🔥The 9th Round of Easy Loan, Earn $40 Reward is in progress❗️ ⏰ Promotion Period: January 15th - Feburary 15th, 2025 👉 Register now and check more details at gate.io/campaigns/358

Shocking first news of 2025-26 funding from Arts Council of Northern Ireland as NI’s oldest active dance company Echo Echo Dance faces closure. Sian Mulholland MLA Deirdre Hargey Matthew O'Toole Arts Matter NI/NoI Theatre and Dance NI My British TheatreGuide news story: britishtheatreguide.info/news/northern-…

Fascinating, vital weekend ahead Queen's University Belfast 🎓 in the Front & Centre symposium on gender inequality on NI’s stages. Contributions from Maggie Cronin Dr Ciara Murphy Amanda Verlaque & Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Caoileann Curry-Thomson. My British TheatreGuide news story: britishtheatreguide.info/news/symposium…

Welcome rally by Equity and Equity Northern Ireland General Branch with Paul W Fleming calling for increased funding for Arts Council of Northern Ireland from Communities NI and Gordon Lyons MLA as the region’s arts sector remains in limbo over current budgets. My British TheatreGuide news story: britishtheatreguide.info/news/equity-ra…

Always a delight to get the latest TEATLES, full of short pieces revelling in the bountiful, inspirational wellspring of The Beatles and beautifully produced by the bountiful, inspirational Huw Spink.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reviewing public spending. Her decision will influence arts spend in NI. Sign Campaign for the Arts's petition to remind the UK Govt. the arts pay back public investment in spades financially and socially. Arts Matter NI/NoI Theatre and Dance NI campaignforthearts.org/petitions/spen…

Looking forward to the NI debut of the phenomenal Olivier Latry, resident organist of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, on June 1 with a recital ranging from French masters to Bach and Bartók. Quite a coup for The Portico of Ards. Arts Council of Northern Ireland NIIOC porticoards.com/whats-on/olivi…

Full Day One of Front & Centre symposium on gender inequality in NI theatre Queen's University Belfast 🎓: Dr Ciara Murphy pamela mcqueen Olwen Dawe (also on Bluesky) Caoileann Curry-Thompson Maggie Cronin (pictured) Brona Whittaker & Karis Kelly. Reading of Caoimhe Farren's feisty, forceful Hello Charlie rapturously received.

Couldn't get to the Front & Centre symposium's second day exploring gender imbalance in Queen's University Belfast 🎓. Seems timely to re-post my The Stage feature on women re-shaping NI theatre. emma jordan Emily Foran Alice Malseed Paula McFetridge TaraLynneONeill thestage.co.uk/features/meet-…

Final day of Front & Centre symposium Queen's University Belfast 🎓 focused on new work from Alice Malseed Clare Duffy, Grace Kully Gillian Pencavel Soso Ní Cheallaigh, Holly Hannaway (l-r), Íde Simpson Aoife De Bhál, Denise McCready, Aoife Kane. Invaluable weekend. Exciting times ahead for NI theatre.

"The Basic Income pilot has been an effective support for the artists in receipt of it" says RoI's Patrick O'Donovan. 40% of each award is invested back into new work. Pipe dream to think that Arts Council of Northern Ireland could afford such a scheme Communities NI Gordon Lyons MLA rte.ie/culture/2025/0…

Stuck in the Middle With You, Bright Umbrella’s portrait of life in the RUC Grand Opera House, Belfast is “as harrowing as it is humane, laced with gallows humour.” My British TheatreGuide review: britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/stuck-…

Appalling news that Ulster University is to close Riverside Theatre; the second NI theatre to go dark in the last year after Waterside Theatre NI. Pintsized Ni closed in 2024; Echo Echo Dance is under threat. Communities NI Gordon Lyons MLA Arts Matter NI/NoI Theatre and Dance NI bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Today would have been Roma Tomelty's 80th birthday – a vital fixture of Northern Ireland's theatre for six decades. Was there an NI theatre company she hadn't worked with? A treasure trove of stories and lore too. My obituary for The Stage from 2020… thestage.co.uk/obituaries--ar…

“Its verve, heart, and shading of humour and drama mark [Eavann Mallon] out as a writer of interest.” Roaches at Bright Umbrella’s Sanctuary Theatre, and at An Chultúrlann in August. My British TheatreGuide review: britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/roache…

Stunning recital from Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris organist Olivier Latry at The Portico of Ards, complete with a remarkable 17-minute improvisation on three national anthems. David McElderry's organ sang out impeccably. Good to see so many in attendance for what amounted to a triumph for the venue.

FrielDays: A Homecoming, a multi-year celebration of Brian Friel including 29 plays, is to launch in August from ARTS OVER BORDERS. My British TheatreGuide news story: britishtheatreguide.info/news/five-year…

The greatest, most intelligent Hollywood epic: Spartacus. Faultless script (Dalton Trumbo), performances (Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Olivier, Ustinov, Jean Simmons), music (Alex North) and Kubrick directing. 65 years on, a timely warning about tyranny. bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod…

Life writ large in small-town, rural Ireland in Orla Mackey's affecting, beautifully realised debut novel, Mouthing (Penguin Books UK). A new name among Ireland's must-read novelists in the line of John McGahern and Donal Ryan.

“Beautifully designed, artfully presented and played with tongues firmly in cheeks… all the makings of a summer hit.” Jimmy Fay’s The Importance of Being Earnest Lyric Theatre Belfast is a candyfloss-coloured treat. My British TheatreGuide review: britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/the-im…

NI theatre down under. Not long back from Teatro Mayor JMSD in Bogotá, Columbia, Stephen Kelly & c21 Theatre Comp NI clock up more air miles to premiere a new play with its roots in Portaferry Town by Fleur Murphy at National Celtic Folk Festival in Australia. Looking forward to seeing it closer to home.