When TS Eliot had dinner with Groucho
What could the cigar-chewing, wisecracking Groucho Marx have in common with the deadly serious poet TS Eliot? For one thing they greatly admired each other. Groucho’s perpetually chaotic screen character, with his false black eyebrows, greasepaint moustache, big glasses and distinctive slinking walk, specialised in delivering put-downs – especially to shocked, usually upper-crust, women.
Any serious topic got short shrift. Eliot, on the other hand was the very essence of the serious writer, a Nobel prizewinner, who had a profound influence on the English and American style of poetry and writing in the 20th Century, revitalising it with often obscure references to philosophy and religion. His one playful work was the series of poems that was turned into the musical Cats. In Frank McGuinness’s Dinner With Groucho, the two cultural giants are in a restaurant on the edge of Heaven. The event is presided over by the Proprietor who seems to control the workings of the universe. Or does she? Civic Tallaght, until Oct 1. See dublintheatrefestival.ie
■ Galway Traveller Movement presents a new play, Night Shift, by Rosaleen McDonagh as part of Mileór Festival of Nomadic Culture. Noreen is a traveller. Piotr is not. She feels their relationship should be kept secret and they have some tough decisions to make. McDonagh is a prolific writer, disability activist, social worker, member of Aosdána and of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. Mick Lally Theatre, Galway, from Tuesday until Oct 1. See druid.ie