JANUARY - MARCH 2020
YOUR VISIT OPENING HOURS
CAFÉ
Whether it’s a pre-show drink or a leisurely lunch, the café at Riverbank Arts Centre has something for everybody. The café is open Monday to Saturday serving breakfast, lunch, and afternoon treats. For those attending evening performances, the café serves a range of snacks and beverages, from one hour before the performance and during the interval.
Monday to Friday: 9:30am-5pm Box Office is Closed for lunch: 2-2.30pm Saturday: 10am-1pm Opens 1 hour before shows
Opening Hours and Menus available on: riverbank.ie/café
HOW TO BOOK
Riverbank Arts Centre aims to make our patrons visit as enjoyable as possible.
Book Online: www.riverbank.ie Phone: 045 448327
GALLERIES
We have two dedicated gallery spaces for our visual art exhibitions.
ACCESSIBILITY
The building is accessible via a ramp to the right of the building. Our lower levels including McKenna Gallery and Auditorium are accessible via lift.
McKenna Gallery is located on the lower level, which is accessible by both stairs and lift.
Both the auditorium and Box Office are equipped with hearing loop facilities.
Children’s Gallery is on the ground floor level adjacent to the café.
FUNDING
As part of our visual arts programme we host a number of artist talks. All our visual arts events are free of charge, including the artist talks.
GET IN TOUCH
Phone: 045 448327 Email: boxoffice@riverbank.ie Website: www.riverbank.ie Address: Main Street, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, W12 D962
PARKING
There is on street parking which is paid parking from 9.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday inclusive. Parking outside of these hours is free. More information at riverbank.ie/our-location
Riverbank Arts Centre is funded by Kildare County Council and The Arts Council. Our cinema screenings are in association with AccessCinema, IFI and DIFF.
SOCIAL
Keep up to date with everything we do across
Hello and welcome, This season we’ve programmed a broad range of events for you to enjoy with everything from creative lunar trips in Moon Woke Me Up , the art of chilling out with Batman needs a Break or the art of paper folding with artist Vanya Lambrecht, impactful theatre with the award winning Trad by Mark Doherty to internment camps on the Curragh plains in Blue Raincoat’s Tintown. We are delighted to be working with theatre company Super Paua to co-produce a brand new theatre show based on the life of Newbridge born scientist Dr. Kathleen Lonsdale. With significant funding recently awarded from Science Foundation Ireland, this show promises to engage audiences young and old, and will have particular relevance for secondary school students. The Lonsdale Project will premiere in March. As the film award season gets into swing, we have a full cultural cinema programme to choose from every Monday night, alongside some special screening events. We partner again with the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival to bring you a special preview of a new Irish film Arracht . This screening bookends a full day of Kildare-made short films, funded by Kildare County Council - an immersive day for filmmakers and viewers alike. Finally, this season, Youth Theatre takes centre stage as we welcome young theatre makers and performers from across the county for the annual NT connections weekend supported by Riverbank Arts Centre; while our Young Playwrights programme, in collaboration with Fighting Words and Youth Theatre Ireland continues apace. There’s plenty in store to entertain, engage and excite - we hope you enjoy. Linda Geraghty, Venue Director
AT A GLANCE JANUARY COMEDY Farmer Michael & Kathleen
Fri 3rd
8pm
FAMILY CINEMA CBeebies's Hansel & Gretel
Sat 4th
2pm
VISUAL ARTS Creative Well Archive Project MUSIC Jack Lukeman
10/01- 05/02 Thu 9th
8pm
11/01 -29/02
VISUAL ARTS Fold/Unfold CINEMA Downton Abbey
€22.50
10
€4
10
FREE
8
€25/€23
12
FREE
11
Mon 13th
8pm
€6/€9
12
Wed 15th
8pm
€15/€12
16
Thu 16th
8pm
€6/€9
13
Sat 18th
Various
Various
14
Sat 18th
8pm
€15
13
Mon 20th
8pm
€6/€9
16
Tue 21st
11am
€6
39
Thu 23rd
8pm
€23
17
Sun 26th
2pm
€8
17
Mon 27th
8pm
€6/€9
18
Thu 30th
11am
€8 (a+c)
18
Mon 3rd
8pm
€6/€9
19
Thu 6th
8pm
€18/€16
19
Fri 7th
9.30am
€10
39
Sat 8th
2pm
€4
20
Mon 10th
8pm
€6/€9
20
Tue 11th
11am
€6
40
PRESCHOOL Moon Woke Me Up
Fri 14th
10am & 11.15am
€5
40
EARLY YEARS Moon Woke Me Up
Fri 14th & Sat 15th
Various
€10 (a+c)
21
Mon 17th
8pm
€6/€9
22
Thu 20th
8pm
€18/€16
22
Fri 21st
11am
€20
23
Fri 21st
1.30pm
€3
23
MUSIC
Anxo Lorenzo, Jim Murray, Dónal O’Connor & Jack Talty
CINEMA One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest FAMILY Family Day THEATRE In One Eye, Out The Other CINEMA The Farewell SCHOOL SCREENING A Colony COMEDY Jason Byrne: Wrecked but Ready FAMILY MUSIC The Speks CINEMA Judy EARLY YEARS Beth O’Halloran - Little Lámha
FEBRUARY CINEMA A Bump Along the Way THEATRE Trad SCHOOL SCREENING
NT Live - Hamlet
FAMILY CINEMA Abominable CINEMA Corpus Christi SCHOOL SCREENING
Everybody Knows
CINEMA La Belle Epoque THEATRE Tintown ADULT WORKSHOP The Value of Folding - Vanya Lambrecht Ward SPECIAL SCREENING
Between the Folds
AT A GLANCE WORKSHOP Paper Folding with Vanya Lambrecht Ward WORKSHOP Time Travel Writing with Megan Wynne MUSIC The Celtic Tenors CINEMA Little Women EARLY YEARS Beth O’Halloran - Little Lámha THEATRE Crowman
Fri 21st
3pm
€10
23
Sat 22nd
10.30am
€15
24
Sat 22nd
8pm
€25
24
Mon 24th
8pm
€6/€9
25
Thu 27th
11am
€8 (a+c)
18
Thu 27th
8pm
€18/€16
25
FREE
27 26
28/02 - 28/03
VISUAL ARTS Rolling in the Years LOCAL ARTS KYT - Queen's County
Fri 28th & Sat 29th
8pm
€10/€8/€5
Mon 2nd
8pm
€6/€9
26
FREE
31
MARCH CINEMA Monos VISUAL ARTS The Lonsdale Project - Exhibition SPECIAL SCREENING
A Dog Called Money
CINEMA Kildare Short Grass Film Festival SPECIAL SCREENING
Arracht (Monster)
CINEMA 1917
04/03-14/03 Thu 5th
8pm
€6/€9
28
Sat 7th
11am - 5pm
FREE
29
Sat 7th
8pm
€6/€9
28
Mon 9th
8pm
€6/€9
30
Thu 12th & Fri 13th
10am & 12pm
€5
41
Sat 14th
4pm
€8/€28
31
CINEMA Extra Ordinary
Mon 16th
8pm
€6/€9
30
COMEDY Neil Delamere
Thu 19th
8pm
€25
32
MUSIC The Illegals
Fri 20th
8pm
€22
32
FREE
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SC HOOLS The Lonsdale Project FAMILY THEATRE The Lonsdale Project
VISUAL ARTS Sightsavers Exhibition THEATRE An Ogeous Brose - Seamus O'Rourke
20/03 - 04/04 Sat 21st
8pm
€18/€16
33
CINEMA Parasite
Mon 23rd
8pm
€6/€9
33
SCHOOL SCREENING Stars By The Pound
Tue 24th
11am
€6
41
FREE
42
SCHOOLS Sightsavers Awards Ceremony
TBC
10am, 11am, €10 (a+c) 12:30pm
EARLY YEARS I Am Baba
Wed 25th
EARLY YEARS Beth O’Halloran - Little Lámha
Thu 26th
11am
€8 (a+c)
18
Thu 26th
8pm
€15
34
LOCAL ARTS NT Connections Festival
Fri 27th -Sun 29th
Various
Various
36
CINEMA Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Mon 30th
8pm
€6/€9
35
MUSIC INNI-K
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OUR OTHER WORK NEW FOR 2020: RIVERBANK IS GOING BLUE A new water refill station will be installed in the New Year. This is a free drinking water service for the general public – simply bring along your reusable water bottle and get a refreshing refill of water. This project is good for the user and good for the planet, and there’s even a counter on the refill station to show how many plastic bottles have been saved by using the system. Riverbank Arts Centre is proud to be the first public building in the county to take part in this initiative. For more information see www.Refill.ie
SUPER PAUA AND RIVERBANK ARTS CENTRE Riverbank Arts Centre is delighted to partner with theatre company Super Paua on an exciting new co-production premiering this season. The Lonsdale Project is a new theatre show for ages 11+ about the life and work of Kathleen Lonsdale - Kildare-born chemist and crystallographer whose work made a significant impact on the science world. This co-production has received significant funding support from Science Foundation Ireland and uses theatre as a medium to engage both students and the general public. The SFI Discover Programme provides funding for projects that inspire and guide the best in STEM education and public engagement in Ireland. It aims to increase the public’s engagement with STEM and to develop a more scientifically informed and involved society.
OUR OTHER WORK WHAT LIES BENEATH In 2020 we are launching a new education and outreach programme, What Lies Beneath… Ireland’s Ancient East!, to explore and celebrate Kildare’s rich ancient history through research and illustration. This programme is designed by Riverbank Arts Centre, and funded in partnership with Kildare Library Services. The work will take place in schools, led by Gráinne Bath Enright (Artist, illustrator) and Dr. Orla Bath Enright (Palaeontologist). We are thrilled to be working with two brilliantly talented Kildare-natives, a scientist and an artist, who happen to be twins. This will be an innovative, creative adventure for the primary school children who participate. There is also an opportunity to share the research and artwork with all local schools when it becomes part of an exhibition in our Children’s Gallery and will form part of a planned publication.
FIGHTING WORDS Riverbank Arts Centre is the Kildare partner of Fighting Words and provides creative writing workshops for primary and secondary level students, free of charge. Now in its tenth year, Fighting Words enables children and young adults to discover and harness the power of their own imaginations and creative writing skills. This season we are looking forward to welcoming Roddy Doyle co-founder of Fighting Words (and renowned author!) to Riverbank for a very special event - incorporating a creative writing workshop for our Fighting Words volunteers by the maestro himself!
AN LASAIRÉAN/THE FLAMINGO In July we were delighted to support Fizz and Chip’s Theatre Company develop An Lasairéan, an original piece of bilingual theatre for children. An Lasairéan incorporates the Irish language, music, humour, movement and dance to tell the story of a young bird who has been forced to leave his homeland. On his way to find a new home he gets separated from his family and ends up on a farm in Ireland, where he learns about Irish culture and shares his own heritage with the local animals. Along with Creative Ireland and Kildare County Council Arts Service, we look forward to supporting the next phase of this vibrant new work for young audiences. We work with partners each season to present our programme of events. Our presenting partners this season include ACCESS>cinema, Dublin International Film Festival, Irish Film Institute, Irish Writers’ Centre, Words Ireland, Children’s Books Ireland, Fighting Words, Youth Theatre Ireland, First Fortnight, Linenhall Arts Centre and Music Network.
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THE CREATIVE WELL ARCHIVE PROJECT 2020-2021 THE FIRST GATHERING McKenna Gallery 10th January - 5th February In 2021 The Creative Well and “This Must Be the Place” will celebrate 10 years of arts and health in Kildare. So this year we will be gathering The Well, its participants and its work since its inception to create a celebratory publication for its 10-year anniversary. The Creative Well visual arts programme of work aims to build and support well-being and rich life experiences by encouraging adults to engage with their creativity through visual art. Designed for people with all levels of abilities and life experiences, providing opportunities for everyone from complete beginners, to practicing artists and all in between. The next step in the programme is the making of an archive and pausing to reflect. This will be a year for gathering stories & testimonials. A year for reflection on what was done and thinking about what there is still to do. To listen to all who have been on this creative journey and to talk to past and potential stakeholders about how best to continue it. The Archive will be open from 10th January at the McKenna Gallery, where artists Emma Finucane and Eleanor Philips will be creating a space for the work of all The Creative Well’s participants to be collected and documented. This is open to all members both past and present of The Creative Well. Members of the public are welcome to come and view this archive process, learn about the project’s history and the artists involved. Stay tuned for details of events happening as part of The Creative Well installation in the McKenna Gallery this January and further gatherings throughout 2020. This is part of First Fortnight in partnership with Riverbank Arts Centre and celebrates Kildare County Council’s visual arts, health and wellbeing programme.
9 FIGHTING WORDS - VOLUNTEER CALLOUT Riverbank Arts Centre is delighted to partner with Fighting Words on a series of workshops in 2020. Fighting Words aim is: To help children and young people, and adults who did not have this opportunity as children, to discover and harness the power of their own imaginations and creative writing skills. What kind of people volunteer at Fighting Words? Everyone! All tutoring at Fighting Words is free and delivered by teams of volunteer writing tutors. Fighting Words have over 400 volunteer tutors – people from all walks of life – including students, retired people, writers (both professional and aspiring), teachers, journalists, visual artists – to name just a few. Full training will be provided and you will always work as part of a team. If you are 18+ and interested in volunteering, please contact kildare@fightingwords.ie
PLAYWRIGHTS PROGRAMME Fighting Words are leading a playwriting programme at Riverbank Arts Centre supporting young writers to create a new work for the stage. In a series of lively group workshops led by Hilary Fannin and Una Kavanagh, participants are learning playwriting skills including creating characters, structuring plot and being encouraged to realise their artistic vision.We have five young playwrights taking part: Susie Murphy Dooley, Gráinne Lavelle, William McCabe, Elizabeth Ryjkova and Natalia Schayer. The plays created during this programme will be performed on the Riverbank stage next season and will be published in Playshare, an anthology of plays created for young people by Youth Theatre Ireland.
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JANUARY COMEDY
FARMER MICHAEL AND KATHLEEN
Friday 3rd January, 8pm €22.50 Enjoy a culchie night out with Farmer Michael & his long-suffering wife Kathleen as they discuss all well-known world topics - from Donald Trump, to Caitlyn Jenner, Leo Varadkar to Lady GaGa, and a couple of their well-known cover songs too. The King and Queen of farming satire, after only three years on the comedy scene, Stevo & Sinéad have gathered a following of over 500,000 people worldwide, and over 100 million views on some of their single sketches. They’ve sold out shows all over Ireland and the UK, also collaborated with Official Rugby World Cup. As featured on: RTE, TV3’s Six O Clock Show, CNN, and SKY TV. Suitable for 16+
FAMILY CINEMA Director Peter Farrelly, USA, Running Time: 130 mins Cert: 12A CBEEBIES SHOW: HANSEL AND GRETEL
Saturday 4th January, 2pm €4
CBeebies Show Hansel and Gretel is coming to the big screen for a family-friendly feast of fun - and a perfect finale to Christmas festivities! This stage performance, recorded at Edinburgh Festival theatre, is an adaptation of the fairy-tale classic Hansel and Gretel and features many of CBeebies’ most popular performers, including, for the first time - Waffle the Wonder Dog! Prepare to be taken on a winter adventure through an enchanted forest where Hansel and Gretel must overcome the perils of the deep, dark wood in which they are lost and seek help from the forest’s magical creatures. Set against the backdrop and energy of the 1980s, Hansel and Gretel’s core message is an important one: never give up! Director Geoff Coward, 73 mins, Cert G
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FOLD/UNFOLD
by Vanya Lambrecht Ward
Saturday 11th January - Saturday 29th February Children’s Gallery
VISUAL ARTS
An exhibition exploring paper folding. The art of paper folding, generally known as origami, allows us to form a bridge between our 2D and our 3D understanding of the world, with all sorts of applications from space travel to medicine. One fold and we move from the flat surface to the world of objects. Folding can be free form or structured, and the results can be both aesthetically pleasing and intellectually intriguing. Come visit this intriguing exhibition, curated with young audiences in mind. Vanya Lambrecht Ward has worked in the arts over the last two decades, from theatre and television, to visual art and architecture. She has worked with KidsOwn Publishing Partnership for the last 10 years, lectures in theatre design at IT Sligo and is currently the Creative Engagement Resident Artist in The Dock Arts Centre. Her practice is centred around our built environment and combines photography, sculpture, painting and all things spatial. Folding is an essential tool in her spatial practice and explorations. Fold / Unfold is co-commissioned by Linenhall Arts Centre and Riverbank Arts Centre See also workshops on page 23
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JANUARY MUSIC
JACK LUKEMAN
Thursday 9th January, 8pm €25/€23 The UK based Kildare man and musical legend, Jack Lukeman, returns to Riverbank Arts Centre for a very special show. Jack Lukeman is a singer-songwriter, performer, raconteur and a whole lot more besides. He is a platinum-selling, a critically acclaimed artist who continues to win a worldwide fan base with his unique multi-octave voice. Jack has toured as a special guest with artists such as Sting, Imelda May, Jools Holland & The Proclaimers. This show will draw material from his back catalogue of albums including Metropolis Blue, Magic Days, Northern Lights, the 27 Club. “Lukeman’s voice is powerful and fluid. His range is impressive, from the deep baritone resonance of When The Moon Is High to the aching falsetto of the magnificent Rooftop Lullaby.’ - Hot Press magazine
CINEMA
DOWNTON ABBEY
Monday 13th January, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9 The continuing story of the Crawley family, wealthy owners of a large estate in the English countryside in the early 20th century. The television series Downton Abbey followed the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who worked for them at the turn of the 20th century in an Edwardian English country house. Over its 6 seasons, the series garnered 3 Golden Globe Awards, 15 Primetime Emmy Awards, 69 Emmy nominations in total, making Downton Abbey the most nominated non-US television show in the history of the Emmys - even earning a Special BAFTA award and a Guinness World Record for the highest critically rated TV show along the way. Dir: Michael Engler, UK, 2019, Cert: PG, Starring: Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Tuppence Middleton, Hugh Bonneville
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First Fortnight is a charity that challenges mental health prejudice through arts and cultural action. The First Fortnight Festival is an important part of Riverbank Arts Centre’s programme and includes a Family Day (see page 14)
CINEMA First Fortnight in partnership with IFI National presents
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST Thursday 16th January, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, a tragiccomedy directed by Milos Forman and starring Jack Nicholson, is about a free-spirited rogue who takes over the ward of a mental hospital through a combination of ingenuity and chutzpah. Based on Ken Kesey’s celebrated novel, the film uses a metaphorical framework - the madhouse - to symbolise the individual against the system, the story gets its power from the innumerable details which reveal what life is about in a mental institution. Screening will be followed by a post-show discussion - see website for details Director: Milos Forman, USA, 1975, Cert: 18
THEATRE
IN ONE EYE, OUT THE OTHER Saturday 18th January, 8pm €15
The first solo comedy show from Tadhg Hickey introduces you to Feargal; a downtrodden but cheery man who fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming an alcoholic. Using the Catholic calendar as a roadmap, Feargal leads us on a surreal and hilarious journey with many poignant twists in the hope of arriving at a sort of light at the end of the tunnel for the ‘bright man’. Written/Performed by Tadhg Hickey. Directed by John McCarthy. Original music by Brian Lane. Produced by Claire O Connell. Most Nominated Show at Dublin Fringe Awards 2019 “Great art….a vital catharsis; I laughed until I cried. Go see it.” Sunday Independent
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FAMILY DAY WORKSHOP
BATMAN NEEDS A BREAK! Saturday 18th January €10
10.30 - 11.30am, 6-8 years old 12pm - 1.30pm, 8-12 years old Pow… Sock… Smash… Batman spends so much time fighting crime and pouring over clues in the deep dark Batcave that he is exhausted. But when he finally gets a holiday, he discovers that he hasn’t a clue how to relax! He tries baking to see if that will help him to calm down but it turns out he’s not very good at it. What else can he do to just chill out?
ages 6-8
ages 8-12
During this workshop, hosted by Batman himself, you will help The Dark Knight to find ways to destress as we create Utility Belts crammed with calming contraptions, and make colourful capes to help unleash our Inner Heroes Of Happiness. Facilitated by Paul Timoney - artist, performer, storyteller, poet, art teacher and general maker of things.
WORKSHOP
STORYTELLING YOGA with Nicola Foxe Saturday 18th January, 10am - 11am €10 (adult & child)
Using popular titles such as ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and ‘The Gruffalo’, Nicola Foxe combines the wonders of storytelling with the benefits of yoga creating a captivating ‘Yoga Storytelling’ experience for the children.
ages 3-6
Moving their way through the beginning and middle to the end of the session, the children will learn breathing techniques and a sequence of poses all to the tune of their favourite stories. Nicola is a child yoga specialist, an SNA and has been teaching yoga to children of all ages, abilities and cultures since 2012.
FAMILY EVENT
PETER DONNELLY:
MIGGELDY AND ME - THE STORY BEHIND THE PRESIDENT BOOKS Saturday 18th January, 12pm €3
Family Ticket €10
The President of Ireland, a tale of forgotten glasses, the adventures of a wandering V.I.C (Very Important Cat) and a big surprise! Join author and illustrator Peter Donnelly for a very special First Fortnight family event based on his bestselling, award winning books, The President’s Glasses, The President’s Cat and The President’s Surprise. Let Peter take you on a wander through the landmarks of Dublin, visit Áras an Uachtaráin and meet some interesting characters from the President Series. With over 20 years working as a successful illustrator, Peter Donnelly will delve you into the world of illustration and gently explore the power of creativity in promoting positivity and well-being for both young and old. `Perfect for all the family’ - Today FM `Destined to be a modern classic’ - Offset
FAMILY CINEMA
UP
Saturday 18th January, 2pm €4
From the revolutionary minds of Pixar Animation Studios and the acclaimed director of MONSTERS, INC. comes a hilarious uplifting adventure where the sky is no longer the limit. Carl Fredicksen, a retired balloon salesman, is part rascal, part dreamer who is ready for his last chance at high-flying excitement. Tying thousands of balloons to his house, Carl sets off to the lost world of his childhood dreams. Unbeknownst to Carl, Russell, an overeager 8-year old Wilderness Explorer who has never ventured beyond his backyard, is in the wrong place at the wrong time - Carl’s front porch! The world’s most unlikely duo reach new heights and meet fantastic friends like Dug, a dog with a special collar that allows him to speak, and Kevin, the rare 13-foot tall flightless bird. Stuck together in the wilds of the jungle, Carl realises that sometimes life’s biggest adventures aren’t the ones you set out for. Director: Pete Doctor, USA, 2009, 101 mins, Cert: G Featuring the voices of: Christopher Plummer, Edward Asner, John Ratzenberger, Jordan Nagai, Paul Eiding
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JANUARY MUSIC Music Network presents
ANXO LORENZO, JIM MURRAY, DÓNAL O’CONNOR & JACK TALTY Wednesday 15th January, 8pm €15/€12
Anxo Lorenzo, gaita/whistles | Dónal O’Connor, fiddle | Jack Talty, concertina | Jim Murray, guitar Over the past ten years Anxo Lorenzo, Jim Murray, Dónal O’Connor and Jack Talty have been at the forefront of highly creative Galician and Irish music-making – as players, composers, arrangers, accompanists, producers and record label owners. Their individual talents as working musicians have seen them initiate hundreds of thoughtful and innovative projects, and the set list on this tour will include a Music Network commission from all four performers. Infused with a sharp intelligence and gentle curiosity about where this music sits in the world, this quartet of artists have made a massive contribution to music in both local and international arenas. Thrilling, soulful, WORKSHOP sincere and highly communicative, theirs is a music of people and place, of stillness, of confluence and of us.
CINEMA
THE FAREWELL
Monday 20th January, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9 When Billi’s family learn that her beloved grandmother, Nai-Nai, has been given mere months to live, they hastily stage a family wedding to facilitate a gathering in China. But they refuse to tell Nai-Nai about her illness. Billi, who was born in China but has been raised in the US, struggles with this deception – she must deal with her own frustration at the family’s refusal to tell Nai-Nai the truth, as well as her sorrow at the prospect of losing her grandmother. Returning to China for the first time since her childhood, Billi also faces a broader clash of cultures, which leads to further tensions and bewilderment. Director: Lulu Wang, 100 mins, USA, 2019, PG Cast: Awkwafina, Shuzhen Zhao, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin
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JANUARY COMEDY
JASON BYRNE: WRECKED BUT READY Thursday 23rd January, 8pm €23
Jason Byrne has had a hard year. But he doesn’t want to talk about that. He’s wrecked but ready. Ready for a laugh. This show is a celebration. A celebration of triumph over adversity. A celebration of the fact that everybody’s got their own crap going on and they don’t need to listen to someone else moaning about their problems. So, leave your worries at the door and find out why ‘The Times’ described Jason as ‘The Outright King of Live Comedy’. This show is for over 15s only. ‘Byrne is consistently brilliant’ - Metro ‘Full on, doubled up, gasping for oxygen, hilarious’ - Chortle.
FAMILY MUSIC
THE SPEKS
Sunday 26th January, 2pm €8
The Speks present a lively show of nursery rhymes and sing-along songs set to acoustic Irish music which will have adults and kids jumping in their seats! Their hand-clapping, toe-tapping, heartylaughing show is all about life on Glasses Island - a magical island off the coast of Co. Clare where everybody wears glasses! The Speks have won a Parents’ Choice music award in the US where their music has been described as “Riverdance for kids” and they encourage everyone to sing, scream, clap and dance along during their performances. This will be a great, fun event for kids aged 2 to 92! Band members are Ed on guitar and vocals, Pete on accordion and vocals, Naymon on fiddle and vocals, and Quince on flute and vocals. “The Speks...they’re really great!” Derek Mooney, RTE Radio 1
JANUARY
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CINEMA
JUDY
Monday 27th January, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9 1968: Having fallen on hard times, and desperate to re-establish herself, Judy Garland (an astounding Renée Zellweger) is left with no other choice than to accept a residency in London to perform a fiveweek, sold-out series of concerts. Separated from her children, who are back in Los Angeles where her ex-husband is fighting her for custody, and heavily dependant on drugs and alcohol, she battles loneliness. She reflects on her life, specifically her childhood, which was irreparably damaged by studio chief Louis B Mayer. Yet every night she still manages to dust herself off, welcome her fans and become “Judy Garland”, the star they all know and love. Director: Rupert Goold, 118 mins, UK, 2019, 12A Cast: Renée Zellweger, Bella Ramsey, Jessie Buckley
EARLY YEARS
LITTLE LÁMHA
Toddler Art Workshops with artist Beth O’Halloran
Thursdays: 30th Jan, 27th Feb, 26th March 11am, €8 (Adult + Toddler) These workshops are designed for young children working together with their grown-up. Visual artist Beth O’Halloran will guide these fun and creative sessions. Together you will explore colour, shapes and storytelling in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Come and join in a morning of fun with your little one. Beth is a visual artist and writer. She has been facilitating children’s workshops for two decades and works in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, The National Gallery and the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery. She is also a lecturer in Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design. (Duration 45 minutes)
ages
1-3
Thursday 30th January: Jack Frost Nipping - fun sugar drawings of icicles and snow Thurs 27th February: Spring is Coming - make cherry blossom branches Thursday 26th March: Spring has Sprung - sculpting baby animals
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FEBRUARY CINEMA
A BUMP ALONG THE WAY Monday 3rd February, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9
When Pamela a free-spirited, fun-loving 44-yearold single mother becomes pregnant from a onenight stand, she is shocked! But not as shocked (and horrified) as her straight-laced teenage daughter Ally, who finds her mother’s behaviour embarrassing at the best of times. As both women have to come to terms with the impending new arrival, they are forced to face some home truths about themselves and each other. Pamela is pushed to finally stand up for herself against a bullying ex, as well as her judgemental daughter and the baby’s dad, while Ally faces an identity crisis and the awkward twists and turns of first love. A charming, warm, authentic film about family and the unexpected challenges life throws at us all. Director: Shelly Love, 95 mins, Ireland, UK, 2019, 15A Cast: Bronagh Gallagher, Lola Petticrew
THEATRE Livin’ Dred presents
TRAD by Mark Doherty
Thursday 6th February, 8pm €18/€16 Following their highly-acclaimed 2018 tour, and their extended sold-out run at the Peacock Theatre, Livin’ Dred Theatre present the award-winning ‘Trad’ by Mark Doherty. An hilarious, absurd and poignant tale of a 100-yearold Irishman… and his father! Together they set out to discover the son they never knew he had. “There’s a child belonging to me wandering around out there for seventy years and I never met him. I’ve a trip left in me… Get me leg!” Starring Seamus O’Rourke, Gus McDonagh and Clare Barrett, directed by award-winning actor Aaron Monaghan, and featuring live original music by Jim Doherty, ‘Trad’ is a side-splitting, heart-warming saga not to be missed.
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FEBRUARY FAMILY CINEMA
ABOMINABLE
Saturday 8th February, 2pm €4 Abominable takes audiences on an epic 2,000mile adventure from the streets of Shanghai to the breathtaking Himalayan snowscapes. When teenage Yi (Chloe Bennet, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, she and her mischievous friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), name him “Everest” and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Eddie Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) to help Everest get home. Director: Jill Culton, Todd Wilderman China, USA, 2019 97mins, Cert: G. Featuring the voices of: Chloe Bennet , Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson
CINEMA
CORPUS CHRISTI ( BOŻE CIAŁO) Monday 10th February, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9
Daniel is 20 and serving time in a young offenders’ institute, where he has found God and wants nothing more than to become a priest. But his violent past means that’s an impossibility. Released on parole he is sent to a rural sawmill but makes a detour to the local church, where he is mistaken for a young novice. When the town’s priest falls ill Daniel, or Tomasz as he calls himself, steps in. Bringing a vibrancy and charisma to the village, Daniel/Tomasz discovers an unexpected skill for pastoral care and begins to reach out to a local community, which has been recently traumatised by a terrible accident. Helping them forgive and heal, he finds his own path to redemption. Director: Jan Komasa, 115 mins, Poland, France, 2019, Cert: 16 Cast: Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel
FEBRUARY
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EARLY YEARS
MOON WOKE ME UP SPACE TO PLAY
Monday 10th-Saturday 15th February McKenna Gallery FREE SPACE TO PLAY is an interactive, free-play space designed by Orla Kelly of Early Childhood Creativity in collaboration with Little Bigtop.
ages
3-5
Activities include a wide array of sensory play activities to explore light and dark, phones that link you to the sounds of outer space, soft planet reading rugs and mini rocket making.
EARLY YEARS Little Bigtop Presents
MOON WOKE ME UP
Friday 14th, 1.30pm Saturday 15th, 11am, 12:30pm & 2:30pm â‚Ź10 (adult + child) Moon Woke Me Up Nine times It was still 4am So I built a rocket with my friends And went on a journey that never ends Come up and away with us. Come and play with us. You are invited to come and build a rocket that will BLAST OFF and take us on a magical adventure. Once inside their homemade rocket children are treated to a magical shadow show as they journey to the moon! Come with us all the way, up there, into outer space!
ages
3-5
Inspired by a Haiku of the same title by Basho Matsuo, Moon Woke Me Up is an interactive theatrical adventure to space for ages 3-5, using a wonderful blend of performance and interactive drama, construction play and sensory explorations.
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FEBRUARY CINEMA
LA BELLE EPOQUE
Monday 17th February, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9 Illustrator Victor and his wife Marianne seem to have nothing in common any more. He detests the modern technologies that she can’t seem to live without. When Antoine offers Victor a re-enactment service that allows customers to live in any era of their choice, Victor chooses to go back to the rainy day in 1975, when he first met Marianne… “… a sweet, inventive Richard Curtis-style romanticcomedy crowd pleaser that deftly balances hearty laughs and heartwarming emotion.” - Screen International Director: Nicolas Bedos, 115 mins, France, 2019, Cert: 15A Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Guillaume Canet, Fanny Ardant, Doria Tillier
THEATRE Blue Raincoat Theatre Company present
TINTOWN by Bob Kelly
Thursday 20th February, 8pm €18/€16 With the outbreak of WW2, the Irish government introduces internment without trial for all suspected IRA members, and Bernard Carroll – a naive young Dubliner who believes he is a revolutionary - is swept up with hundreds of others and held in a ramshackle internment camp on the plains of the Curragh. The camp is packed with militant republicans, left-wing revolutionaries, civil war veterans. They can leave any time they want, but there’s one catch – they must first renounce violence and take an oath of loyalty to the Irish government. They choose to stay, despite the cold and hunger – studying, training and preparing themselves for the struggle. After all, they’re the future leaders of the secular socialist Irish Republic aren’t they? Written and performed by Bob Kelly
FEBRUARY
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ADULT WORKSHOP
THE VALUE OF FOLDING with artist Vanya Lambrecht Ward
Friday 21st February, 11am - 1pm €20 This workshop is for anybody interested in working spatially with paper (teachers, artists, mathematicians and complete novices). The workshops will explore a range of paper folding techniques and methods; from simple one page folds to modular and complex geographic shapes, to Kirigami and other intricate paper engineering processes. We would like to invite you to come and explore these spatial paper techniques and its endless possibilities and uses. Duration 2 hours
SPECIAL SCREENING
BETWEEN THE FOLDS
Friday 21st February, 1.30pm €3 (free for those attending workshop) Between the Folds, an award winning documentary which chronicles the stories of 10 fine artists and intrepid theoretical scientists who have abandoned more conventional career paths to forge lives as modern-day paper folders. USA , 2008, 56 mins, Cert: G
WORKSHOP
PAPER FOLDING WORKSHOP FOR CHILDREN with artist Vanya Lambrecht Ward
Friday 21st February, 3pm - 4.30pm €10
ages 6+
Folding, bending, tucking, crumbling and flattening are but some of the things we need for making paper space. We like to invite you to come and play, explore and discover the making of paper spaces. We will build and construct great geometric shapes and other structures using only paper and no glue… Not just a great skill to have but endless and puzzling fun! Duration 90 mins.
FEBRUARY
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WORKSHOP
TIME TRAVEL WRITING WORKSHOP with Megan Wynne
Saturday 22nd February, 10.30am - 1.30pm €15 This workshop explores creating fictional character who travel backwards and forwards in time. Think of Back to the Future, Doctor Who and Hermione using the Time Turner in Harry Potter! The workshop covers key skills: character creation, opening the story, setting the scene and plot. Writers will return home with the beginnings of (and in some cases complete) story, written entirely by themselves, set in the present, past and future!
ages 9-13
Megan Wynne is a writer and teacher. Her first novel The House on Hawthorn Road (for readers age 9+) is published by the O’Brien Press. It about two children, from different centuries, who time travel through the walls of a magical house in Dublin. Megan has run a successful creative writing school in Dublin since 2007. Presented in association the Irish Writers Centre
MUSIC
THE CELTIC TENORS 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR Saturday 22nd February, 8pm €25
This charismatic, globetrotting trio are the most successful classical crossover act to emerge from Ireland. The Celtic Tenors signed with Sony Classics in 2000 and have sold over 1 million albums worldwide to date, achieving Top 10 positions on Billboard Charts in the United States and Canada. They are the only tenor group with a truly global audience, playing to packed houses across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. The Celtic Tenors have given private shows to world leaders including Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan.
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FEBRUARY CINEMA
LITTLE WOMEN
Monday 24th February, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9 Writer-director Greta Gerwig presents this new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel about four sisters growing up at the end of the American Civil War. As the March sisters struggle to live their lives on their own terms, they all face challenges, both similar and different. Jo wants to be a writer; Meg longs to find love and raise a family; Amy wants to paint and to marry well; and gentle Beth wants to play piano and for nothing to change. But change it does as love, poverty, illness and sibling rivalry all come calling, forcing the sisters to learn many life lessons. Gerwig’s joyful retelling, which features a stellar cast, is bound to become a firm family favourite. Director: Greta Gerwig, 135 mins, USA, 2019, PG Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh
THEATRE
CROWMAN by Katie Holly
Thursday 27th February, 8pm €18/€16 Crowman is Dan Lonergan’s account of the hilarious characters that inhabit his life on a daily basis and a true love story that never was. By turns poignant and comic, Jon Kenny carries the audience on a rollercoaster ride from his childhood to middle-age, from the hurling pitch to the pub and from one uproariously funny character to the other. It is about lost love and the sense of belonging and not belonging to a small community. Most of all it is about the humanity and decency of the local characters found in every rural village and town in Ireland. As Dan himself surmises ‘Some people never had the dance that I had and some people never hear the music.’ “Kenny is brilliant in the role” – The Irish Examiner
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FEBRUARY LOCAL ARTS Kildare Youth Theatre presents
QUEEN’S COUNTY Devised by the ensemble
Friday 28th & Saturday 29th February, 8pm €10 / €8 concession / €5 youth theatre members Queen’s County draws inspiration from the first trialled plantations operated by the English crown in Ireland in the 16th century in counties Laois and Offaly. The one in Laois became known as Queen’s County. This devised play explores displacement and alienation through the lens of young people’s experience today, and includes episodes on commuting, rural isolation, strangeness and belonging, in one character’s surreal train journey through County Laois en route home from Electric Picnic. The performance is devised by Kildare Youth Theatre’s Senior Ensemble working in collaboration with theatre-maker Peter Hussey. It has been funded by the Arts Council’s Young Ensembles’ Scheme, and forms part of a sequence of new work called The Act of Oblivion that explores the colonisation of Ireland.
CINEMA
MONOS
Monday 2nd March, 8pm €6 Early Bird/ €9 Exiled on a remote mountainside in South America, the Monos are a group of teenage soldiers left to guard a single hostage: Doctora. Who they are and where they come from is not known. They have their orders from the Organisation communicated by radio, and also sporadic visits from the Messenger, serving as a voice of authority and connection to the outside world. But when the accidental death of the camp’s cow causes the group’s leadership to be questioned, the internal dynamics shift and the few ties the Monos had to reality begin to dissolve. Monos is a powerful, beautifully surreal film, which uses a pulsating soundtrack and visual style to provide an immersive and mesmerising experience for the viewer. Director: Alejandro Landes, 102 min, Colombia, Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Uruguay, 2019, 15A, Cast: Sofia Buenaventura, Moisés Arias, Julianne Nicholson
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ROLLING IN THE YEARS
Friday 28th February - Saturday 28th March, 2020 McKenna Gallery
VISUAL ARTS
This exhibition consists of portraits of some of Newbridge’s senior citizens, as photographed by members of the South Kildare Photography Club. They say that age is only a number, but it’s a very important one. The aim of these photographers was to capture the personalities and life stories of these remarkable people. From starting working life as an apprentice barman to becoming an avid supporter of Moorefield, there are many diverse experiences of growing up and living in Newbridge and environs recorded as part of this exhibition. South Kildare Photography Club is an award-winning club based in Newbridge. The club meets every Thursday in Ryston at 8pm. New members welcome - beginners and advanced.
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MARCH SPECIAL SCREENING
A DOG CALLED MONEY Thursday 5th March, 8pm €6 Early Bird/ €9
As imaginative as the creative process it documents, this is a uniquely intimate journey through the inspiration, writing and recording of a PJ Harvey record. A collaboration between writer and musician, Harvey, and award-winning photographer Seamus Murphy. Seeking first-hand experience of the countries she wanted to write about, Harvey accompanied Murphy on some of his worldwide reporting trips, joining him in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Washington DC. Harvey collected words, Murphy collected images. Back home, the words become poems, songs, then an album, which is recorded in an unprecedented art experiment in Somerset House, London. In a specially constructed room behind one-way glass, the public – all cameras surrendered – are invited to watch the five-week process as a live sound-sculpture. Director: Seamus Murphy, Ireland, UK, 2019, 94mins, Cert: 15A
SPECIAL SCREENING
ARRACHT (MONSTER) Saturday 7th March, 8pm €6 Early Bird/ €9
This striking feature debut by Tom Sullivan, Arracht (Monster) is set in the wild shores of Ireland’s west coast as the potato blight descends in 1845. Stripped back and fierce, it’s an intense small-scale Irish-language drama which plunges the viewer into the cold desperation of those Famine times. Arracht is a visually expressive piece centred around a population eking out an existence in sparse shelter on forbidding ground, yet whose horizons couldn’t be wider as they take their rudimentary fishing craft to the roiling Atlantic ocean in search of survival. A special preview screening as part of the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival on Tour in association with access>CINEMA Director/screenwriter: Tom Sullivan, Ireland, 2019, 86 mins Irish Language (English subtitles), Cert TBC
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MARCH CINEMA
KILDARE SHORT GRASS FILM FESTIVAL RIP TO THE RESCUE (Paudie Baggott, 2018)
Saturday 7th March 11am-5pm Free, booking essential
Over the last decade, Kildare County Council have funded a diverse range of films through the Short Grass Films bursary awards and film commission. The repertoire includes short film, animation, documentary, drama as well as feature length films, many of which have received national and international accolades. Kildare Short Grass Films have supported the making of films on location in Kildare and film makers from the county. GRIDLOCK (Ian Hunt Duffy, 2016)
The Kildare Short Grass Film Festival will be jam packed with film screenings arising from the awards, as well as panel discussions and contributions from guest speakers. The festival will appeal to movie buffs and film makers at all stages of their career
TAKING STOCK (Siobhรกn McMahon, 2018)
Following the screenings, there will be a reception and networking event. Many filmmakers may also wish to attend the Dublin International Film Festival screening and panel discussion with industry professionals at Riverbank Arts Centre later that evening. For full details of the curated programme of short film screenings, see www.riverbank.ie or for general queries about Short Grass Films contact arts@kildarecoco.ie
TALKER (Adam Cullen, 2017)
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MARCH CINEMA
1917
Monday 9th March, 8pm €6 Early Bird/ €9 At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (Captain Fantastic’s George MacKay) and Blake (Game of Thrones’ Dean-Charles Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers—Blake’s own brother among them. Director Sam Mendes (Skyfall, Spectre and American Beauty) brings his singular vision to this World War I epic, 1917. The stellar cast includes George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch. Director Sam Mendes, UK, USA, 2019, 110mins, Cert: TBC
CINEMA
EXTRA ORDINARY
Monday 16th March, 8pm €6 Early Bird/ €9 Rose (Maeve Higgins) is a sweet, lonely driving instructor with supernatural abilities called ‘The Talents’ that allow her to communicate with spirits. Rose has a love/hate relationship with her gifts and ignores the community’s requests to investigate bizarre happenings in town. When widower Martin (Barry Ward), haunted by his nagging ex-wife Bonnie, contacts her for help she has to at least consider the job. Meanwhile, aging rock star Christian Winter has a sinister plan for success – virgin sacrifice. This hilarious must-see comedy is filled with twists, turns, hilarity, exorcisms and haunted wheelie bins. Directors: Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman, Ireland, Belgium, 2019, 94 mins, Cert: 15A
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MARCH EXHIBITION Super Paua and Riverbank Arts Centre present
THE LONSDALE PROJECT POP-UP EXHIBITION
Wednesday 4th - Saturday 14th March FREE What is a day in the life of a crystallographer like both in 1920 and in 2020? Explore our interactive exhibition which expands on the world of Kathleen Lonsdale, and introduces the modern scientists who are carrying on her work. Images supplied to Super Paua by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
FAMILY THEATRE Super Paua and Riverbank Arts Centre present
THE LONSDALE PROJECT Saturday 14th March, 4pm €8
Family Ticket €28
The Lonsdale Project is a new theatre show about the life and work of Kathleen Lonsdale - chemist, crystallographer, anti-war campaigner, writer, mother, and former inmate of Holloway Prison. Despite being a pioneering scientist born in Newbridge in 1903, Kathleen Lonsdale’s name and legacy are curiously unknown by the Irish public. Super Paua aims to change that, and so have created The Lonsdale Project to celebrate her life, her writings, and her adventures in x-ray diffraction, crystallography and the Cold War! A theatrical, playful and highly original production for audiences young and old, The Lonsdale Project delves into our relationship with science, with belief, and with ‘Great Thinkers’ who have shaped our lives today, and will shape our world, tomorrow. A Co-production by Riverbank Arts Centre and Super Paua, with support from Science Foundation Ireland, Arts Council of Ireland, Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, The Royal Institution, SciFest, and TU Dublin.
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MARCH COMEDY
NEIL DELAMERE: END OF WATCH
Thursday 19th March, 8pm €25 Fresh from a sell-out tour, star of BBC’s the Blame Game, Fighting Talk and the Newsquiz Neil Delamere returns to the Riverbank Arts Centre with a brand new show. Time waits for no man, especially one trying to buy a watch. Things always get complicated. “You’ll be hard pressed to find a more gifted comic at the Fringe.” The Scotsman “One lean, mean, comedy, killing machine.” The Herald
MUSIC
THE ILLEGALS
Friday 20th March, 8pm €22 Let us take you back to 1980: you had your Rubik’s Cube for Christmas, Mount Saint Helens erupts, The Undertones are demonising their Perfect Cousin and… Eagles and Fleetwood Mac served-up two of the best live double-albums of all time. Widely regarded as one of the best live tribute acts in the country, The Illegals are back in 2020 with their ever-popular classic-rock revival show replicating the sound of the world’s two greatest rock bands. Led by Niamh Kavanagh, she of the mesmerising voice and mischievous spirit, The Illegals will take you on a journey for three hours of soulful harmonies, exciting riffs, blistering guitars and unforgettable songs. The best of two legendary bands in one night – and a little more besides…
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MARCH THEATRE Big Guerilla Productions presents
AN OGEOUS BROSE by John McManus Saturday 21st March, 8pm €18/€16
A grumpy builder (Seamus O’Rourke) and his young enthusiastic labourer (Charlie McGuinness) arrive on Mogue’s Island to dig a grave in the depths of winter. It’s cold and eerie and full of myth. The more they dig, the more they realise that this was not such a good idea. Have Barney Bellew and Hector Hoctor really got something in common? – Well, it just might be that they are both entangled in an ancient curse… Seamus O’Rourke has teamed up with John McManus before to bring us The Quare Land, Danger Money and The Cavan Course and their partnership continues with another McManus classic An Ogeous Brose. An Ogeous Brose is scary and funny in equal measure. You can expect the unexpected and to be thoroughly entertained on a great night out!
CINEMA
PARASITE
Monday 23rd March, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9 Ki-taek is the head of a family of tricksters, who live in a run-down basement flat. By chance, son Ki-woo is recommended to provide private English lessons to the teenage daughter of the wealthy Park household. It isn’t long before Ki-woo has devised a plan to use this opportunity to his family’s best advantage… Director Bong Joon-ho has described his film as “a comedy without clowns and a tragedy without villains” - to reveal anything more would do the viewer a disservice. On the surface Parasite appears to be a black comedy about class struggle, but as the story shifts quickly to become at turns dark, hilarious and shocking, this glorious Palme d’Or-winner reveals itself to be so much more. Director: Bong Joon-ho, 132 mins, South Korea, 2019, Cert 16
MARCH
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EARLY YEARS Anna Newell in association with the Civic Theatre presents
I AM BABA
Wednesday 25th March 10am, 11am & 12:30pm, €10 (adult & baby ) I AM BABA is a theatre adventure for babies created by internationally renowned theatre director Anna Newell and composer David Goodall. Their shows for early years have been seen on all five continents, off-Broadway and in every single Sure Start in Belfast. I AM BABA – a magical adventure of song, lights and textures for babies aged 0-12 months. It’s a show about identity, agency and personhood. For babies.
ages 0-12 mths
I AM BABA is comprised of gorgeous live harmony singing and playful objects – jellyfish-like scarves dance and tiny lights fly in this intimate immersive performance which happens inside a specially designed tent that holds just 6 babies – each with their adult guest. Duration 20 mins (plus 20 mins play time after the performance)
MUSIC
INNI-K
Thursday 26th March, 8pm €15 Named by RTÉ.ie as “one of ten fierce women defining Irish culture”, singer, songwriter & multiinstrumentalist Inni-K is a force to watch. The Co. Kildare native returns with her highly skilled band to Riverbank for this special performance. Inni-K’s music draws on her extensive background in folk and traditional Irish music, even as she ventures into new musical territories. Her music combines ethereal vocals with deft musicianship, evocative lyrics (bilingual at times), and a unique approach to song-writing. Nominated for RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards 2019, Inni-K (Eithne Ní Chatháin) has received consistent praise for her fresh style of indie-folk since her debut album The King has Two Horse’s Ears (2015) and her highly acclaimed second album The Hare & the Line (2019). “This year’s The Hare & the Line reconfirms her status as one of Ireland’s most exciting artists” - The Irish Times
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MARCH CINEMA
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU) Monday 30th March, 8pm €6 (Early Bird) / €9
1760: Artist Marianna has been employed by a French countess to paint the wedding portrait of her daughter Héloïse. Furiously opposed to the idea of marriage, Héloïse has refused to pose for any painting. Marianna passes herself off as Héloïse’s walking companion, allowing her to observe her subject closely without arousing Héloïse’s suspicions. Soon she finds herself attracted to Héloïse. Céline Sciamma’s gripping 18th-century story of obsession demonstrates a new mastery of classical style.” The Guardian Director: Céline Sciamma, 122 mins, France, 2019, Cert 16
children’s newsletter Int ere ste d in Cre ati ve Writi ng?
Find out about all our upcoming children’s events by picking up our Children’s Newsletter or contacting our team at boxoffice@riverbank.ie
Li k e a e ri a lt od l e a r n a n c e?
Riverbank Arts Centre offers a strong visual arts programme and is developing an interactive programme across literature, digital arts, science and performance for 2-16yrs. Your local theatre is one of the leading programmers for young audiences in Ireland come and enjoy the arts and culture on your doorstep.
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MARCH LOCAL ARTS
Crooked House Theatre Company in association with Riverbank Arts Centre present
NATIONAL THEATRE (UK) CONNECTIONS KILDARE SHOWCASE Friday 27th to Sunday 29th March Various times Tickets range from €5 to €10 This annual weekend of youth theatre from county Kildare showcases work from Kildare Youth Theatre, Ardclough Youth Theatre, Playacting Youth Theatre (Celbridge), Explore Youth Theatre (Leixlip) and Prosperous Youth Theatre. Three of the companies present new writing for young people as part of the National Theatre (UK) Connections programme. Kildare Youth Theatre present Dungeness by Chris Thompson (directed by Shane Hickey O’Mara). Ardclough Youth Theatre present Crusaders by Frances Poet (directed by Phoebe O’Leary). Playacting Youth Theatre present Witches Can’t be Burned by Silvia Semerciyan (directed by Geraldine O’ Brien). Explore Youth Theatre present This is a Play by Daniel McIvor. Prosperous Youth Theatre will stage their work during the weekend also. The weekend will feature workshops and events for young people as part of the programme. A full schedule of shows, talks and workshops will be available for booking from February. Contact info@crookedhouse for further information.
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MARCH
A SCHOOL TRIP? Riverbank Arts Centre is continually looking for ways in which we can support children and young people to experience the arts and access high quality cultural experiences. We work closely with Irish and international theatre companies, artists and co-producing partners, to present work particularly suited to schools. In the pages that follow, you’ll find schools’ events for the coming season and all at affordable prices with accompanying teachers free. In March we are presenting the world premiere of THE LONSDALE PROJECT, a theatre show about Newbridge-born crystallographer Kathleen Lonsdale created by Super Paua. We are proud to be a co-producer of this innovative production, which has received significant funding from Science Foundation Ireland. There will be a resource pack available for students for follow-up classroom activities. If you are interested in a School booking, or bringing a group on a tour of our building and galleries, we are happy to arrange group visits to suit school schedules. Is there something your school is interested in seeing or participating in at Riverbank Arts Centre? Please do get in touch- we’d love to hear from you. Contact our team on 045 448327 or boxoffice@riverbank.ie
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SCHOOL EVENTS
FIGHTING WORDS Riverbank Arts Centre is the Kildare partner of Fighting Words and provides creative writing workshops for secondary level students, free of charge. Fighting Words enables children and young adults to discover and harness the power of their own imaginations and creative writing skills. When a class comes to a Fighting Words workshop at Riverbank Arts Centre, they spend the first part of the time working together as a group. Facilitated by a moderator, they create the plot for an original story through role play and improvisation. They then work together in smaller groups, developing characters, setting and plot, adding dialogue and editing as they go. Each participant then has the opportunity to work on their own, individual pieces of writing, helped and encouraged by Fighting Words volunteer tutors. Upcoming Fighting Words secondary schools workshops at Riverbank Arts Centre. Tuesday, 28th January 10:30am-12:30pm Tuesday, 25th February 10:30am-12:30pm Tuesday, 31st March 10:30am-12:30pm Tuesday, 28th April 10:30am-12:30pm To book at workshop please contact our Box Office on 045 448327
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SCHOOL EVENTS IFI Screening:
A COLONY/UNE COLONIE
CINEMA
Tuesday 21st January, 11am €6/Teachers Free
This year’s French language film choice is a Francophone region story from Canada. In this affecting tale, Mylia, is a 12 year old girl in Centredu-Québec, struggling to fit in at a new school. Finding solace in the outdoors with fellow outsider Jimmy, a boy of Abenaki descent, the two outsiders learn to navigate the precariousness of their environments, confronting concepts of citizenship and belonging. Beautifully shot and tenderly observed, Une Colonie is remarkable coming of age tale that explores themes of loneliness and connection through its moving story. Director: Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, Canada, 2018, 102 mins, Drama
CINEMA HAMLET NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE Friday 7th February, 9:30am €10
Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, Doctor Strange) plays the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. Now seen by over 900,000 people worldwide, the original broadcast returns to international cinemas to mark National Theatre Live’s 10th birthday. As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. Director Lyndsey Turner, 205 mins, Cert: 12A, Cast includes: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sian Brooke, Ciaran Hinds Please note the running time (circa 3.5 hours) - there will be a 15 minute interval during the screening.
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SCHOOL EVENTS CINEMA
EVERYBODY KNOWS / TODOS LO SABEN Tuesday 11th February, 11am €6/Teachers Free
Laura (Penelope Cruz) returns from Argentina to her hometown in Spain with her two children for a family wedding in her Spanish hometown. However, the celebrations are suddenly disrupted by a shocking crime that unearths a web of long-buried secrets and lies. This tense psychological drama from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi finds much of its intrigue in the complex relationships within a close-knit community. Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Ricardo Darin are brilliant as the characters working between the lines of the family’s fragile bonds. Director: Asghar Farhadi, Spain, France, Italy, 2018, 132 mins, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, English subtitles
Ages 3-5
Little Bigtop Presents
MOON WOKE ME UP
PRE-SCHOOL CINEMA
Friday 14th February, 10am & 11:15am €5/Pre-school Teachers Free Moon Woke Me Up Nine times It was still 4am So I built a rocket with my friends And went on a journey that never ends
Come up and away with us. Come and play with us. You are invited to come and build a rocket that will BLAST OFF and take us on a magical adventure. Once inside their homemade rocket children are treated to a magical shadow show as they journey to the moon! Come with us all the way, up there, into outer space! Inspired by a Haiku of the same title by Basho Matsuo, Moon Woke Me Up is an interactive theatrical adventure to space for ages 3-5, using a wonderful blend of performance and interactive drama, construction play and sensory explorations.
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SCHOOL EVENTS THEATRE SCREENING THE LONSDALE PROJECT CINEMA Super Paua and Riverbank Arts Centre present
Thursday 12th & Friday 13th March, 10am & 12pm €5/Teachers free
The Lonsdale Project is a new theatre show about the life and work of Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971) - chemist, crystallographer, anti-war campaigner, writer, mother, and former inmate of Holloway Prison. Despite being a pioneering Irish scientist and activist, Kathleen Lonsdale’s name and legacy are curiously unknown by the general public. Super Paua aims to change that! By harnessing an interdisciplinary team of artists, educators and scientists, they have created an engaging piece of theatre about X-ray diffraction, Benzene, pacifism, crystals, and sticking to your guns. Premiering to schools audiences in the town of Kathleen Lonsdale’s birth, The Lonsdale Project is a groundbreaking play that challenges our relationship with science, with belief, and with the ‘Great Thinkers’ who have shaped our world.
12+
IFI Screening:
STARS BY THE POUND /100 KILOS D’ÉTOILES
CINEMA
Tuesday 24th March, 11am €6/Teachers Free
When bright and talented Lois is told by her science teacher that her excess weight means she will never become an astronaut, she faces a battle with her own body image that leads to hospital. There she makes friends with three girls each fighting their own battles which leave them vulnerable. Together, they motivate each other to take a road trip and enter a science competition that could win them a zero gravity flight. A sweet, touching story about friendship and self-belief. Director: Marie-Sophie Chambon, France, 2019, 85 mins, Comedy, English subtitles
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PUT US IN THE PICTURE JUNIOR PAINTER EXHIBITION AND AWARDS Friday 20th March - Saturday 4th April Exhibition: Free, drop in or book a school tour Awards Ceremony: 26th March (TBC) Free, booking essential In September last year, Sightsavers Ireland launched their Primary Schools Engagement Programme #InThePicture at Riverbank Arts Centre, which includes a call out to Primary school children to draw or paint what inclusion means to them. This exhibition in the Children’s Gallery features a selection of the artwork submitted, selected by judges Padraig Naughton, Emilie Conway, and Dave O’Shea. Sightsavers Ireland will also be hosting the Junior Painter Awards at a special event for primary schools, with musical guests and refreshments. If you or your class would like to attend the awards, please contact our Box Office team on 045 448327. For more information about Sightsavers Ireland schools’ programme or if you are interested in having a member of the Sightsavers team visit your school contact Comms@sightsavers.ie or visit www. sightsavers.org Illustration by Patricia Poprawa, aged 12. National winner of Junior Painter Award 2018.
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SCHOOL EVENTS IFI Screening:
12+
TREASURES / TESOROS
CINEMA
Tuesday 28th April, 11am â‚Ź6/Teachers Free
Tesoros is an adventure story centred on siblings Dylan and Andrea, who move with their family to Mexico’s Pacific Coast. There they attempt to settle in, though they are quite different from the children around them. Dylan becomes preoccupied with finding a treasure map, which he believes resembles the new town. Convinced there is treasure left behind by explorer Sir Francis Drake, he gets the whole class involved in his quest. The film reveals magnificent landscapes, filled with creatures and exotic places, against which the children can allow their imaginations to flourish. Director: Maria Novaro, Mexico, 2017, 95 mins, English and Spanish with English subtitles
Teachers,
have you signed up to our schools newsletter? Issued twice a year, this newsletter provides a full listing of our school screenings, workshops, events, exhibitions and collaboration opportunities. Contact marketing@riverbank.ie to join this mailing list.
In 2019, 6 5 0 0 children from 4 1 schools came to events at Riverbank Arts Centre as part of a school outing.
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Coming up in sUMMER
THEATRE
MAURA LAVERTY THIS WAS YOUR LIFE
COMEDY
OWEN COLGAN
April
April
MUSIC
MUSIC
THE UNTHANKS April
10 STRING SYMPHONY May
These shows will sell out quickly so keep an eye on our website for more details and don’t forget to... Join our mailing list www.riverbank.ie/e-zine Follow us Facebook, Twitter & Instagram
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Gift Vouchers
The perfect gift for the music, theatre or cinema fan in your life! We have vouchers for:
Riverbank Arts Centre Gift Vouchers are valid for all event tickets (for 5 years from date of purchase) and can be redeemed online or by phone/in person through our Box Office. Ideal for birthdays, or as thank you gift, let someone pick their own perfect present of a night out to see their favourite band, a cinema date or family ticket to the theatre.
46 RIVERBANK ARTS CENTRE: FOCUS ON ILLUSTRATION
Since 2009, we’ve worked with numerous illustrators to bring each season to life with a unique cover. From 2009 to 2016, we worked with the wonderful Brian Coldrick, who created an exciting and different cover each season without fail - 24 illustrations in fact! In 2016 we decided to open up the illustration to other artists, as a means to showcase the talents of Irish or Irish based artists. Since then we’ve worked with Peter Donnelly, Sadie Kramer, Shona Shirley MacDonald, Fintan Taite, Holly Pereira, Dermot Flynn, Grainne Bath Enright, Anne Marie Morrin, Marta Baricikowska and Deirdre Byrne. This season, following an open call, we commissioned artist Ann Kiernan to create this beautiful cover illustration, From Darkness to Life. Ann Kiernan an Irish illustrator and artist based in Berlin. She has completed masters in Illustration and graduated from the University of Hertfortshire, UK. She also studied classical animation and graduated with a degree from the Irish School of Animation, Dublin. In her work she endeavors to celebrate the human, the marks people make on their world and the creatures and things that share it. Her interests lie in the eccentric, the ordinary and to find a visceral connection to the subject. www.annkiernan.com Instagram: @ann_kiernan
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S O M E HIGHLIGHTS
FROM LAST
SEASON Opening of Totally East by German Ambassador H.E. Mrs Deike Potzel
The Great Irish Weather Event
We were delighted to be joined by H.E. Mrs Deike Potzel to open Totally East, a photography exhibition by Harald Hauswald which powerfully captures life in GDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall. This event took place on Culture Night (20th Sept) and was a collaboration with the Newbridge / Bad Lippspringe town twinning committee.
In October, meteorologist Joanna Donnelly and illustrator Fuchsia MacAree hosted The Great Irish Weather Event to a school audience - we had lots of wonderful questions from the audience. This event was part of our Great Irish Weather Exhibition, based on the book by Joanna and Fuchsia which published by Gill Books in 2018.
TEAM VENUE DIRECTOR Linda Geraghty BOX OFFICE & PROGRAMME MANAGER Alexandra Rosiak MARKETING & PR MANAGER Caroline Williams ASSISTANT BOX OFFICE & FOH MANAGER Theresa Davidson
BOARD Paul Davis - Chair Maureen Bergin Mona Considine Thomas Hunter McGowan Teresa Murray Lucina Russell NETWORKS Riverbank Arts Centre is a member of Strollers, Nomad and Shortworks touring networks.
TECHNICAL MANAGER Phil Jennings
Riverbank Arts Centre is supported by The Arts Council and Kildare County Council. Riverbank Arts Centre CLG Is a registered Charity (20074982) with Revenue Commissioners (CHY 19193)
Riverbank Arts Centre Main Street, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, W12 D962 PHONE: 045 448327 EMAIL: info@riverbank.ie BOOK ONLINE: www.riverbank.ie
/RiverbankArtsCentre /RiverbankArts /riverbankartscentreie +RiverbankArtsCentre Riverbank Arts Centre is kindly supported by
Cover Illustration by Ann Kiernan www.annkiernan.com Design by DoodleMoose Designs www.doodlemoosedesigns.com