NORMAL VIEWING
Spring is here. MEG WALKER lines up the must-catch TV, film, music and arts. Plus a few essential tomes.
The cultural offerings we’re looking forward to this spring
March heralds the start of the silly season: spring fever, sunshine, picnics, and a whole host of cultural pursuits. Get set for two months of inspiring cinema, TV, live performances and exhibitions… 1 Sally Rooney’s acclaimed Normal People finally hits our TV screens very soon. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald, produced by Element Pictures and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones (pictured) and rising Irish star Paul Mescal as the young on-off couple Marianne and Connell, the 12-part BBC Three series is one that will definitely have us glued to our sofas. 2 If you’ve yet to hear the soulful pop sounds of Irish singer-songwriter Aimée, now’s the time to catch up. This rising star will be all over the airwaves when her debut EP, Confession, lands on March 27. Growing up in Dublin, Aimée was inspired by artists like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, and in recent years has moved on to the likes of Ariana Grande, Charlie Puth and Demi Lovato. Her first two singles, “Don’t Bother” and “Break Me”, have already proven huge hits, and 2020 looks to be her year, with a busy gig schedule already filling up. Catch her at Whelan’s Dublin on March 27 and this summer at either Sea Sessions Surf & Music Festival in Bundoran or Body & Soul at Ballinlough Castle, both held the weekend of June 19-21; Indie20 in Cork or No Where We’d Rather Be at Kilruddery House & Gardens the weekend of July 31 to August 1; and Sult Festival, Gweedore July 10-12... We did say she’d be busy! 3 Ballet Ireland’s Bold Moves returns April 9-24 featuring a triple bill of contemporary work, including Irish choreographer Marguerite Donlon’s Strokes Through the Tail, Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, and Filipe Portugal’s Stepping Over (pictured). Bold Moves tours Dublin, Newtownabbey, Wexford,
Galway and Ennis. For dates, visit balletireland.ie.
4 Our next Netf lix binge comes by way of I Am Not Okay With This. Directed by Jonathan Entwistle ( The End of the F***ing World), this new
series based on the Charles Forsman graphic novel sees teenage girl Sydney (played by Sophia Lillis, above right) navigating the trials of high school while dealing with the complexities of her family, sexuality... and superpowers she didn’t know she had. 5 Part of the St Patrick’s Day Festival, multi-disciplinary arts festival Where We Live returns March 11-21 with a ten-day building takeover of Project Arts Centre that investigates and celebrates how it feels to live in Dublin today. With new work from THISISPOPBABY, Veronica Dyas and Complex Roots, and Fionnuala Gygax (below), it promises “a tapestry of stories that reflect the changes, celebrate the differences and shine a light in the dark corners of this place we call home”. More arts to engage with... Orla de Brí’s sculpture exhibition, Bound, at Solomon Fine Art March 5-28; Kaye Donachie and Light and Language, both opening at Lismore Castle Arts March 28 and running until May 24 and October 11 respectively; Lorcan Finnegan’s sci-fi thriller Vivarium, out March 27; Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival, March 26-29; and Cúirt International Festival of Literature, April 20-25. NON-FICTION MUST-READS Our TBR pile may be teetering, but we’ll definitely be prioritising Mark O’Connell’s Notes from an Apocalypse (Granta, approx €16, out April 16), Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat (Tramp Press, approx €15.99, out April 16), Sara Baume’s Handiwork (Tramp Press, approx €12.99, out March 26), and Lyra McKee: Lost, Found, Remembered, an anthology of the young yet formidable journalist’s writings published ahead of the first anniversary of her untimely death in Derry last year (Faber & Faber, approx €16, out April 2).