chinese tale, Zhuge Liang Borrows the East Wind, Inspired by Eastern Wind celebrates and embodies the deep unity that exists between nature and humanity. In an impeccable display of street dance from a young company of Shanghai students, the performance impresses with its energy and vibrancy. It is like watching a ship being raised inside a bottle – what starts modestly suddenly explodes, with the action defying all expectations. Inspired by Eastern Wind is marketed as unfolding into six poetic wind realms, though onstage these transitions are felt through shrewd changes in lighting and sound rather than explicitly signposted. Each dancer has their own unique costume featuring some blend of white and red, and the lighting design echoes this scheme by highlighting parts of the stage and directing one's focus and attention between different dancers and motifs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Speed is their strength, and slower moments, such as duets, hold a subtler magnetism and intensity than in group scenes. The use of beanbags is an anomaly, however. Conceptually, they could be islands or provisions, even souls, and practically, the company makes use of them for stunts, but their shape and heft seem so unlike the wind (though this contrast could be intentional), a powerful, mostly invisible element that has a visible effect. Between scenes, the dancers mix at the side of the stage, cheering their castmates on, changing their costumes, and moving set pieces and props. It is a wonderful addition to the slick choreography onstage, which is of professional calibre and deserving of a bigger space – not least as the small stage seems a hazard to the company itself, as they graze the overhead lighting with their beanbags, or their limbs, from sheer physical power. Undoubtedly, Inspired by Eastern Wind promises a trove of talent, well worth the hunt. Josephine Balfour-Oatts LOLA: A Flamenco Love Story ★★ Pleasance @ EICC (Venue 150b) until 24 August Audiences might be disappointed by the absence of narrative in LOLA: A Flamenco Love Story. While sections of flamenco performance, featuring live guitar and vocal accompaniment, are impressive, scenes bear only the vaguest of relationships to one another, especially when occurring in tandem. Similarly, there is little connection between the choreography and Lola's life, the details of which can only be inferred. A series of rotating characters further prohibits the audience from forming an emotional attachment to the piece, not including the frustration incurred by its overarching, anti-feminist message: women cannot live unless they are in love. Josephine Balfour-Oatts Raise The Barre ★★★ Assembly Rooms (Venue 20) until 24 August Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There are no weak links in the cast of this exuberant dance show. Every single one of them attacks each move with verve and commitment. So if watching commercial dance set to rock and pop hits, delivered with the slickness of a promo video, is your thing, Raise The Barre is just the ticket. The fact that this show is also being performed on a cruise ship for much of 2025 tells you two things: that the dancers are consummate professionals, and that it's been designed to please the masses. There is nothing here, choreographically speaking, that you haven't seen a million times before. And the central concept (such as it is) of a group of dance academy students attempting to pass their final exams is a token gesture thrown in at the start and end. The attempts at humour could also do with finessing, or getting rid of entirely to let the dance do the talking. Similarly, the incessant calls for applause are completely unnecessary. There is enough talent in this large ensemble, which can turn its hand to ballet, contemporary, breakdance, gymnastics, and, of course, commercial, to keep people clapping without any need for encouragement. Kelly Apter Cirque Kalabanté: WOW (World of Words) ★★★ Assembly Hall (Venue 35) until 25 August In a show that's bursting with vibrancy and life, somehow, the quietest moment has the most impact. Cirque Kalabanté's creative lead, Yamoussa Bangoura is the glue that holds this slightly haphazard show together. And while it may not always be apparent what his overall vision for the piece is, one thing is for sure - when he sits down to play and sing, you could hear a pin drop. Plucking West African string instrument, the kora, Bangoura's voice fills the room with tones so weighty and compelling, you want the rest of the world to melt away so you can just listen to him. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For the most part, though, World of Words (a curious title that does little to reflect the show's content) is wall-to-wall African beats, athletic acrobatics, contortionism and aerial work. Bangoura's musical prowess aside, it's the leaping, twisting, balancing and climbing that impresses the most, and sadly there's just not enough of it. Too much time is spent wandering the stage, or repeating the same audience call and response. With so much strength and flexibility in its ranks, this exuberant company needs more opportunities to flex its talent. Kelly Apter The Ruckus ★★ Underbelly's Circus Hub (Venue 360) until 23 August Proving that skill and talent can only take you so far, this bitty production from London's Revel Puck Circus is a concept in search of a show. The central narrative, of a flustered party host ill-prepared for the arrival of her guests, has potential. But despite the best efforts of an enthusiastic, hard-working cast, there isn't enough material here to cover 20 minutes, let alone an hour. A strong Cyr wheel routine, an enjoyable aerial hoop act, and some fun antics with a giant balloon prove Revel Puck knows what it's doing. Sadly, The Ruckus gives its artists very little room to shine.
Spectator
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The nauseating hypocrisy of Kneecap
You truly could not make it up. Kneecap, who spent the past three months whingeing and complaining about their gigs being cancelled because of their views on Gaza, have signed an open letter demanding a small community festival be shut down. All that guff about the sanctity of free speech and artistic expression. It was all a sham. Because it turns out that the Belfast trio are big fans of cancel culture after all. Just as long as the cancelling does not apply to them. The latest battle in the cancel culture wars is unfolding, not at Coachella or Glastonbury, but in a community hall in the tiny, picturesque town of Drumshanbo in rural Ireland, famed for being a hub of Irish music, folklore, and heritage. A one-day event called Mise Éire (I am Ireland) – the name alone was enough to send the 'anti-fash' brigade into fits of apoplexy – was scheduled for August 23 in the Mayflower community centre. It was billed as a festival 'for those who cherish Irish culture, heritage, and are united in celebrating our shared values.' It was to feature filmmaker Thomas Sheridan, Brehon Academy founder Kevin Flanagan and journalist Louise Roseingrave. It also had a few speakers lined up whose views on immigration clearly crossed the line on what is tolerated by the intolerant left. In Victorian times such an outrage would have sent those of a delicate disposition in search of the smelling salts. In these more enlightened times, they just send for the like of Kneecap who happily wield the censorship cudgel. And hey presto, the event was cancelled. Never was the phrase 'free speech for me but not for thee' more apt than when applied to these hypocrites. Lest Kneecap feel singled out, it is fair to point out that around 500 other artists engaged in this spot of cancel culture. Many of them, including Fontaines D.C. and protest balladeer Christy Moore, were the very same people who protested the silencing of Kneecap. It is worth recalling their noble sentiments when Kneecap was feeling the heat: 'As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom… The question of not agreeing with Kneecap's political views is irrelevant: It is in the key interests of every artist that all creative expression be protected in a society that values culture, and that this interference campaign is condemned and ridiculed.' Consider the letter Kneecap and the same artists signed demanding the cancellation of Mise Eire: 'If it is permitted to go ahead, we believe the far-right 'Mise Éire Festival' will tarnish the proud history of the Mayflower as a venue that has served to bring people together from all backgrounds and as a safe and inclusive cultural space. We artists and musicians thus call on the committee of the Mayflower Community Centre to cancel this divisive event.' So, there you have it. The festival was declared far right and divisive. It had to go. It appears the source of the angst was that an anti-immigration protest in Cork scheduled for the 23 August was postponed – allowing anyone who wanted to attend the Mise Éire festival to do so. Well, we couldn't have that, could we? The local 'anti fash' crowd sprang into action by issuing the open letter to be signed by artists whom, they correctly anticipated, would be similarly outraged. Leitrim and Roscommon Against Fascism (LARAF) is led by the usual screeching, green haired brigade, otherwise known as 'the self-appointed arbiters of what is safe for ordinary Irish folk to see and hear'. Because when it comes down to it, LARAF, Kneecap and the rest deem ordinary folk too unsophisticated, nay, too thick, to absorb divergent views, engage our critical faculties and make up our own minds. Immigration was not even on the agenda of the festival, but that was beside the point. The Mayflower caved under massive pressure and who could blame them? A small community centre facing opposition from a band who took on the hated British establishment over the refusal of a £14,000 artistic grant and won. It is beyond parody. Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terror offence after allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed organisation Hezbollah at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town in November 2024. He is back in court on August 20. No doubt Kneecap will swagger in applauded by fellow free speech warriors like the last time. But Kneecap's nauseating hypocrisy has been laid bare by Drumshanbo. We don't know what the speakers at Mise Éire intended to say and likely never will. But whatever it was, it was clearly more inciting, hateful, and downright bloodcurdlingly terrifying than chanting 'Kill your local MP.' Right lads?
BBC News
20-06-2025
- BBC News
Wirral school defends head teacher's £210k legal bill
A school trust has defended spending more than £200,000 in legal fees for their head teacher's legal action against two Flanagan, head of Pensby High School in Heswall, Wirral, took legal against a couple he accused of harassing him. The parents denied his claims but the teacher won a court settlement of £10,000 after final £210.576.79 legal bill was not paid out of the school budget but trust funds raised through hiring out its sports pitches and TV film trust funds for the school would normally have been used to pay for building or roof repairs. The legal fees for the case had been estimated at £545,000 but were less as the case was settled.A spokesman for the school's trust said it was "fully supportive" of Mr Flanagan's harassment claim "as part of our legal obligation to protect the safety and welfare of those employed" at the added: "This duty of care includes providing support for legal fees where staff are the victims of alleged harassment. "The trust is permitted to provide such support through self-generated funds – primarily income generated from private use of its grounds and sports facilities."Mr Flanagan claimed he had been accused of "bullying" children when they were punished for breaking school said parents Keith and Stephanie Critchley had been abusive and threatening several parents denied the claim and said they raised concerns that their daughters were being bullied "on a daily basis" at the school but were not being listened to. Mr Flanagan said the ordeal had been "a hugely upsetting and traumatic period".He added: "Legal proceedings were always the option of last resort and they followed strenuous efforts by the school governors to seek to end the harassment." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Irish Independent
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
‘I hope you don't expect us to win': rival Irish University Challenge captains join forces for a fiendish pub quiz
Oscar Despard and Kevin Flanagan were recent opponents on a semi-final of the long-running BBC show. Louise McLoughlin takes them to a London pub to see how they fare with a less academic test I've never been great at pub quizzes. So the opportunity to team up with two of Ireland's best and brightest minds promised some vindication – even if only as part of a team. On a personal level, a friend had suggested beforehand that the experience had the potential to be humiliating. I suggested 'humbling' was perhaps a better word. A win is a win, after all. In all honesty, I expected my contribution to be minimal. The two other members of my team were Dubliners Oscar Despard (22) from Portobello and Kevin Flanagan (29) from Dundrum, who recently went head-to-head in the semi-finals of University Challenge. Despard, who is studying for a PhD in molecular biology, went on to lead Christ's College Cambridge to its first ever victory on the show, winning a tense final by just five points. Flanagan captained the team from Bristol University, where he is doing a PhD in AI.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cofactor Genomics Presents Breakthrough Work Combining RNA and AI to bring Precision Medicine to Immunotherapy at RNA Society's 30th Annual Meeting
SAN DIEGO, May 30, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cofactor Genomics announced the latest validation results for OncoPrism®, Cofactor's breakthrough RNA-based diagnostic approach at the RNA Society's 30th Annual Meeting. The talk, presented by Dr. Kevin Flanagan (Cofactor's VP of Translational Science), "Bringing Precision Medicine to Cancer Immunotherapy with a Robust RNA Diagnostic Platform", highlighted OncoPrism's dramatic improvement in the prediction of patient responses to cancer immunotherapies relative to other diagnostics. Using an AI approach and RNA expression data from patient tumors, Cofactor's OncoPrism platform has demonstrated a 300–400% improvement in predictive performance compared to other clinical tests. Cofactor also presented for the first time the validation results for OncoPrism-NSCLC, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) representing the single largest patient population eligible for immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) immunotherapy. Validated with patients enrolled across 12 clinical sites, OncoPrism outperformed PD-L1, with higher sensitivity and specificity in NSCLC. Cofactor's approach has already proven its clinical value. OncoPrism-HNSCC and OncoPrism-NSCLC are available for clinical use from Cofactor's CAP-accredited, CLIA-certified laboratory. In addition, OncoPrism-HNSCC has secured Medicare reimbursement approval. The robustness of Cofactor's platform comes from its proprietary Health Expression Models – multidimensional RNA models built with machine learning. These Heath Expression Models decode complex RNA expression patterns to measure the immune status of the tumor microenvironment, delivering high predictive accuracy beyond single-gene tests. This unique approach ensures robust, reproducible results across different patient populations and tumor types. "OncoPrism is bridging the precision medicine gap by providing clinicians with reliable insights that far surpass the predictive power of conventional biomarkers," said Dr. Flanagan. "Leveraging RNA's rich information, we can identify immunotherapy responders with unprecedented accuracy. It's an honor to present these findings at the RNA Society's 30th anniversary meeting, which highlights how RNA science is transforming patient care." Cofactor's presentation at the 30th Annual Meeting of the RNA Society of recent clinical cases where OncoPrism is already changing clinical treatment decisions and improving patient outcomes underscores the growing importance of RNA in precision medicine. Celebrating three decades of RNA research, the conference provides a high-profile forum to share Cofactor's advancements, emphasizing how RNA innovations are driving a new era of personalized cancer immunotherapy. Cofactor's leadership in RNA diagnostics exemplifies how decades of RNA research are now being translated into tangible clinical benefits – improving the selection of therapies like checkpoint inhibitors and ultimately aiming for better patient outcomes in cancer care. About Cofactor: Cofactor Genomics is a commercial stage diagnostics company that bridges the precision medicine gap by decoding RNA to solve the biggest problems in healthcare. It accomplishes this by unlocking RNA's use as a transformational barometer of health through its PRISM database of patented Health Expression Models (HEMs). HEMs are a departure from common and often uninformative gene mutation panel tests. They represent the latest advancements in machine learning and RNA, transforming billions of biological RNA data points into Cofactor's high-dimensional RNA models of biology, disease, and therapy response. Cofactor's pioneering work in RNA modeling has been published in The Journal of ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, and recognized by Nature Scientific Reports as breakthrough work in cancer. Cofactor is supported and partnered with 38 healthcare systems, representing 20% of US healthcare. Cofactor's OncoPrism is CAP/CLIA-validated and Medicare-approved. Learn more from and LinkedIn. View source version on Contacts Contact: press@ Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
