The Arts Review​

Liz FitzGibbon and Manus Halligan in Animals. Image, Ros Kavanagh **** Talk about contentious. For acolytes, Animals is the best thing since sliced bread. For heathens, it'll just about pass as stale toast. Neutrals likely to fall into either camp. Based on seven stories from the critically acclaimed short fiction of Blindboy Boatclub, adapted and directed by Dan Colley, Animals has a relationship with truth, facts and reality that is never entirely stable, whatever truth, fa

Marty Rea in 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane. Image, Ste Murray ***** As it enters its final furlong, Dublin Theatre Festival 2026 can consider itself a job well done. Where 2025 saw Artistic Director Róise Goan taking the transitional reins, 2026 sees her stamping her own impressive authority. Productions like the universally adored Zinc and the subversively brilliant Lourdes! The Musical both critically and publicly acclaimed. To which must be added Sarah Kane's awe-inducing 4

Riain Cash, Molly Lynch, Danielle James in Lourdes! The Musical by Xnthony Ltd. Image, Patricio Cassinoni **** Yes, Lourdes! The Musical is loud, brash and hilariously funny. Yes, it's full of DIY inventiveness. Yes, it concerns itself with an egotistical narcissist, commonly known as an actor, reduced to their second-best life. But if you're expecting something akin to the hugely entertaining Oliver Cromwell Is Really Very Sorry, best manage your expectations. Instead of his