The Arts Review​

Niall McNamee and Tabitha Smyth in The House Must Win.  Credit, Ruth Medjber ***** It might be set in the west of Ireland during the 1970s but make no mistake, Mick Flannery's musical, The House Must Win , is a Western. A six gun, poker playing, shot down in the prime of life Western. Where drunkards, gamblers and honourable men loiter in a smoky saloon as the last train whistles in the distant darkness. Men doing, or failing to do, what a man's gotta do. Independent women,

Eoin O'Sullivan and Paddy McEneaney in Ante Beckett. Image by Al Craig *** It's a brave soul who’d take on Samuel Beckett. The risk of appearing derivative, of excessive homage, of looking like a tribute act enough to dissuade the most ardent enthusiast. Ante Beckett by Joel Smith , a sincere love letter to all things Beckett, a little of all the above. A tale of two foetus in the womb pondering the Tao like mysteries of something and nothing, Smith’s cleverly quipped script

Niamh McGrath, Jack Gavin, Robbie O'Connor, Peter Rothwell and Karl Quinn in Miasma. Photo Carol Cummins **** You might find yourself harbouring misguided reservations about Colin Murphy's historical drama Miasma . A touring production of one night stands, in primarily non-theatrical venues, it risks evoking tourist encounters like the Edinburgh Dungeons or Ghost Walks. Performers in period costume reenacting historical events in real world spaces designed to educate, enterta