The Arts Review​

Celine Byrne and cast in Madama Butterfly. Image, Ros Kavanagh ***** There’s a tedious tendency to present classic operas as political polemics. Costumed in modern military uniforms that speak to colonialism, fascism, or the latest troubled war zone. Suggesting an opera has become so dated it’s incapable of standing on its original two feet. A tendency Puccini's Madama Butterfly from 1904 has frequently succumbed to. Not so Irish National Opera's current production, co-produ

Neill Fleming in Stuart Roche's Shard. Image, uncredited ***** Perhaps he's homeless, this barefoot man in threadbare clothes stalking the round. Perhaps he belongs to a cult. Ferocious intensity, excessive nervousness and outbursts of Renfield cackles give weight to the possibility of mental health issues. The air around him vibrating with violence, like a war veteran with PTSD. Skin covered in dirt, Elizabeth Boykewich’s costume of worn waistcoat, camouflage trousers and Ke

Patrick O'Kane and Anna Healy in Denouement. Image, Ciaran Bagnall **** If Millennials aren’t aging well, in John Morton’s dystopian Denouement , Gen Alpha doesn't get to age at all. Doomed to die in the not so distant future as the world is destroyed during their watch. Married Millennial's Liam and Edel wiling away their final hours in the societal wilderness that is The Sticks. Liam typing a hard copy of his memoirs which no one will likely read, Edel attempting to contac