FALLING SLOWLY
September marks the beginning of a season of arts musts. MEG WALKER has your starting points...
Your September cultural hit list
As much as we need – and love – the summer sun, there comes a point when we all look forward to that crisp autumn air; to bringing out a few knitwear pieces and reintroducing layers to our wardrobes. And while the children gather their new books, uniforms and Leap cards for the big return, we can all benefit from a back to school routine in our lives. That said, we’re not ready to batten down the hatches just yet... there are far too many arts happenings to catch and the sun is still beckoning us to stay out a little longer to enjoy them. Here is your cultural itinerary for the month ahead... 1 Referred to as “Spain’s Impressionist”, Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida is particularly regarded for his technically accomplished treatment of water and light. Comprising 52 paintings, Sorolla: Master of Light at the National Gallery of Ireland August 10 to November 3 is the first exhibition of Sorolla’s work in Ireland. Curated by Dr Aoife Brady, it presents a range of quintessentially Spanish scenes, from landscapes to portraiture, and depictions of daily life and culture, nationalgallery.ie. 2 The Dublin Fringe Festival always presents a cracking range of talent each year, and as 2019 marks its 25th birthday, you can expect an even bigger celebration September 7-22. For starters, Project Arts Centre’s Sorry Gold, pictured, created by aerialist Emily Aoibheann, is a live art piece where sculpture and body merge to create the ultimate moving artwork. Then there’s Gym Swim Party, , from co-creators Danielle Galligan and Gavin Kostick with collaborators Louise Lowe (director), Eddie Kay (movement direction) and Megan Kennedy (choreography) – a contemporary riff on the Trojan story where Dublin’s rival gym dynasties settle old scores and gain control of the city. For more, visit fringefest.com. 3 Whether you’re a Swiftie or not, you can’t deny Taylor Swift’s massive appeal, and just shy of 30, she just gets better with age. Her seventh studio album, Lover, featuring singles “Me!”, “The Archer” and “You Need to Calm Down”, lands August 23.
4 In case you hadn’t heard, Irish comedy stalwarts Aisling Bea and Sharon Horgan have teamed up for six-part Channel 4 comedy series This Way Up, and we’ve already got it set to record, ready for the first episode on August 8. Written by Bea and produced by Horgan’s production company Merman, it sees Bea star as Aine, a TEFL teacher recovering from a nervous breakdown, and Horgan her worried sister Shona. Everyone will be talking about this one, so tune in. 5 The film adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Goldfinch hits Irish cinemas September 27, starring Ansel Elgort as Theo Decker, who at 13 was taken in by a wealthy Upper East Side family after his mother was killed in a bombing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Having survived the attack himself, young Theo took a famous Dutch painting from the museum, and as he grows older, his mother’s absence along with the presence of “The Goldfinch” lead him to make extreme choices which take him around the world. Directed by BAFTA-winning Irish director John Crowley ( Brooklyn), and also starring Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson and Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard, this one’s bound to be box office gold. And that’s just for starters – there are many more arts events happening this month... SEE I dreamt I dwelt, an exhibition of new work by Irish artist Dorothy Cross at the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin September 6 to October 28, kerlin.ie. MAKE THE MOST OF Culture Night on Friday, September 20, where arts venues across Ireland will open their doors late into the night for free visits, tours, workshops, readings and performances, culturenight.ie. Make sure to pay a visit to the new Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), which opens at 5pm that night, moli.ie. DON’T MISS The Dublin Theatre Festival, September 26 to October 13, featuring new work from Michael Keegan-Dolan and Teac Damsa, Marina Carr, Dermot Bolger, Dylan Tighe, as well as Nancy Harris’ The Beacon, commissioned by
Druid and directed by Garry Hynes, which marks Harris’ return to the Gate after her adaptation of The Red Shoes, dublintheatrefestival.ie. CATCH The Dublin Feminist Film Festival August 22-24 at The Light House Cinema Dublin, which will look at works by such filmmakers as Kirsten Sheridan, Aoife McArdle, Oonagh Kearney, Louise Bagnall, Margaret Corkery and Claire Dix, dublinfeministfilmfestival.com. NAB TICKETS FOR Biennial music festival Sounds from a Safe Harbour, taking place in venues across Cork September 12-15, soundsfromasafeharbour.com. WATCH A Bump Along the Way directed by Shelly Love, written by Tess McGowan, and starring Bronagh Gallagher as a single mum whose stormy relationship with her teenage daughter Allegra (Lola Petticrew) is further rocked when her mother becomes pregnant after a one-night stand, out August 30. TAKE THE KIDS TO Dubray StoryFest at Dublin’s Airfield Estate on September 28, with over 25 children’s authors and illustrators participating, dubraybooks.ie. INDULGE AT fEast Cork, the East Cork Food & Drink Festival, September 1-8 in Midleton, with chefs Takashi Miyazaki Enda McEvoy, Jess Murphy, and many more participating, feastcork.ie.