Nov–feb 2017

NOV | DEC JAN | FEB 2017

O F FA LY ’ S C E N T R E F O R T H E A R T S

BOOKINGS 057 9122911 | www.birrtheatre.com

Friends of Birr Theatre 2016-2017 Become our Friend you will enjoy a host of exclusive benefits and savings while supporting our artistic objectives as we continue to provide a diverse programme of events throughout the year.

Circle Friends €60 per person Priority booking for all performances • Friends rate on selected events • Regular e-mail bulletins • €3 for film@birrtheatre • Invitation to exhibition openings • Entry into our season draw for 2 tickets to an event of your choice

Dress Circle Friends €120 per person ALL THE ABOVE BENEFITS, PLUS • 2 tickets at Friends rate on selected events • €3 for film@birrtheatre • Complimentary tickets to Music Network performances • 2 free tickets per year to be used on selected shows • 10% off any art purchased • Standing order payment option available To become a FRIEND please contact the Box Office: 057 9122911

AN IDEAL GIFT – ANY TIME OF YEAR

Welcome!

We hope you are enjoying this year’s programme as much as we are. We look forward to welcoming you to a host of events in the coming months. As you have seen, we recently had a little facelift with the repairs and painting of the building façade! Phase 2 will see the restoration of the decorative barge and we will be undertaking an extensive funding campaign to meet these costs. We invite you to support the fundraising in whatever way you can. You can contact the box office or see the different ways to support on our website www.birrtheatre.com

Emma Nee Haslam Venue Manager

BOOKING YOUR TICKETS Tickets are non-refundable and must be paid for at time of booking.

Please have your credit/debit card ready.

All ticket prices include €1 transaction fee.

Box Office: Open Monday to Friday: 1–5.30pm 057 9122911

FEBRUARY

DECEMBER – JANUARY

BOOK ONLINE: WWW.BIRRTHEATRE.COM

VISUAL ARTS COMMON GROUND

ANIMAL KINGDOM The 9th annual Common Ground, referring to a group of artists coming together to exhibit, will take the theme Animal Kingdom this year and we are currently calling for local artists to submit work. The exhibition will be curated by a guest selector and it is intended the resulting exhibition will showcase the exceptional talent and diversity of visual artists in the Midlands today. From dogs to dinosaurs…bears to bees and everything in between! Whether in the air, on land or in water, in any medium or style, artists are encouraged to explore and enjoy their creativity. Full details regarding submitting on www.birrtheatre.com.

WOLF LORIEN Wolf Lorien is a representational artist, with a special interest in portrait and figure drawing. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in Fine Art (2009) and an M.A. in Fine Art (Painting) (2011) from the Limerick Scool of Art and Design. Wolf has been commissioned to produce artwork in public buildings in Clare, illustrate two books as well as an environmental education project used in national schools. His work has been featured on several publications in Ireland and internationally. This show of recent work focuses on the inspiration of classicalism and the role it has played in art as a rich source of timeless wisdom.

NOV

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WORKSHOPS & LIVE Mid-Term Break PERFORMANCES Wed 2 – Sat 5 Nov 2016 FOR ALL THE FAMILY www.h ullabaloof estival.ie

Film@BirrTheatre

MUSTANG

Director: Deniz Gamze Erguven France, Turkey, Germany 2015 | (Turkish) 97 minutes | Cert: 15A

TUESDAY 1 NOVEMBER Starring: Günes Nezihe Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Elit lscan, Tugba Sunguroglu, Ilayda Akdogan, Nihal Koldas, Ayberk Pekcan

*IMDb rating 7.7 8pm • €5/€3

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In a remote Turkish coastal village on the Black Sea, five young sisters live under the guardianship of their grandmother and uncle after the deaths of their parents. When a neighbour witnesses the girls innocently playing on the beach, she reports this “scandalous” behaviour to their guardians, who institute a tyrannical regime of both physical and emotional imprisonment. All “instruments of corruption” and pop-culture artifacts are removed from the house, girly outfits are replaced with formless brown dresses, and, following a brief escape to an all-female soccer match, bars are installed on the windows and gates erected at the home’s entrance. As the eldest sisters are subjected to virginity tests and married off one by one, the younger sisters look on in fear and resolve not to succumb to the same fate.

The feature debut of Turkish filmmaker Deniz Gamze Ergüven is a sensitive and powerful portrait of sisterhood and burgeoning sexuality – Belfast Film Festival 2016

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M Film@BirrTheatre

SWEET BEAN (An)

Director: Naomi Kawase Japan/France/Germany 2015, (Japanese) 113 minutes | Cert: CLUB

TUESDAY 8 NOVEMBER Starring: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida

*IMDb rating 7.4 8pm • €5/€3

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Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) runs a struggling food kiosk where he sells dorayaki pancakes to a small number of customers.

After he advertises for an assistant, he is surprised when sixtysix year old Tokue applies for the position. While Sentaro initially refuses, her persistence pays off when she brings him a sample of her own homemade delicious sweet bean paste (an), the filling used in the pancakes, to taste. As Tokue shares the secrets of her cooking as well as the importance of nature in life, she brings new hope to the kiosk and its chef. But Tokue harbours a secret of her own. This latest film from Japanese director Naomi Kawase (Still the Water) is gentle, quietly moving and life-affirming.

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NEW FOREST FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER We could say something like ‘welcome back’, but CATHY DAVEY has never been away. Yes, her fourth studio album, New Forest, arrives six years after her Choice Music Prize-nominated The Nameless was released, but Cathy has had other important things on her to-do list – namely setting up and establishing the animal charity organisation, My Lovely Horse Rescue, which re-homes and rehabilitates neglected, abused and abandoned horses, ponies, donkeys and other members of the equine family. New Forest was produced by Cathy and is preceded by the first single The Pattern. The album was written and recorded in the forest, two forests in fact. The first was in one of Ireland’s sole surviving indigenous forests, Woodford, in Galway and the second on the skirts of Connemara. Continuing the ‘Forest’ theme Cathy launched a new Electric Picnic stage by debuting her album on the Hazel Wood Stage this year.

Cathy is on a national wide tour and we’re delighted to have her back in Birr!

8pm • €21

NOV

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DANGEROUSLY FUNNY onstageblog.com, New York

PAT

SHORTT

Hows Tings?

SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER

Fresh from the success of his award-winning show, Selfie (“Dangerously funny.” – onstageblog.com, New York) PAT SHORTT returns with a brand new show called How’s Tings? In a night of music and mayhem, Ireland’s most popular comedian explores all sorts of tings. Big tings and little tings. Personal tings and tings that are not so personal. Important international tings and tings that only affect the parish. In Shortt, it’s a funny show about tings.

8pm • €29

Film@BirrTheatre

DHEEPAN

Director: Jacques Audiard France 2015 | (English) 114 mins | Cert: 15A

TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER Starring: Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby, Vincent Rottiers, Marc Zinga

*IMDb rating 7.2 8pm • €5/€3

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Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, French director Jacque Audiard’s latest film tells the story of Dheepan (Jesuthasan Antonythasan), a former Tamil Tiger fighter in Sri Lanka. As the civil war ends he decides to flee to France with two strangers, a woman and child who pose as his family in the hope of making it easier to claim asylum. Finding a caretaker job on a troubled housing complex in the Paris suburbs, and with almost no knowledge of French, Dheepan works hard to build a new life for his fake family. But he soon realises that the past is difficult to escape from. Once again Audiard delivers a powerfully compassionate yet morally complex tale.

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M

Fergus Costello

TELL ME LIES HORSE FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER “Hilarious Comic Monologues” – The Irish Times, (Davin O’Dwyer) Tell Me Lies Horse is a delightfully uplifting evening of entertainment from the master storyteller, FERGUS COSTELLO. It is filled with stories within stories, jam packed with a countless cast of characters that will live long in the memory. With more twists and turns than the ring of Kerry, Fergus Costello brings you a journey of side splitting hilarity. He was a special guest performer at Scripts Ireland’s Playwriting Festival earlier this year when award-winning playwright and screen writer, Eugene O’Brien described him thus “Fergus Costello’s unique way with works is pure jaw drop astonishing”. Tell me Lies Horse will charm and bamboozle you. Don’t miss this show!

8pm • €12/10

Film@BirrTheatre

THE MEASURE OF A MAN (La Loi du marché)

Director: Stéphane Brizé France 2015 | (French) 93 mins | CLUB

TUESDAY 22 NOVEMBER Starring: Vincent Lindon, Karine de Mirbeck, Matthieu Schaller

*IMDb rating 6.8 8pm • €5/€3

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Thierry (Vincent Lindon), a principled middle-aged man, has been unemployed for over a year. He doesn’t want to rely on state handouts like many of his former co-workers, instead preferring to continue looking for work, so that he can provide for his family honestly. After a lengthy and often humiliating search, he finally gets a security job at a local supermarket. But Thierry finds himself constantly struggling to negotiate between his conscience and the demands of his new position. Similar in tone to recent Dardenne brothers’ films, Stéphane Brizé’s low-key but powerful social drama hinges on Lindon’s quiet yet emotionally gripping performance; the rest of the cast are nonprofessionals which adds a further layer of naturalism and poignancy.

NOV

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Two Brothers

FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER The much loved Slovakian violin virtuosos, VLADIMIR & ANTON, are back in Birr this autumn having just finished a very busy tour of the UK as special guests of superstar diva soprano Katherine Jenkins. They also played a special concert at the Slovakian Embassy in London as part of Euro 2016 and were guests at the prestigious Isle of Wight Festival. If that’s not enough, they also released a new album, Vladimir & Anton Live which draws heavily on popular Russian classical music. Now resident in Ireland for more than ten years, Vladimir Jablokov has established himself as one of the brightest young stars on the Irish classical scene, with concerts and recordings that show his love of both classical and contemporary music. Meanwhile, younger brother Anton has completed his Masters degree with honours at the acclaimed Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, and is now studying for a solo diploma.

8pm • €22/€20

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M

DES Bishop GREY MATTERS

SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER The fantasy of everlasting youth dyed with Des’s last purchase of Just for Men over a year ago!! Now he is embracing the Grey and letting the wisdom of his years inspire his stand up. Grey Matters tackles the issues confronting Des these days, returning to live in New York, being surrounded by other people’s kids, gender and marriage equality, the dangers of snapchat, dating a Chinese woman, the prospect of reaching 40 and most of all, after the documentary-style stand up show about his time in China, Des is looking forward to returning to straight stand up where he can riff about whatever is on his mind!

Back by popular demand

8pm • €25

Friends of Birr Theatre 2016-2017 Become our Friend you will enjoy a host of exclusive benefits and savings while supporting our artistic objectives as we continue to provide a diverse programme of events throughout the year.

Circle Friends €60 per person Priority booking for all performances • Friends rate on selected events • Regular e-mail bulletins • €3 for film@birrtheatre • Invitation to exhibition openings • Entry into our season draw for 2 tickets to an event of your choice

Dress Circle Friends €120 per person ALL THE ABOVE BENEFITS, PLUS • 2 tickets at Friends rate on selected events • €3 for film@birrtheatre • Complimentary tickets to Music Network performances • 2 free tickets per year to be used on selected shows • 10% off any art purchased • Standing order payment option available To become a FRIEND please contact the Box Office: 057 9122911

AN IDEAL GIFT – ANY TIME OF YEAR

NOV

S I G N U P T O D AY F O R O U R E - N E W S L E T T E R

CYCLONE REP

the

shakespeare sessions

MONDAY 28 – TUESDAY 29 NOVEMBER The Shakespeare Sessions are entertaining and engaging student-centred performances of Shakespeare texts. Each performance includes a scholarly review clarifying the main themes as well as discussions with the students and the opportunity to participate. Cyclone Rep’s Shakespeare Sessions will guide Junior Cert and Leaving Cert learners in their understanding of The Bard’s masterpieces.

THE KING LEAR SESSION REBOOT (Monday 28 Nov 9.45am) – a group of conflicted actors and a director perform the story of Lear and in the process make a journey of self discovery; THE ROMEO & JULIET SESSION (Monday 28 Nov 1pm) – modern performers are directed on stage by the bard himself whose 16th century attitudes and demeanour clash with today’s: arguments, discussion and enlightenment ensue; THE HAMLET SESSION (Tuesday 29 Nov 9.45am) – an outstanding performance and engaging analysis in which the character of Hamlet as “everyman” is explored.

THE MERCHANT SESSION (Tuesday 29 Nov 1pm) – the most interactive of Cyclone Rep’s shows, with an entertaining and informative synthesis of analysis and performance, highlighting what a fine comedy it is.

For more details of each specific show and direct booking see www.cyclonerep.com

Film@BirrTheatre

LABYRINTH OF LIES

Director: Giulio Ricciarelli Germany, 2014 | (English) 122 mins | CLUB

TUESDAY 29 NOVEMBER Starring: Alexander Fehling, André Szymanski, Friederike Becht, Gert Voss

*IMDb rating 7.3 8pm • €5/€3

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Giulio Ricciarelli’s compelling feature debut, and Germany’s official 2016 Oscar® entry, shines light on an often-overlooked period when the country was in denial about its war crimes.

Labyrinth of Lies approaches the subject using the fictional young prosecutor Johan Radmann (an amalgamation here of several real-life lawyers). Radmann is idealistic and ambitious, eager to prove that he can take on more than traffic violation cases. After receiving a tip-off, the tenacious young man slowly unearths key documents that provide evidence of the war crimes that occurred at Auschwitz.

But as his efforts to bring those responsible to justice encounter resistance, he gradually realises that most of his fellow countrymen are either unaware of or unwilling to acknowledge the atrocities committed.

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M

SEIR KIERAN DRAMA GROUP CELEBRATES 20th ANNIVERSARY

IT’S THE REAL MCCOY Written by Tommy Marren • Directed by Adrian Shine

FRIDAY 2 – SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER This rip-roaring comedy combines high drama with amazing Irish wit. Set in rural Ireland over two days in 1964, we enter the life and house of Madge Molloy, who is enlightened as to why her husband Tom disappeared over forty years earlier. She has been left to rear her only daughter Maura on their small farm and she has become bitter about men in general!

However, the arrival of a new curate to the parish – Fr. Michael McCoy – is about to throw light on the circumstances surrounding Tom’s mysterious disappearance. Will Madge Molloy have her revenge or is love about to conquer! It’s the Real McCoy has been heralded as one of the funniest plays in decades and with over 100 performances in Ireland, the UK and America it continues to attract huge media attention and record-breaking audiences.

8pm • €12

Film@BirrTheatre

THE COMMUNE The (Kollektivet)

Director: Thomas Vinterberg Denmark/Sweden/The Netherlands 2015 | (Danish) 111 mins | 15A

TUESDAY 6 DECEMBER Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Fares Fares, Trine Dyrholm

*IMDb rating 6.6 8pm • €5/€3

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Professionals Anna, Eric and 14-year-old daughter Freya inherit Eric’s huge family home. Unable to cover running costs of the expansive villa and reluctant to sell, they decide to create a commune in the upmarket area of 1970’s Copenhagen.

Together they build a new family of interesting like-minded idealists, friends and bohemians. What follows are house meetings, parties, dinners and the democratic running of an idealised living situation. However when Eric embarks on an affair with a student, it threatens to destroy the dream and the people at the heart of the commune. Anna, shaken by the affair, begins to lose everything including herself. With humour and pathos, this hopeful drama explores the rewards and challenges of making dreams a reality.

DEC

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PRESENTS OFFALY YOUTH THEATRE

#AllAbout TheDrama FRIDAY 9 – SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER Offaly Youth Theatre (OYT) is delighted to present a weekend full of drama at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre! Join facilitator Macdara Deery, over two and a half jampacked days, as he mentors teenagers in the arts of acting for screen and stage, improvisation, scene work and characterisation and more. After being put through their paces, participants will also put on a small performance on Sunday – December which will be open to the public. Think you’re the next big thing? Then, join us and get those vital skills you need for your big break!

Suitable for 13-18 year olds • €45 per participant.

To register contact the Box Office 057 9122911 before 25 Nov* *If there are not enough participants registered by 25 November unfortunately the weekend will not go ahead.

Film@BirrTheatre

MY NAME IS EMILY

Director: Simon Fitzmaurice Ireland 2015 | (English) 100 mins | CLUB

TUESDAY 13 DECEMBER Starring: Evanna Lynch, Michael Smiley, Martin McCann

*IMDb rating 7.2 8pm • €5/€3

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The debut feature from Irish writer/director Simon Fitzmaurice is a spirited coming-of-age story that traces the journey of a strong-willed young woman as she weathers loss, upheaval, and rebirth. “If you hide from death, you hide from life.” Teenage Emily (Evanna Lynch) inherits this mantra from her father Robert (Michael Smiley), an author and philosopher, but following the tragic death of Emily’s mother, Robert starts to change, and his visionary eccentricities now appear to be symptoms of mental illness. Robert is soon institutionalized, and Emily is sent away to live with foster parents. When Emily suddenly decides to travel north to bust her father out of his psychiatric hospital, the hopelessly smitten Arden joins her on a road trip that will give both their first taste of what it truly means to be alive. Brimming with images of freedom, from the wide open road to the vast expanse of the sea, and buoyed by an arrestingly confident performance from Lynch, My Name is Emily will resonate with the young and young-at-heart alike. This is a stylish and assured film about self-discovery as an ongoing adventure.

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M TALISMAN THEATRE COMPANY

Please book early to avoid disappointment

THURSDAY 15 DECEMBER Thumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump, look at Frosty go! Frosty the Snowman is a jolly, happy soul made of snow with an old magician’s hat that brings him to life on stage! Frosty and his friends have great fun until they realise Frosty is threatened by the warm sun. The excitement builds as they head to the North Pole in search of the cold, in an adventure full of laughter, frolics and mischief!

But the fun really begins when they meet Santa Claus and discover that the wicked magician is secretly following them! Find out what happens in one of their most popular Christmas shows ever, full of laughter, fun and audience participation.

It’s sure to put a smile on your face and melt your heart. The children will LOVE it!

Ideal for Ages 4+ • 10.00am, 11.30am & 1pm • Prices: Adult: €13.50; Child: €12.50 School/Group rate: €10.00 • One teacher free with every 10 child tickets sold.

Running time approx. 55 mins (no interval) Booking: call Olga on the Central Booking Line 087-6363075

CALLANAN SCHOOL OF IRISH DANCE

CHRISTMAS DANCE SHOW

SATURDAY 17 DECEMBER Birr Theatre & Arts Centre is delighted to host The Callanan School of Irish Dancing for it’s annual Christmas Dance Show.

Dancers, from tiny tots to seniors, will perform a selection of dances in a variety of styles, showcasing our unique Irish dance heritage. Their most recent achievements include winning medals at the World Irish Dancing Championships at Theatre Royal, Glasglow with U15 and U18 Céili teams in March. The U18 team went on to win the All-Ireland Fleadh title in Ennis in August. An enjoyable evening of dance for all the family.

3pm & 7pm • €11 (€5 for children)

DEC

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LUNCHTIME CONCERT

with Rachel Goode soprano and Dylan Rooney baritone

A concert of classic and seasonal song, bringing you the true Christmas spirit.

THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER Take a little time out to enjoy the beauty and charm of the season with family and friends, away from the bustle and rush of the week! Multi-award winning soprano RACHEL GOODE (Ballinasloe) is currently on the RWCM Opera MA course studying with the internationally renowned Irish soprano Suzanne Murphy. She posesses a wide repertoire of opera, oratorio, art song and musical theatre; recent performances have been with Wide Open Opera in Nixon in China and Breakdown at the National Concert Hall. Rachel was a finalist at The Trench Awards held in Birr each spring, winning an award in 2016. Special guest, DYLAN ROONEY (Nenagh) is winner of the Young Baritone competition at the Dublin Feis Ceol 2016, and of the Musical Futures Bursary (2015) at the Trench Awards. Dylan studied voice with Deirdre Hanniffy, and is now in his second year on the Professional Performance Degree at the RIAM with Virginia Kerr as vocal coach.

1.05pm • €15 includes light lunch

Ide Ch al Giftristmas

WHAT A VOICE… WHAT A PERFORMER! LA Times

SATURDAY 7 JANUARY It’s been almost four year since JACK L performed here and we can’t wait to have him back! With an all new, self-penned album, The King of Soho (and other stories) is selling like hot cakes. Jack promises to deliver a spectacular event, introducing you to great new characters and intriguing creations from his vivid imagination.

His successful USA tour last year earned him awards for ‘The Judges Pick Best Act’ and the Press Award ‘Best Performance of the Festival’ at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in LA. You’ll see why at this unmissable show. An ideal Christmas pressie!

8pm • €22/20

AS WITH ALL GREAT SHOWS… IT’S OVER TOO SOON. Edinburgh Evening News

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M

Ideal as Christm Gift

AN EVENING WITH LIVERPOOL LEGEND

IAN RUSH WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY

IAN JAMES RUSH, MBE, (Born 1961) is a retired Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool F.C. from 1980 – 1996, and is the club’s all-time leading goal scorer, having scored a total of 346 goals in all competitions during his sixteen years at the club. At international level he made 73 appearances for the Wales national football team and remains the record goal scorer for his country with 28 goals between 1980 and 1996. Regarded as one of the greatest ever Liverpool players, Rush came 3rd in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop (an official Liverpool fan poll) after Steven Gerrard and Kenny Dalglish. He also had short spells with Chester City, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Wrexham and Sydney Olympic. Since retiring as a player in 2000, Rush has had a stint as manager of Chester City (2004–05), and has worked as a television football pundit. Meet and greet this living legend! Listen to his amazing journey from his early days in Wales to life on the world stage as a top class footballer. Get your jerseys, books, etc signed by the man himself. An opportunity not to be missed!

8pm • €40 including meet and greet and photograph* €15 (audience member only) * Selfie free zone! – photographer will be on site

JAN

S I G N U P T O D AY F O R O U R E - N E W S L E T T E R

OFFALY MACRA NA FEIRME

NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS OF THE

FBD CAPERS COMPETITION

Macra na Feirme

SATURDAY 14 JANUARY Offaly Macra Na Feirme proudly host the National Semi Finals of the FBD Capers Competition. A number of teams from all over the country will compete for a place in this year’s final, where teams produce a light entertainment variety show of their choice. Teams are expected to have a good balance between musical, choral, dancing and comedy, while credit will not be given for extravagance in costume, props and other effects. So come along and enjoy the best of what the rural youth of Macra Na Feirme have to offer.

8pm • €10

Film@BirrTheatre

VICTORIA

Director: Sebastian Schipper Germany 2015 | (German, English) 140 mins | 15A

TUESDAY 17 JANUARY Starring: Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski

*IMDb rating 8.4 8pm • €5/€3

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Victoria, a young Spanish woman, dances through the Berlin scene with abandon. She meets four mates outside a club who introduce themselves as Sonne, Boxer, Blinker and Fuß.

They quickly get chatting. Sonne and Victoria take a fancy to each other and slip away from the group at the first opportunity.

But their tender flirting is rudely interrupted by the others because, for these pals, the night is far from over. To settle an old debt they have to pull off a dodgy deal. And because one of them is too drunk, they decide that Victoria, of all people, should take over the role of driver. What began as a game suddenly becomes deadly serious. Working from his own script, actor and director Sebastian Schipper tells the story of a breathless night on the streets of the metropolis. The camera seamlessly intertwines the passing of time and numerous locations, placing the audience right in the centre of the action. Alongside the audacious gang, we gaze out across the city from tower block roofs, saunter along deserted pavements and hide out in secluded courtyards as apparently random events coalesce into a dramatic tour de force.

– BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2015

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M

THE LAMBERT PUPPET THEATRE

SnowWhite and

BOSCO

SATURDAY 21 JANUARY Entertaining both children and adults for over four decades, The Lambert Puppet Theatre is widely recognised as the premier touring puppet theatre company in Ireland, the UK and Europe. From its earliest beginning the Lambert family has been involved with RTÉ TV, working the hugely popular series Wanderly Wagon featuring the Late Eugene Lambert and Judge. Paula Lambert was the voice of Bosco on TV for seventeen years and indeed Bosco is still a firm favourite with the younger children and will make a nostalgic appearance in the opening part of this show. This is a beautifully produced show with large puppets and colourful sets and is suitable for up to ten years of age.

2pm • €11 (4 tickets €39) Film@BirrTheatre

RAMS (Hrutar)

Director: Grimur Hakonarson Iceland 2015 (Icelandic) 93 minutes | Cert: 15A

TUESDAY 24 JANUARY Starring: Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving

*IMDb rating 7.4 8pm • €5/€3 s See 5 Film get 6th

FREE

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Gummi and Kiddi are brothers. They have both dedicated their lives to tending sheep and their farms are next door to each other. They have not spoken in over 40 years, a feud that has reduced any necessary communication between them to be carried out via written messages delivered by Kiddi’s dog.

However when one of their sheep contracts a contagious disease, the livelihood of the brothers and the entire rural community comes under threat. Writer-director Hakonarson beautifully captures the tragicomic plight of the brothers against the stark beauty of the Icelandic valleys to deliver a charming and moving drama.

Film@BirrTheatre

THE YOUNG OFFENDERS

Director: Peter Foott Ireland 2016 | (English) 84 mins | 15A

TUESDAY 7 FEBRUARY Starring: Alex Murphy, Chris Walley, Hilary Rose, Ciaran Bermingham, Pascal Scott

*IMDb rating 8 8pm • €5/€3

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Inspired by the true story of Ireland’s biggest cocaine seizure in 2007, The Young Offenders is a comedy road movie about best friends Conor and Jock, two inner-city teenagers from Cork. When a drug-trafficking boat capsizes off the coast of West Cork and 61 bales of cocaine, each worth €7m, are seized, word gets out that there is a bale missing. The boys steal two bikes and go on a road trip hoping to find the missing bale which they can sell so as to escape their troubled home lives... But Sergeant Healy is in hot pursuit.

FEB

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Film@BirrTheatre

Director: Micheal Curtiz USA 1942 | (English) 102 mins | G

CASABLANCA TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Dooley Wilson

*IMDb rating 8.6 8pm • €5/€3 s See 5 Film get 6th

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The much-loved Casablanca has come to epitomise the classic Hollywood studio picture at its best. Ironically, its ‘perfect’ blend of elements-story, casting, music, studio artifice, seems to have resulted from one of those happy accidents that occasionally makes for a great movie. The film’s turbulent production involved constant rewrites and radical changes in casting, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman replacing Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan. Fortunately, director Michael Curtiz was on hand to give fate a helping hand in making the film one of Hollywood’s most memorable romantic melodramas.

The familiar narrative focuses on themes of lost love, honour and self-sacrifice in an exotic wartime setting. Bogart is the cynical nightclub owner in Casablanca who has a fateful meeting with the lover he left behind in Paris. She is now married to a French Resistance fighter who is hunted by the Nazis, and Bogart has to decide whether or not to help the couple escape to freedom. Casablanca must have appeared romantic and nostalgic even in 1942 and now seems like a timeless classic about the triumph of civilised values in a cruel world.

TOM KELLY PROMOTIONS

ALL THE HITS AND MORE! FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY

Idea Chr l Gift istmas

Highly respected singer and prolific songwriter ISLA GRANT makes a welcome return to Ireland after an absence of two years. Isla is well established in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, America and Canada as a singer/songwriter of the highest quality having completed hugely successful tours and once again received five Gold Discs for CD sales. Add this to six Platinum Discs already received in Ireland and you can see why this Scottish Lass is so popular. Her highly entertaining show features all her wonderful hit songs and some new songs from her latest album. Isla’s interaction with her audience adds greatly to the atmosphere at her live show. She will be joined on stage by her husband Al featuring some of the all time Jim Reeves hit songs! As well as Al, one of Ireland’s finest musicians, multi-instrumentalist Glen Flynn plays an integral part of the Isla Grant sound. A treat for all Isla Grant fans.

8pm • €26

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M

SHARON SHANNON Ide Ch al Giftristmas

SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY

SHARON SHANNON has music at her fingertips...literally! The accordionist from Clare has achieved legendary status throughout the world and has made the much-maligned accordion ‘cool’ in her home country. Renowned for her collaborations, not just in Irish traditional music, but through all musical genres, Hip-Hop, Cajun, Country, Classical and Rap. Sharon regularly performs on tour at festivals in Ireland and throughout the world has recorded and toured with a who’s who of the Irish and Global Music Industry, including Bono, Sinead O’Connor, Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, The Chieftains, The Waterboys, Willie Nelson, Mundy and many more – a list that is testament to Sharon’s versatility as well as talent. Among the many awards she has received including Hot Press and Meteor Awards, she also celebrates being the youngest ever recipient of the Meteor Lifetime Achievement Award.

8pm • €22.50

Film@BirrTheatre

ANOMALISA

Director: Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman USA 2015 | (English) 90 mins | 15A

TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY Starring: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan

*IMDb rating 7.3 8pm • €5/€3 s See 5 Film get 6th

FREE

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Michael Stone (David Thewlis) is a successful motivational speaker with fans across the country, but inside him sits a knot of anxiety that renders much of his daily life meaningless.

Everything and everyone just seems the same to him. But then Michael meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) on a speaking-tour stop in Cincinnati. Lisa is an anomaly. Michael and Lisa begin with prickly, cautious conversations and then move towards love. But, unlike in a conventional Hollywood romance, that romantic arc is neither simple nor obvious. The love scene at the heart of Anomalisa should instantly rocket up the list of cinema’s greatest. It’s intimate, awkward, heartbreaking, and deeply erotic despite the fact that the lovers are made of felt.

“Returning to the themes of human connection and artistic creation that ran through his feature directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, as well as his screenplays for Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kaufman delivers an even more insightful rumination on love here, one that finds its perfect expression in the fragility of the film team’s stopmotion figures. This is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind romance” – CAMERON BAILEY, TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

FEB

S I G N U P T O D AY F O R O U R E - N E W S L E T T E R

THE

SUCCESSFUL

T.D.

One of your own – a vote for Tull is a vote for yourself!

SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY Written by John B. Keane Adapted for stage by Jon Kenny, Mary McEvoy and Michael Scott from Keane’s novellas The Successful T.D. and An Irish Minister of State.

POSTPONED FROM LAST SEPTEMBER, WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HOST THIS PRODUCTION FOLLOWING IT’S TWO WEEK RUN AT THE GAIETY. The Successful T.D. follows the hilarious antics of one Tull McAdoo as he seeks reelection to the Dáil in the October Elections.

“There are lots of things I know about people – necessary things – in case I ever need them – it’s part and parcel of the dirty game we call politics – don’t ever judge a politician outright – if he does something which seems underhand – he’s only doing his best – to survive!”

Written in 1967, in The Successful T.D. John B. Keane displays his edge for humour and satire that are uncomfortably close to the politics of today...

8pm • €22.50

Film@BirrTheatre

OUR LITTLE SISTER (Umimachi Diary)

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda Japan 2015 (Japanese) 128 mins | CLUB

TUESDAY 28 FEBRUARY Starring: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho

*IMDb rating 7.6 8pm • €5/€3 s See 5 Film get 6th

FREE

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Three sisters – Sachi, Yoshino and Chika – live together in a large house in the city of Kamakura. When their father – absent from the family home for the last 15 years – dies, they travel to the countryside for his funeral, and meet their shy teenage halfsister. Bonding quickly with the orphaned Suzu, they invite her to live with them. Suzu eagerly agrees, and a new life of joyful discovery begins for the four siblings. My Little Sister is a film which explores sorrow and change, through the light of renewal.

Exploring the deep bonds of sisterly love, Kore-eda has created a masterful exploration of the transformative power of familial unity.

B U Y O N L I N E W W W. B I R R T H E AT R E . C O M

AN EVENING WITH

MICHAEL HARDING FRIDAY 3 MARCH Following his hugely popular nationwide tour of venues in Ireland in the spring of 2015, MICHAEL HARDING, author, playwright and Irish Times columnist, is on his travels again in his unique one man show, talking with great honesty and wit about life, love and growing old. Coinciding with the publication of his latest book Talking to Strangers, he will once again enthral audiences with a night of storytelling, musings and readings from his very best work. Hilarious yet poignant, homespun yet profound, down-to-earth yet prone to amazing flights of fancy, there’s nothing quite like an evening with Michael Harding.

8pm • €18/16

Tommy Fleming

Stories

SATURDAY 4 MARCH

A TOMMY FLEMING concert is a unique musical experience suitable for all ages. Tommy’s unique talent has brought his worldwide recognition and he is critically acclaimed to be one of the world’s finest singers of his generation. Tommy’s 25th anniversary album, Stories, is a specially designed storybook with the story behind why each of the songs were especially chosen by him. Included in the 32 tracks are some old, some new and previously unreleased songs along with the title track written by Paul Brady and a very special duet of Wonderful World with Vince Gill. The album also includes Tommy’s It Was Only Ever You to coincide with the release of Kate Kerrigan’s new book of the same name.

8pm • €29

BOOKING Tickets are non-refundable and must be paid for at time of booking.

Please have your credit/debit card ready. All ticket prices include €1 transaction fee.

Box Office: Open Monday – Friday: 1 – 5.30pm 057 9122911 Online: www.birrtheatre.com where you can select your seat (no additional charges).

Cheques payable to Birr Stage Guild Ltd. In the final hour before a show only tickets for that performance can be processed. To comply with fire regulations children (even babies) must have a ticket.

CONCESSIONS We offer concession rates, where possible, to students, under 18’s, senior citizens, unemployed and disabled. Current I.D. is essential to avail of these concessions.

GROUP RATES Group rates are available. Please enquire at Box Office.

LATECOMERS All performances start at 8pm (unless otherwise stated). Doors open 30 minutes before performance. Performances will start on time – please don’t be late! Latecomers will not be admitted until there is a suitable break, which in some cases may be the interval.

DISABLED ACCESS Birr Theatre and Arts Centre is accessible for wheelchair users.

We also have a house wheelchair for your use. This can be booked for a performance or the chair can be used to bring you from your car to your seat (please note: there are two steps to the front row seats). Please make your requirements known at the time of booking. It is advisable to book in advance.

CHILDREN Children must be accompanied by an adult at all performances.

FOOD & DRINK Wine, coffee and soft drinks will be available during the interval.

No food and drink permitted in the auditorium.

PARKING There is ample street parking. However we remind you we are located in a residential area and ask you to be conscious not to block private entrances.

MAILING LIST Join our mailing list now by emailing info@birrtheatre.com or leave your details at reception. Ensure to leave your mobile number for regular text reminders.

FURTHER INFORMATION Birr Theatre & Arts Centre Oxmantown Hall, Birr, Co Offaly Box Office: 057 9122911 Email: info@birrtheatre.com Web: www.birrtheatre.com Venue Manager: Emma Nee Haslam

Comhairle Chontae Uíbh Fhailí Offaly County Council

This project is supported by the Department of Social Protection and Pobal through the Community Services Programme.

Information correct at time of print. Sometimes changes are unavoidable and we apologise for same.

Call Box Office or check local press for further details.

BIRR STAGE GUILD P R O U D LY P RE S ENTS

An amateur production by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Ltd. LYRICS BY TIM RICE • MUSIC BY ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER

Marian Hall, BIRR, 8pm 30th & 31st January, 1st February, 2017 Online Booking opens Dec. 8th, 2016

Enquiries: 087 7977059 or www.birrstageguild.com

FOR 3 NIGHTS ONLY!!!

DESIGN AND PRINT: BROSNA PRESS 090 6454327