The Arts Review​

Jonathan White and Helen Norton in The Magic Glasses. Image, Al Craig *** There's a fad for reimagining theatrical museum pieces as contemporary plays. Works very much of their time framed in modern terms to supposedly speak to today. Thankfully director Conall Morrison resists the temptation, presenting George Fitzmaurice’s 1913 comedy The Magic Glasses exactly as intended. The production awash in period charm. Yet language makes for hard going, being embedded in old world d

David James Whelan and Molly Lynch in Oklahoma! Image, Marcin Lewandowski *** I have to confess to an abiding love for Oklahoma. I'm also very fond of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s 1943 musical of the same name. A slice of Americana that serves as a proud, if imperfect celebration of a people, a place and a time. A work whose classic songs have endured, immortalised onscreen in 1955, and have been revived onstage to international acclaim in recent decades. A musical that, when y

1975//Naoi Déag Seachtó Cúig by Teac Damsa. Image, Emilija Jefremova ***** What can you say about Teaċ Daṁsa’s excellent 1975/Naoi Déag Seachtó Cúig? Well, it’s a dance conversation with the iconic album by Irish traditional group The Bothy Band entitled 1975, originally released in 1975. Yeah. But that’s just facts, it speaks nothing to the truth. How about, 1975/Naoi Déag Seachtó Cúig sees dancers respond to music from the past rather than crafting something physically insp