CHRISTMAS ISSUE 2020/21 TN2MAGAZINE.IE
ART/ FASHION/ FILM/ FOOD/ GAMES/ LITERATURE/ MUSIC/ SEX/ THEATRE/ TV/ ALT.
THIS ISSUE’S ART TEAM:
Cover Artist Emily Thomas
Andrés
Murillo
Featured Artists and Photographers Lola Fleming, Emily Thomas, Oona Kauppi, Zahra Lockett, Éadaoin Fagan, Andrés Murillo, Maeve Breathnach Featured Photographer Olivia Brady
ming
le Lola F
tt Zahra Locke
Editor-in-Chief Ursula Dale Deputy Editors Sophia McDonald, Sam Hayes Social Media Manager Ciara Connolly Online Editor Connor Howlett Art Oona Kauppi Catherine Byrne Fashion Gelsey Beavers-Damron, Ciarán Butler, Millie Brennan Film Connor Howlett, Savvy Hanna, James McCleary Food Dearbháil Kent, Grace Gageby Kiara Kennedy Games Seán Clerkin Robert Gibbons Literature Shane Murphy Fiachra Kelleher Music Sophia McDonald Ben Pantrey Sex Alice Payne Chloé Mant, Karla Higgins Theatre Larissa Brigatti Lucamatteo Rossi Television Ciara Connolly Gillian Doyle ALT. Clare Maunder Aditi Kapoor, Gráinne Sexton Layout Ursula Dale, Sophia McDonald, Sam Hayes,
Head of Illustrations Lola Fleming Head of Photography Andrés Murillo
CONTENTS Letter from the Editor Art & Design
Festive Crafts for the Creative Elf
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Fashion
A Brief History of Christmas Jumper, Fashion's Oddest Seasonal Trend Film Films of the Year Food
Unconventional Christmas Dinner Accompaniments Getting in the Christmas Spirits Games
Games of the Year In Search of A Christmas Game
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8 9 10 11
Literature
Time Out of Mind: How Victorian Writers Invented Christmas
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Music
Circuit Breakers: Trans Representation in Electronic 14 Music Sex
The 12 Sex Toys of Christmas
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Theatre 2021: A New, Better Year for Theatre? Photos by Andrés Murillo
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TV
Recipe for the Perfect Christmas Special Dash and Lily: A New Genre of Festive TV
20 21
ALT. An Unprecedented Christmas Photos by Éadaoin Fagan
22 24
featured photgrapher: Olivia Brady
,
Letter from the Editor: Though we couldn't possibly hope to end 2020 quite as optimistically as some of us may have started it, releasing a mini issue of TN2 for Christmas felt like an appropriate send off to one of the most confusing and disheartening years in recent memory. I kept this letter to our readers short and sweet in the hopes of letting the festive content from our wonderful writers, artists, and photographers speak for itself. This issue takes a dive into the history of some of our most cherished holiday traditions and their origins. A reflection on the past feels appropriate given the drastic change to routine most of us will experience this Christmas, a time usually bound by beloved rituals. Also in the spotlight is the role of trans creators in electronic music, a round up of this year's best films, and some unconventional takes on Christmas Dinner. Merry Christmas, Nollaig Shona, and general well wishes to you all this season. There are brighter times ahead. Stay safe. Sincerely,
Ursula
www.tn2magazine.ie ART BY LOLA FLEMING 1
Art & Design
Festive Crafts for the Creative Elf
C hristmas day is creeping ever closer, and if you’re anything like us, you may have recently come to the deeply distressing realisation that you have not purchased a single present, and do not even know where to begin. Well, lucky for you, we art editors have decided to give the gift of nothing this year, and have opted to create a list of DIY crafts that you yourself will have to expend time and energy upon. After many hours spent foraging on Pinterest, we have compiled for you a selection of easy, cosy, and very fun crafts that your nearest and dearest will love just as much as your wallet will.
ORIGAMI SNOWFLAKES
These origami snowflakes are just a grown-up version of the paper doilies you used to hack out of a refill pad page in primary school, but are actually pretty and much more likely to be greeted with genuine enthusiasm when gifted to a family member. Materials: Thick but flexible paper Scissors String Needle Strong glue Cute little beads Instructions: 1. Cut a rectangular (65x10) piece of plain, colored and patterned paper. 2. Fold 1 cm accordion pleats starting from the narrow side of the paper. If you want the snowflake to have cutouts or a non-circular shape, cut these out now the way you would for a traditional paper snowflake. Leave space at the long edge of the accordion. 3. Glue the narrow sides of the accordion together. Thread two strings near the edge of an accordion pleat, repeating through all the folds. Leave a lot of string between the folds. Pull the snowflake into shape and tie the string firmly. 4. You can glue a smaller ‘snowflake’ in the middle of the bigger one. Put beads in the centre if you wish! 5. Attach a piece of beaded string to the top of the snowflake. Hang it wherever you want!!
BENDY CANDLES
These candles are minimal effort for maximum reward, look truly incredible, and are just the thing to make when you need an excuse to guzzle some wine. Materials: Long tapered candles A basin of warm water Candle holders/wine bottles A lighter Instructions: 1. Place the candles in a basin of warm water for around 15 minutes, or until they’re malleable (you may need to place something heavy, like a dish, on top of them to keep them submerged). 2. Begin shaping them! You can make a spiral shape, twist the candle, etc. 3. Place in a candle holder/bottle, and run the lighter over the candle to get some wax to drip down. 2
DRIED ORANGE GARLAND
Incredibly festive, fragrant, and a handy snack to have on standby for when something inevitably goes wrong with Christmas dinner, these dried orange garlands are so simple to make, and yet hugely effective. Materials: Large oranges/grapefruit/any citrus fruit Baking tray lined with baking paper Twine Small branches of pine/holly Ribbon Beads Cinnamon sticks Cloves Instructions: 1. Cut the oranges into thin slices, and place on the tray. Bake on low heat (75-100 degrees celsius) for 2-3 hours, until dry - make sure not to burn them! 2. When cool, poke small holes in the oranges. You can also push cloves into the slices! They’ll probably still be a little bit sticky. 3. At this point, go wild - start stringing the slices, alternating between the orange and whatever else you choose to put on your garland. Pine and cinnamon sticks are especially great as they smell very Christmassy. 4. When you’re happy with your garland, hang or drape it somewhere!
SWEDISH CLAY DALA HORSES
These Scandinavian ornaments make for great Christmas tree decorations to bestow upon family, trinkets to gift to your friends, or ‘biscuits’ to give to your worst enemy. Materials: Oven bake polymer clay Rolling pin A small knife A toothpick/skewer Baking tray lined with baking paper Acrylic paint String/ribbon Instructions: 1. Heat oven to 140 degrees celsius. 2. Roll out clay to about ½ inch thick, and carve out the shape of a Dala horse (see illustration!) using a knife. 3. Use a toothpick/skewer to poke a small hole somewhere on the horse’s back. 4. Lay out on the tray, and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 5. Once cool, paint however you like! Once the paint is dry, loop some string/ribbon through the hole.
WORDS BY KATE BYRNE ART BY OONA KAUPPI
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Fashion
A Brief History of
Chirstmas Jumpers
Fashion's Oddest Seasonal Trend
I
n the world of fashion, wanting to look tacky and kitschy is this antithesis of style and any true fashion aficionado hopes to avoid it at all cost — unless it is for some high fashion gala. However, every year, come December, we throw these rules away, young or old, conservative or bold, and participate in the yearly winter tradition of garish, and sometimes, downright ugly Christmas jumpers. Every street and department store is filled with adults and children alike adorned in brightly colored wools with audacious stitching, proudly proclaiming their holiday cheer, no matter what is en vogue or not. But where did this tradition come from? How has it transformed and lasted as a lovingly strange ritual that we can’t help but take part in, even if it goes against our better style judgment? To get to the bottom of this question, we must travel back to 19th century Scandinavia, where fishermen, having to work on ice-filled seas, would don very elaborately knitted sweaters, covered in patterns of snowflakes, deer, and other Nordic iconography. While understandably versatile, as the woolen fabric kept them warm against the cold wind of the arctic seas, they were definitely a bold fashion statement. Strangely the jumper would stay fairly isolated until the 20th century when professional skiers would be seen wearing them. Suddenly, Hollywood caught wind of these strange garments and they could be found on some of the largest stars of the time, like Clark Gable and Ingrid Bergman, which brought their popularity into the mainstream. These styles would continue in popularity through the Second World War, as these garments were fairly cheap to produce and looked nice on advertisements, which was an industry that was beginning to grow. In the 50s, designers like Coco Chanel and Jean Patou continued the tradition by having ornately designed sweaters and knitwear as part of their winter collections. This trend would continue long into the 60s and 70s as knitwear would become a staple trend in both decades. These jumpers were the perfect mix of cheap, customizable, and practical, so it was no wonder their popularity took off.
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However, it wouldn’t be until the 1980s where we would see a more modern understanding of the Christmas jumper, or the aptly named American version, the ugly Christmas sweater. The fashion scene of the 80s was bright and bold and therefore perfect for the Christmas jumper to evolve into its new form. It particularly took off within the UK and Ireland, often being worn by Christmas special hosts (especially the many hosts of Ireland’s beloved Late Late Toy Show), before spreading to the United States and the rest of the world. From New Wave stars like Boy George to Chevy Chase’s character in National Lampoon’s Christmas, the jumper could not be escaped. The sweaters began to steer away from their Icelandic routes and now were filled with tinsel and outrageous designs often featuring Santa and reindeer and sometimes even lights and music. Again, the popularity was founded in its affordability, which still allowed individual tastes to come forward. As the jumper evolved, they became more and more camp, and more and more a dose of holiday fun anyone could take a part in. By the 90s and 2000s, the Christmas jumper was a fan favourite gag gift for people to give each other, which perfectly walked the line between silly and practical. In 2001, the film Bridget Jones’ Diary brought the sweater into even more popularity, cementing it as a pop culture icon. Further, the industry has boomed within the world of eCommerce and you can find a sweater for everyone and every niche, from Star Wars themed ones to ones made by your favorite band. Even better, the jumper has evolved past being a Christmas only staple, and there are more general holiday versions and those of other religions, particularly Hannukah. This expansion of the jumper genre has made it more available and inclusive to all people so that everyone can join in on this centuries-old fun! Today, the Christmas jumper lives on and I don’t see it going anytime soon. While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how these ugly sweaters have survived all these years, it is not a mere Christmas miracle. To begin with, they are very practical for the cold season, mostly made of wool and thick acrylic, and they offer an alternative to the often very boring winter season clothing options you typically find. Further, they have always been made cheaply and are readily available to the public, specifically finding a niche with middle-class audiences. Finally, though this is just my theory, Christmas and the holiday season brings out the inner child in all of us, and these sweaters offer a way for us to experience a little silliness in our wardrobe. This silliness and sincerity are what has made these jumpers a campy Christmas classic we aren’t looking to get rid of any time soon. WORDS BY GELSEY BEAVERS-DAMRON
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Film
Films of the Year Les Misérables - CH
Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019) is set in the Parisian commune of Montfermeil, and follows a team of three police officers in the Anti-Crime Brigade. Not to be confused with the musical, but not completely disconnected from its tale of inequality and injustice, the film is a searing critique of police conduct and the culture of silence that goes with the badge that the world has been made so aware of recently. Ly’s feature début combines the intense heat of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) and the multicultural specificity of Paris from La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995), as well as horrifically real police misconduct from both. It’s like watching a feature episode of The Shield (Shawn Ryan 2002-2008) that’s set in present day Paris. Every time an officer shows an inkling of guilt and humanity, and you’re pleading with them to finally make the right choice, the culture of silence makes them bow their heads. Effectively, this is a narrative that is familiar to us even if we are privileged enough for it not to be about us, or to have happened to people we care about. Yet, the elegance of its direction, cinematography, writing and performances make it undeniably memorable. It doesn’t wrap things up into a neat little bow of narrative closure at the end, but it’s shown you all it needs to for you to know what happens next. I left the cinema with a fire lit inside me, and that makes it my film of the year.
WORDS BY CONNOR HOWLETT
Saint Maud - CH In Saint Maud (Rose Glass, 2019), my favourite horror film released in Ireland this year, pious nurse Maud (Morfydd
Clark) is sent to look after a dying patient, Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a former actress, when what begins as care soon becomes obsession. It’s not the ‘cute’ obsession that certain weirdos fetishize from Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003) at this time of year: Maud’s desire to save Amanda’s soul is unsettling to the core. What unsettles most is not so much the plot, but Maud’s character nuances as they develop in the script, as well as the hauntingly intimate cinematography that captures every subtle expression of Clark’s mesmeric performance. Neat, expressive set pieces add to the chills, as you begin to question the integrity of what you are seeing and whose perspective it is from right up until the very last frame. And what a spectacular final frame it is. Did God intervene?
WORDS BY SAVVY HANNA
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Never Rarely Sometimes Always - SH Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hitmann, 2020) is a beautifully raw film
that follows seventeen-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) as she attempts to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Her local sex health clinic in rural Pennsylvania challenges her hesitation to keep the pregnancy by showing her an anti-abortion video, and state law would require Autumn to get permission from her conservative parents for the procedure. She confides in her best friend and cousin, Skylar (Talia Ryder), who gathers the funds necessary for the two girls to travel to New York City by themselves so that Autumn can get the abortion without parental consent. The film manages to completely avoid the melodrama often found in teen narratives, instead providing an authentic portrayal of female adolescence. The scene that provides the film’s title is particularly gut-wrenching, as the camera holds on a close-up of Autumn while she answers personal questions before the procedure, and we get a brief but intimate glimpse into her past. The character-driven plot and terrific acting from the two young leads placed Never Rarely Sometimes Always as my favourite film at the Berlinale Film Festival, where it deservedly won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is available to stream on Sky/Now TV.
Onward - SH
Pixar’s latest film Onward (Dan Scanlon, 2020) had the bad luck of being released in the same month that the entire world shut down thanks to COVID-19, but the unfortunate financial results are no reason to dismiss this heartwarming animation. Onward is set in a world full of mythical creatures such as elves, centaurs, and pixies, where magic exists but has become obsolete. The plot focuses on teenage elf Ian (Tom Holland) and his older brother Barley (Chris Pratt), who lost their father shortly before Ian was born. On Ian’s sixteenth birthday, he is gifted a magical staff, a rare gem, and a letter describing a spell that can bring their father back for a single day. When the spell is only half successful, the brothers must go on a quest to find another gem and give Ian the chance to finally meet his father. The film has a wonderfully adventurous quality as the brothers are faced with exciting, and often hilarious, twists and turns on their journey. The sentimental finale would have anyone wiping away a few tears, and the film’s emotional core is particularly potent for those with a sibling of their own. Onward is available to stream on Disney+.
Another Round - JM
This one is a bit of a cheat as it won’t be released in Irish cinemas for another month and a bit (I wonder what caused the delay), but it really is worth the wait. Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg, 2020) stars Mads Mikkelsen as Martin, a depressed, perpetually exhausted teacher who joins three of his peers in undertaking an unusual experiment; they will drink in secret all day, every day, to maintain an exact blood alcohol level and test their hypothesis that people actually function better tipsy than sober. As a premise, it could be chirpier, but in truth the film toes the line between the tragedy of these middle-aged men trying to reclaim their livelihoods and hilarious, frequently shocking moments of comedy. As much as Vinterberg wants you to cringe in terror every time Martin and his peers risk exposure, it is evident that his ultimate goal is to endear them to you. Things do inevitably take a turn for the horrific as the four teachers grow increasingly bold, but the journey there is full of the goofy, human details that they had been missing for so long. It’s a beautiful film, matching the majestic power of Mads Mikkelsen with a script that tests the full range of his performing ability. Provided you can get past that one inch tall barrier of subtitles (credit goes to Bong Joon-ho for those truest of words), Another Round is exactly the sort of cathartic shot of energy that I think everyone needs right now. Another Round, at the time of publishing, will be released in Irish cinemas on February 5, 2021.
WORDS BY JAMES MCCLEARY
Black Bear -JM Black Bear (Lawrence Michael Levine, 2020) genuinely surprised me. As a hopeless addict to
scrolling through Film Twitter, there have been fewer and fewer opportunities for me to see films completely blind over the past couple of years, especially ones with stars as close to my heart as Aubrey Plaza. For that reason, I won’t say a word about the plot except that it concerns three characters in an isolated cabin in the woods. Two of them are in a strained relationship, with the third being a flirtatious outsider staying in their guest room. Over the course of a night, the trio drink a lot of wine. Things get messy. In terms of genre, this film is virtually unplaceable. Though it is promoted as a drama/thriller with a black comic streak, I’m struggling to find a better word to describe it than horror. The claustrophobia of being trapped in an increasingly convoluted and brutal social scenario with strangers, of being an outsider feeling perceived, is prevalent in virtually every frame of the film, even if the question of which character is in fact the outsider can shift from minute to minute. Black Bear will keep you guessing and gasping in equal measure, intriguing and horrifying with a simple indie plot that rapidly rises to nightmarish heights. It is absolutely not for the faint of heart, but if for whatever insane reason you find yourself fancying a bit of quarantine-themed horror, this is the film for you. 7 Black Bear, at the time of publishing, will be released in Irish cinemas on March 5, 2021.
Food
Unconventional Xmas Dinner Accompaniments Marinated Lamb Chops
Over the years I’ve come to realise that there is no such thing as a ‘Classic’
Christmas dinner. What I mean by this is that every family tends to have something a little different at the dinner table. Given my name, you’d be forgiven for assuming I’m Asian, more specifically sub-continental Asian, but you’d be right. We have a lot of classics on our table: cranberry sauce, glazed ham, roasties, brussel sprouts, gravy, and the undeniable king - stuffing (don’t @ me). One substitution we make is roast chicken in for turkey; we just don’t like it at all. The unusual appearance on our table is curry-marinated lamb chops. Yep. We have the salty glazed ham, the moist roast chicken and the exciting kick of spiced lamb chops. They just add something a little different to Christmas dinner and it gives a barbaric release from the knife-and-fork formality of it all. We trialled so many other meats, in fact going as far as having goose a few years ago, but lamb chops are an absolute winner. They’re like red meat chicken wings because you grip the bone, take a massive chunk out and there’s no way you don’t end up with a smear of marinade on your cheeks. It just lifts the dinner when you can have another option that isn’t flavoured with the classic thyme, rosemary and sage. It’s our subtle way of imparting our heritage and culture on a very Western tradition. WORDS BY PARTH GAUTAM
Hot Sauce
Frank’s hot sauce’s slogan of “I put that s*** on everything” is particularly apt given that for me, the Christmas table isn’t complete without it. Although I spare the turkey the honour (horror?) of being doused in hot sauce, the combination of potatoes with a little melted butter and kick of Frank’s is a favourite, and reminiscent of the sauce that Buffalo wings are usually tossed in. While Frank’s is a classic, Inferno hot sauce is a close second. My favourite is the Junior hot sauce, which is a little less tangy than Frank’s, but still has piquant haberno kick which is great for livening up vegetables like sprouts. If you’re feeling brave, you could sample Inferno’s Extreme Hot Sauce, or their Voodoo Reaper, although at 50% Carolina Reaper Chilli, this may not be one to try at home. Failing that, you could always opt for a Christmas day Bloody Mary with lashings of Tabasco and a sprinkle of paprika. WORDS BY GRACE GAGEBY
Getting into the Holiday Spirits Christmas is great but sometimes you need a boozy break.
WORDS BY PARTH GAUTAM ART BY MAEVE BREATHNACH
Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. Great food,
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being surrounded by friends and family, and made all the better with alcohol. Sometimes spending so much time at home with the family can cause a bit of wear and tear. The best way to mediate this is not measured discussion, but booze! Numb yourself to the embarrassment and distress of cringey dads, nagging mums and annoying siblings with these easy to make Christmas cocktails.
Mulled Wine
Who doesn’t love a hearty mug of mulled wine? Like most alcoholic beverages, it has a medicinal background. Romans in the second century would heat up wine as a way to defend themselves against the bracing winters. As they conquered Europe, they brought with them the primitive mulled wine which other cultures then improved by adding spices in the name of health. It’s an absolute classic and I have great memories of sipping a free cup of mulled wine on front square watching the College Singers sing carols while waiting for the tree lighting. It’s a shame this will be the first time that this lovely tradition won’t go ahead, but you can at least safely replicate this part. Recipe: A bottle of red wine, anything Spanish is a decent choice Peel of one large orange 10 whole cloves 2 cinnamon sticks 2 star anise Couple tablespoons of sugar, to your taste Optional - couple tablespoons of brandy Put everything in a large pot or saucepan over medium heat. Allow it to just reach a bare simmer. Then turn the heat to low and cover the pot, leaving the wine to simmer for anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour. Give it a stir and taste for sweetness before ladelling liquid Christmas into a mug.
Eggnog
Although heavily associated with American culture, it’s said that eggnog has origins dating back to 13th century Medieval Europe. Back then it was a crude mix of ale, eggs and figs called posset. Not my idea of a good drink I’ll be honest but thankfully after many years of evolution and the addition of milk and spice, it has transformed itself. Typically eggnog is made with brandy and sherry but I love a lot of what Jeffrey Morgenthaler, head bartender of Clyde Common and Pépé le Moko in Portland, OR, has done. His Clyde Common Eggnog was even featured in the ‘New York Times’ Cookbook’, so if you don’t take my word for it, you can take theirs. Recipe for a big batch: 6 eggs 170g sugar 225ml Sherry 200ml Tequila 540ml milk 350ml cream 1.5tsp nutmeg Crack your eggs into a blender and blend them on a slow speed until they are homogenous and slightly frothy. Slowly add the sugar in to fully incorporate. Slowly add in the sherry, tequila, milk and finally the cream. It’s important to add the cream last to prevent too much whipping and expansion. Add the nutmeg. Pour into a small cold cup and enjoy.
Hot Buttered Rum
Hot Buttered Rum may not be a well-known inclusion in this list, but believe me when I say it’s warranted. It’s a drink, like many others, without a set origin. Although butter in drinks may sound like some weird modern twist, it actually dates all the way back to Henry VIII whose physician would prescribe buttered ale as a remedy for hoarseness. Taking this wisdom, but with a Jamaican twist, New Englanders would regularly make buttered rum during the 1650s. It’s a decadent and delicately spiced beverage to make any freezing December evening extra special. It does require a little bit of prep work, but nothing at all laborious. Recipe: 60ml Rum 15ml sugar syrup (equal amounts of sugar and water in a pan over medium heat until the sugar fully dissolves) Heaped teaspoon of butter batch (below) 120-160ml of hot water Add a little bit of hot water to your mug or glass to warm it up. Add the butter batch to the glass followed by the syrup, rum and most of the hot water. Adding most of it makes stirring the drink together and melting the butter a lot easier. Add the remaining hot water and enjoy. Butter Batch: 100g butter 75g sugar, preferably brown sugar 1-2g each of nutmeg, clove and cinnamon powder. Allow the butter to come to room temperature, or even soften, to make this easier. Add all the ingredients in a bowl and using a spoon or whatever is on hand, mash everything together. Keep in the fridge for easy access.
Baileys Hot Chocolate
Last but not least, the lowest effort drink on this entire list. Honestly, there isn’t any history to this drink. When I asked a friend for any more suggestions, I was met with an incredulous “Baileys Hot Chocolate!?”. A fair reaction to a drink containing some of the things Ireland is best known for consuming: chocolate and alcohol.There’s no fancy method like in the above recipes at all. It’s a simple case of making your go-to hot chocolate and putting in 35ml of Baileys for that creamy, boozy kick. 9
Games
Games of the Year
WORDS BY SEÁN CLERKIN, ROBERT GIBBONS, SAM HAYES
Let’s face it, this year could have been better in almost
every conceivable way, with one exception: video games! This year has been a wild ride, but there’s never been a better time to delve into escapism with single player games, or connect with friends in online games casting aside the additional free time many consumers have had as a result of the pandemic, these sales have been driven by a deluge of outstanding games. We sat down to acknowledge some of the best games released in 2020. Best Single Player Animal Crossing: New Horizons The meteoric success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a perfect storm of extraordinary circumstances. Upon its release in late March, the world was in the depths of uncertainty. This game provided a personalised digital zen garden in which millions of fans, new and old, quelled their anxieties. If you own a Switch, but don’t have Animal Crossing, you need to fix that. Best Narrative The Last of Us Part II Without any spoilers, The Last of Us Part II was all about telling a story, a story that could only be told through a video game. It is heart-wrenching and heartwarming, it is violent and gentle, it is a story of opposition and unity. Every aspect of the game feeds into it: the tension of the stealth, the atmosphere of the exploration. It is truly unmatched in this year or any.
Best Direction Raji: An Ancient Epic Developer Nodding Head games is a studio composed of alumni from Ubisoft to Zynga. They have come together to form a studio in Pune in India, and their debut game Raji: an Ancient Epic is steeped in that culture. While some platforming is rough around the edges, Raji is an adventure that is a fascinating jumping off point for learning about a fascinating mythology, with a unique style among games of this profile. I hope it is the first of many games from India to grace our consoles. Best Multiplayer Good Job! In a year where most people were asked to stay home from the office, Good Job! asks you to return to do menial tasks to work your way up the corporate ladder. It is a charming couch co-op game that is perfect for introducing people to video games. Simple tasks, destructible environments, curated levels, and cute hats are sure to bring a smile and laugh to anyone who plays. Best Indie Dev Dreamfeel for If Found… Dreamfeel is a small team based right here in Dublin. Their most recent game, If Found… has generated considerable conversation on the worldwide gaming scene, being nominated in the Games for Impact category at the 2020 Game Awards. If Found... is a deeply personal experience rooted in outmoded Irish attitudes, and this cultural context, seldom seen in games, makes it all the more unique. The story of Achill native trans-woman Kasio is one that shows the destructive results of repressing self expression. This is lovingly rendered through beautiful art and a progressive soundtrack. We would implore anyone to give this truly novel experience a go.
Best Music Hades This was one of the more hotly contested categories. While If Found…’s gorgeous, atmospheric soundtrack almost cinched it, it had to go to Hades. Composer Darren Korb manages to blend traditional Greek instrumentation with heavy metal to construct the sound of a hell from antiquity that’s as Best Art exciting in its first hour as it is in its hundredth. Spiritfarer Best Remake/Rerelease: Kentucky Route 0: TV Edition Developer Thunder Lotus’ previous game Game we loved, but completely forgot: Dreams Jotun enamored us with the beautiful fluidity that its larger Games we were late to: Control, To The Moon, Celeste than life bosses moved. In contrast to that Norse inspired Best Dog: Cerberus from Hades epic Spiritfarer is a personal game about connecting with Worst Dog: Every Dog from The Last of Us Part II people passing to the next life and the animation does a (except for Alice) lot of work in selling that personal story, everything from Most Buckwild Concept: Renal Summer, My Name is how characters snuggle when you hug them, to the playful Mayo 2 antics of the adorable Daffodil the cat is lovingly animated in Most Festive Game: Donkey Kong Country (1994) a manner that oozes character. Games of the Year Animal Crossing: New Horizons | If Found… | The Last of Us Part II We couldn’t reach a consensus on Game of The Year without plunging into a furious skuffle. Since that would violate COVID restrictions, we each chose one game that we felt was deserving of the title. It was still tough to narrow down our choices to three, given the sheer quantity of amazing games to release in 2020. Now, equipped with brand new console hardware, we look forward to 2021 with optimism. Here’s to another great year in gaming! 10
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In Search of a Christmas Game Folks, it is that time of year again. Radio stations have dusted off ‘Last Christmas’ (1985). Your least favourite friends are reigniting arguments about whether or not Die Hard (1988) is a Christmas movie. The festive season is in full swing and I, as always, am here for it. I love bopping to Bublé, crying to It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), and falling asleep to A Christmas Carol (1843) (sorry Dickens, you just don’t do it for me). Yet, I find myself, as I do every year, looking for a game to scratch that Christmassy itch only to come up short. Every form of popular media has its Christmas traditions, its classic favourites, except for video games. This ends here dear reader. Allow me to break down exactly what makes a Christmas classic and find you the perfect game for this and every holiday season. Let’s start with the obvious, the argument most used when talking about Die Hard, for example, it should be about Christmas. That said, Christmas doesn’t have to be the main part of the text. It’s a Wonderful Life only becomes about Christmas in the last third. Similarly, Meet Me in Saint Louis (1944) only has one vignette about Christmas, the rest being set at other times of year. Multiple Christmas songs don’t even mention Christmas, like “Let it Snow” (1945) or “Jingle Bells” (1857), but instead rely on imagery of winter more generally. So, textually it should be partially set during Christmas or, at very least, winter. Secondly, it should be nostalgic. Christmas songs, for example, broadly fall into three main categories: Christian hymns, 40s-50s Crooners, and 80s-90s pop (thanks to the popularity of Top of the Pops). They all evoke fairly specific, simplified pasts. Christmas movies work on the same general principle, though the cycle seems a little different. Yes, there are the classics like Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and White Christmas (1954), but people also tend to gravitate to whatever they watched when they were a child. For me, born in 1999, when I think of Christmas movies, I think of The Grinch (2000) or The Santa Clause (1994) or other Christmas movies RTÉ had the syndication rights to in the early 2000s. Regardless, Christmas is a time for tradition and reminiscence, the chosen game should reflect that, playing on that nostalgia. Next, it should be about family and togetherness, be it a biological family or a found family. Practically all Christmas movies have some message about how the real meaning of Christmas is about the people you love. Sometimes that’s your biological family, as in Home Alone (1990). Sometimes that’s your close friends and neighbours, as in The Grinch. Sometimes that’s both, as in It’s a Wonderful Life. In songs, they have less time to flesh out the specifics of relationships, but still allude to families and friends in one way or another. Barring the odd outliers like ‘Last Christmas’ (the song not the movie), Christmas content tends to avoid loneliness in favour of family and friendship. Furthermore, traditions like caroling and cinema screenings of old movies are meant to be experienced with people. This can be easily realised in a video game context through multiplayer. It should also be noted that if we really want to push the idea of togetherness and family, it should be co-op and not competitive. Working together to win, rather than beating each other down, is much more Christmassy. Finally, and this is less of a concern for other media, it should be able to be done every year. Whatever game is chosen has to be able to be played or completed in five hours or less. We can’t go recommending that every December you bust out Final Fantasy VII (1997) for a 35 hour campaign. That’s just not a sustainable tradition. And this is where I must be honest with you, I did not have a game in mind when I started writing this article and the search for a wintry, nostalgic, short co-op game has been tough. For a while I thought it could be the free DLC for Overcooked! 2 (2018), ‘Kevin’s Christmas Cracker’: a fun, adorable, hectic co-op game choc full of Christmas cheer, with something for everyone, that can be completed in under three hours. Unfortunately, the first game was only released in 2016 and is nowhere near nostalgic yet. But there is another. A game about a nephew and an uncle working together to reclaim what was stolen from their family. A game that takes about four hours to complete. A game that has an entire world dedicated to winter. A game released the same year as other nostalgic Christmas classics such as Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas (is you)’ (1994) and Tim Allen’s The Santa Clause (1994). The official festive game for now and evermore: Donkey Kong Country (1994) on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Switch (Nintendo Online), and probably some dodgy emulators. You’re Welcome.
WORDS BY ROBERT GIBBONS
11
Literature
Time out of Mind: How Victorian Writers Invented Christmas “There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!” I
-
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
t is fitting that Ebenezer Scrooge's Christmas journey of redemption begins with his gut. It is also fitting that I've never read A Christmas Carol. I've seen The Muppet Christmas Carol; I watch it every year, silently mouthing along the familiar songs and dialogue, like you would at mass – this coincidence is not wholly coincidental. One of the many facets of contemporary Anglophone culture that took recognisable form during the reign of Queen Victoria was the celebration of Christmas. Changes in the way people viewed the midwinter festival were the product of paradigm shifts in public attitudes towards religion, commerce, and the nature of time. Ireland today is firmly capitalist and increasingly irreligious; it follows that Christmas has overtaken Easter as our primary “religious” festival, particularly among younger generations and in urban centres. Religious festivals have long been flashpoints for cultural exchange and transmission. Irish emigrants brought the festival of Samhain with them to North America, where it metamorphosed into Halloween and was reimported to Ireland with new rituals like trick-or-treat. Christmas in western Europe grew out of the nexus between Roman imperialism, Christian evangelism, and indigenous paganism.
12
“In the Bleak Midwinter”, Christina Rossetti’s beautiful carol, concerns what Robert Barron, prelate and Catholic writer, contends is the central comedic irony of the Christian faith: that Christ, the foundation for the Christian faith itself, was born in such inauspicious circumstances in a forgotten backwater of the Roman empire. Rossetti couches religion in the quotidian and holds the Christ child in all his ironic tension: heaven and earth “cannot hold him”, yet a “breast full of milk” sustains him. Victorian times, in which notions of muscular Christianity enjoyed their greatest popularity, saw an upsurge in interest in health and in the human body. Muscular Christianity is famously expounded in the novels of Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hughes, while the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins is often interpreted along the same lines. Against a backdrop of what we now refer to as a “crisis of faith”, many authors and poets tried to access the divine through their bodies, either by exercising or by feasting. As Victorians came to know more and care differently about the human body, they in turn began to control it in new ways. Standardised rail time, first introduced in 1847, centralised people’s experience of time, and the modern “work day” was invented: instead of farmers working according to how many daylight hours were available, the new cohort of industrial workers “clocked off ” at the same time throughout summer and winter. Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South is an account of the industrialisation of the north of England by southern business interests, and central to it is the tension between northern agricultural workers and the Greenwich mean time of the south, which comes to determine their lives. A set “dinnertime” was pushed to the end of the day, accommodating these new working habits (Gaskell, we’re told, ate her dinner between four and five o’clock). The time one ate dinner became a new indicator of socioeconomic class. As the protagonist of Living by Appearances (1855) says, “Tell me when you dine and I will tell you what you are.” As with any paradigm shift in cultural consciousness, literature both chronicled and produced wider changes. Lord Tennyson’s “In Memoriam A.H.H.” is, among many other things, a manifesto on Christmastime. Scientific developments in the 18th and 19th centuries had made time appear linear instead of cyclical, and as a result the perennial solar ritual on which festivals like Christmas are based began to seem irrelevant. “In Memoriam” identifies Christmas as an opportunity to escape scientifically determined “profane” time and to find solace in “sacred” cyclical time. The poem preempts those strange twelve days between Christmas Day and January 6th when time stops, bleeds, and vanishes. The once-yearly rituals of binging, singing, relaxing and not-working many of us engage in nourish a primal part of ourselves otherwise inaccessible by the necessary systems with which we govern our lives. In 2020, our ability to measure our bodies and to hold them accountable has exploded. In my school, students didn't just clock in before the 8:35 deadline in the manner of Victorian industrial workers, they did so by scanning our thumbprints at a terminal by the front door. Today, we each carry phones with GPS-accurate time, and many of us wear watches that track our movements and heart rate, and which calculate for us what we should eat in a day. The Victorian attitude to Christmas, as a sacred moment off the clock, could not be more relevant. Mr. Dickens, were he alive today, would tell you to turn off your phone, ungirdle your Fitbit, eat some gravy and get supernatural.
WORDS BY FIACHRA KELLEHER
13
Music
Circuit Breakers: Trans Representation in Electronic Music The ever-evolving genre is a hive of experimentation and welcomes all
Trans representation is slowly seeping into mainstream music. Don’t get me wrong, there is still an awful long way to
go, particularly when it comes to non-binary and genderqueer representation. Although the world of pop is still very much cis-dominated, there is one section where trans people have flourished and that’s electronica. This subgenre has developed past pulsing EDM-embellished rhythms and has separated itself from dance melodies and club bass drops. The scope that is offered by electronic music is a hotbed for creativity and innovation, reinvention and modernisation. Samples can be mixed into varying sounds ranging from industrial to ambient, creating music that is beyond traditional. It’s no wonder that there has been an influx of trans music producers and artists in this genre, showing music as a safe haven for inclusion once again. In the more general sphere, non-binary musicians, producers and DJs have been included in lists and directories alongside their female counterparts. We’ve Only Just Begun, a mini music festival held in Whelan’s, released a directory of Irish women and non-binary people involved in the music industry. The online index allows bookers and promoters to easily find performers and is a great example for showing how there are a plethora of female and non-binary acts producing fantastic music out there. Banding together to create a community has levelled the playing field that bit more. A musician can shift from genre to genre over the course of their career and in electronic, it can be easy to slide from one style to another. India Jordan’s music has gone through a transformation alongside the non-binary artist. They have moved away from producing ambient and new age inspired tracks to more upbeat, house-inspired dance grooves. Growing up in Doncaster, their choices were limited in terms of gay clubs and spaces where freedom of expression was prioritised. It wasn’t until Jordan made their way to London that everything came into full colour focus. Their DJ sets are a sleek mix of modern sample-riddled electronic and throwbacks to disco, dance and rave. In particular, their boiler room set is funky and masterful with perfect picks that sleekly flow into one another. ‘For You’, their latest six track EP is a joy to listen to. Jordan graces the cover, hand running through their hair, looking at themselves assuredly in the mirror of one of London’s LGBT venues, Dalston Superstore. The euphoric tracks are upbeat mixes of drum ’n’ bass and electronic with a hint of disco. Grabbing your attention from the outset, they pulsate with energy, building to satisfying peaks of sub bass and acid-y synths. Remaining anonymous is a hard act to keep up now with the era of social media and what with stans being more hardworking than most government officials. Artists who usually use a pseudonym never appear in public and those who do such as Orville Peck maintain a certain air of mystery around them, but speculation is always around the corner. 14
SOPHIE’s identity was subject to scrutiny by those in the electronic music industry before officially coming out as trans. Despite this unneeded questioning, the Scottish artist has become a leader in experimental music. SOPHIE has racked up some impressive production credits including her iconic work on Charli XCX’s ‘Vroom Vroom’. Her influence has elevated XCX’s bubblegum pop to a hybrid of techno hyperdance. Her debut album ‘Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-insides’ is the soundtrack Cyberpunk 2077 wishes it could have. ‘Immaterial’ has SOPHIE leaning more into her pop sensibilities but computerised filters on the vocals add an electronic edge. Transitioning in ‘Whole New World/Pretend World’, SOPHIE shows how impressive she is as a musician as she balances countless sounds and samples without it becoming too overcrowded. Spaceship emergency alarms are paired with a snarling throaty virtual animal who comes up against sugary 90s club vocals. The breakdown sounds like an alien battle, as the thundering sounds become warped yet remain rhythmically synchronised.
Looking a bit closer to home, the electronic and dance scene in Ireland has become more diverse but like the rest of the emerging scenes, the line-ups are very much top heavy with men. The work by the GASH Collective is fantastically refreshing. The group gives a platform to female and LGBTQ+ producers and DJs. Their latest release, GASHTRAX VOL. 1, treks across vast sonic landscapes and is a perfect introduction to a talented bunch who are leading the way in underground electronic and dance sound. Based in Glasgow, Dublin native Roo Honeychild is leading the way in Irish-produced electronica. Part of the Club Comfort club night and Dublin Digital Radio, she has established herself as a talented DJ and producer. The October Trax mini-EP is two tracks of magnificence, both filled with exciting twists and turns. ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ is fantastic combining a dramatic women’s choir with jungle-inspired beats, industrial samples and hip-hop howls. ‘Boadaecia Days (Júk mix)’ begins as a rolling beat of vowels and takes a sharp right turn into Enya’s castle, using ‘Boadaecia’ to ground the track. The whole sphere of electronic and dance is brilliantly expansive, a creative open space where rave, trance and techno can seep in and bounce off their bass heavy counterparts. It is fast becoming a genre where more and more trans people are becoming pioneers in its future. In a time when there needs to be more inclusivity and representation in the music industry, it might do pop, hip hop, rap, and indie good to look at their underground sibling. They need to take inspiration, be drivers of inclusivity and look at who they’re allowing at the top of their charts.
WORDS BY SOPHIA MCDONALD
15
Sex
the twelve days sex toys of christmas O
WORDS BY THE SEX EDITORIAL TEAM n the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me A dildo from Lovehoney…
1. Lovehoney furry handcuffs
What is it? Metal handcuffs with faux fur attached. Why is it so good? These handcuffs are a great addition to the bedroom. Not only are these handcuffs very modestly priced, they are soft and easy to use, and feature a quick safety release along with keys to provide peace of mind.The faux fur is also detachable for those seeking more immersive roleplay! How much is it & where can I buy it? €9.95, LoveHoney
2. The Minx Blush Single Speed Mini Vibrator, Purple
A 6cm (2.4 inch) waterproof bullet-shaped vibrator with a single speed design. Whilst the Minx Blush is hardly the most sophisticated vibrator on the market, it still does the trick - and, given that it can be yours for less than a fiver (with batteries included!), what more could you really want..? €4.95, Playblue.ie
3. Guilty Pleasure Beginner’s Bondage Kit
A soft black blindfold and four comfort-lined cuffs with ties. Living in a post-50 Shades world as we do, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing if the idea of introducing a bit of bondage to the bedroom had ever crossed your mind… If the thought of being tied-up by your lover turns you on, but you’re not so keen on the idea of whips and metal chains, this rather luxe beginner’s bondage set is perfect for you - I mean, I would use the blindfold every night as an eye mask it looks so soft! €19.95, LoveAngels.ie
4. Casual Love Finger Fun
A battery operated, water-proof finger massager ring that vibrates. Either place it on your finger or simply hold it between two - there’s nothing more to it! This little massaging device can be used anywhere, and is textured with small bubbles for extra stimulation! The ring’s wonderful usability and low price makes it perfect for your first purchase, and for experimenting non-penetratively. €5.95, PlayBlue.ie
5. Linx Wave Sucker Stroker Male* Masturbator
A latex-and-phthalates-free, waterproof male masturbator with a rippled internal texture. This masturbator is a fabulous value choice for the penis-endowed. As far as practical matters go, the toy is easy to clean, and has two holes should you fancy purchasing bullet vibrators (sold seperately) for extra stimulation. For your immediate enjoyment, you’ll also be pleased to note that the masturbator is transparent to provide additional visual excitement, and is made from ‘supple, tactile real-feel material!’ No wonder it’s one of Playblue’s bestsellers! €11.95, PlayBlue.ie 16 *This is the manufacturer’s phrasing, not our own.
6. Dalia Nailed It Vibrator
A velvet-soft silicone vibrator and G-spot stimulator set, both 100% waterproof. When shopping for vibrators there’s definitely a lot of choice (which can be hard to navigate), but I’ve learnt to trust in the extreme popularity of Dalia’s range. This beautiful example has 10 power settings and a detachable G-spot shaft - thank me later! You can also find it on clothing sites like NastyGal.com. Two birds, one stone? €16.80, NastyGal
7. Amethyst Sensual Glass Butt Plug
A small, glass butt-plug, with an insertable length of 3 inches. This butt plug is ideal for those who enjoy anal play. It’s also ideal for those who may have never experimented anally before. It’s made of glass, which provides a different sensation to that of its silicone counterparts. With a generous amount of lube and patience, it’s ready to go! €22.95, LoveHoney
8. Javida Rechargeable Clitoris Sucker Rabbit
A 21.6cm (8.5 inch) rechargeable rabbit-style vibrator (waterproof insertion length 13.3 cm (5.24 inch), insertion diameter 3.7cm (1.46 inch)) with twelve different vibration modes! The ‘ears’ of this particular rabbit takes the form of a clitoris sucker which (again) has twelve different modes, and, which can be controlled independently from the shaft! I won’t lie, this is an expensive rabbit. But, in this case, I do think the investment is worth it - we are, after all, talking about the ultimate form of self-indulgence! Also, PlayBlue offers free delivery with purchase of this toy and you’ll be eligible to receive a free gift with your purchase! €59.95, PlayBlue.ie
9. Vibrating Lace Thong
A thong that discretely hides a small button-sized vibrator, perfectly placed for clitoral stimulation. This is definitely a fun item to buy - for yourself, for a friend … for whoever! Not only are you getting some cute new underwear, but you’re also getting a hell of a good time batteries included! The vibrator is single-speed, and controlled by a small button. It’s important to note that the vibrator is also removable, so no worries regarding washing of the underwear! €27.20, LoveHoney
10. Lovehoney Oh! Oral Sex dice
The set includes three dice, each side with different prompts. This fun little game allows for a bit of inspiration in the bedroom and is great for couples who may not have used sex toys before. They’re a soft landing into the big world of sex toys, and are the dice offer suggestions for what to do, where to do it and for how long, making it perfect for those seeking a little more direction. €6.95, LoveHoney
11. Blaze Spreader Bar with Lockable Cuffs
A 40cm (15.75 inch) long metal spreader bar with two detachable cuffs, two padlocks, and two sets of keys. Cuff circumference is hugely adjustable, meaning that the product can easily be used on legs as well as hands. This product offers a great entry into more hardcore bondage at a relatively low cost. The cuff placement makes this particular spreader more user-friendly in a whole range of positions and scenarios than the vast majority of other spreaders. Currently discounted to €23.95. Otherwise, €39.95, LoveAngels.ie
12. Tracey Cox Supersex Pegging kit
This kit consists of 2 dildos, a bullet vibe, an adjustable harness, and 3 x O-rings of various sizes. The textured dildo has 6 inches insertable length and 1.5 inch girth. The smaller dildo has an insertable length of 4.5 inches and 1 inch girth. This kit is recommended for beginners due to the dildo sizing. It’s decently priced for what’s included, it’s not intimidating, and is suitable for all genders and sexualities. It includes all the components you could need for pegging (including batteries for the vibrator) all in one place which means you don’t have to go looking. The harness is also machine washable. €49.95, LoveHoney
17
Theatre
2021: A New, Better Year for Theatre? December 2020, what a year for the arts sector…
Theatre-makers and drama students and professors had to adapt to the digital forms of performance making; final year debuts were held as live online events as well. Let’s skip to the good news and events that were announced for this season and early 2021! The Abbey Theatre recently shared that 50 actors will be making more than 2000+ phone calls to spectators who sign up for it, ‘actors will read a poem, perform a speech, or perhaps sing a song, the choice is yours’ as they advertised it. You can choose a date, performance piece, time, and the call will last a max of 30 minutes. It marks an exciting divergence from radio pieces, making the experience much more intimate and unique. I almost forgot to mention: it’s completely free, so give it a shot! Next, Livindred will be live streaming A Christmas Carol featuring Aaron Monaghan (who “recently” and astonishingly performed in Richard III, Abbey Theatre, 2018) and Bryan Burroughs who also trained in Trinity College. Both of them are extraordinary physical theatre performers; Burroughs has also taught movement at The Lir. If you are into musicals, The Phantom of the Opera is scheduled for June 2021 in London’s West End, and eventually in Dublin, assuming that the restrictions for England and Ireland will be lifted by then. For this tour, the Phantom is an Irish actor from Meath, Killian Donnelly. The Gaiety Theatre announced that Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks will be running from 8th—12th September next year, all the other performances before this were either cancelled or postponed. If by any means you or someone you know likes pantomimes, The Gaiety Panto has been postponed for the end of November 2021 early January 2022. Also on pantomimes, The Civic Theatre did not postpone their Panto but came with a swift solution: Rob Murphy & The Civic Panto Team are spreading some virtual Christmas cheer for you and the young ones this year. They have worked with cinematic devices and special effects to offer the young audience some joy in this troubling time. If you purchase the ticket online you will receive a link available for 20 hours and the first 100 bookers will receive a personalized shoutout. The Smock Alley will be live-streaming A Christmas Baroque Concert, RTE Concert Orchestra on December 20th. All other performances seem to be postponed after that for the moment. The Abbey Theatre also informed the public about its upcoming production of Dracula, Bram Stoker’s ‘timeless and terrifying classic’ adapted for the stage by Sarah Hanly which runs from February 15th to March 28th next year. This will be the first live performance on the Abbey Stage since March 2020. This event is said to be socially distanced. The entire run is already sold out, but you could still go for the free first preview—and if people want refunds there might be some available last minute tickets. Last but not least, The Gate Theatre has been going through some serious financial troubles due to Covid-19, so if you or someone you know have any means to donate, you can do so on their website and support this theatre house.
WORDS BY LARISSA BRIGATTI 18
Here’s to a better 2021 for all arts sectors!
PHOTOS BY ANDRÉS MURILLO
19
TV
Recipe for the Perfect Christmas Special The Christmas programming season is a time for reflection, to look back over the year gone by. To sit down with a pen and the RTĖ guide, make a plan and stick to it. To hold your family close as Michael Bay assaults your retinas as punishment for being too cosy to change the channel once Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has started. And those things are important, but we shouldn’t forget the reason for the season; Christmas specials. In this recipe I’ll teach you how to make your own to start the season off the right way.
1. Pain No need to sugar-coat it (we’ll get to the sweetness later), a truly exceptional Christmas special should mess you up. Though I deserve to be attacked in the street for my fondness for the early seasons of Supernatural, it must be said that ‘A Very Supernatural Christmas’ holds up. The monster of the week is particularly entertaining, but what really makes the episode is Dean and Sam trying to decide if they should have one last Christmas before Dean’s quickly approaching death, or let it pass. So, grind up some childhood flashbacks for a nice crumbly base.
2. Pizazz Community has a couple of Christmas episodes, presumably because it’s trying to appeal to me specifically, but ‘Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas’ is my personal favourite. Stop-motion animation, Abed getting tazed on the roof of a car, and most importantly, songs. Musical episodes are also written to appeal to me specifically, so combining the two is like performing a binding ritual between me and your show. You don’t want to overpower your dish, but a sprinkle will do you wonders. If you’re not a fan of musicals, this recipe also works with wacky costumes, a glimpse into the darkest timeline, or a wholesome Christmas brawl.
3. The Power of Friendship ‘Tis the season to really root around in character relationships. ‘The Man in the Fallout Shelter’ in Bones season one does just that. Everyone is quarantined together in the lab for fear of an infection they might have caught from the body that’s just been brought in, and it’s Christmas Eve! Everyone puts so much thought into the office Secret Santa (where the gifts are things they can find in their office), and everyone bonding over how they celebrated Christmas, unsure if they’d be able to do that this year, makes me tear up over a decade after it aired. As a Catholic, this show could be too Catholic for its own good, but they hit the mark with this one. Let your mixture warm slowly for about 11 or 12 episodes, then turn up the heat on it for 20 to 40 minutes.
4. To Serve:
Now after all that you should be left with - a hot, sprinkly base. Well, that’s not ideal. Maybe a Christmas special is more than the sum of its parts. Maybe the perfect Christmas special, is one that doesn’t have a recipe. Maybe the perfect Christmas special was the one in our hearts all along.
WORDS BY GILLIAN DOYLE
20
Dash and Lily: a New Genre of Festive TV
Not
content with dethroning Hallmark as the king of cringy Christmas movies, Netflix aims to further expand their yuletide realm to include the small screen with the first-of-its-kind Christmas series, Dash and Lily. As sweet as a sugar cookie, but with all the substance of a gingerbread house, this show managed to make even this serial Christmas fanatic turn a cynical side-eye at the holiday season; also known as a ‘reverse Grinch phenomenon’.
Based on the first novel from the series of the same name by acclaimed authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Dash and Lily centres around a You’ve Got Mail-inspired whirlwind teen romance. Fellow Christmas enthusiast Lily (Midori Francis), who is feeling uncharacteristically blue as the big day approaches, decides to find her own special someone for the holidays while her family jet off to celebrate without her. In order to achieve this, in a level of pretentiousness that would have no doubt thrilled me at the height of my John Green phase as a young teen, she leaves a red notebook full of challenges on the shelf of the infamous New York bookshop, The Strand. Miraculously, the notebook is not thrown out by a confused employee, or even scribbled in by a bunch of children, but is instead found by a handsome fellow teen with perfectly coiffed hair and a compatible sexual orientation; Dash (Austin Abrams). From here, the two prospective lovebirds write messages and dares for each other, with Lily hoping to rid Dash of his self-confessed Scrooge-like feelings towards all things festive, while Dash aims to push Lily outside her comfort zone and help her become more sociable. Gradually, we are made believe that the pair begin to fall in love, despite never meeting. In lieu of some physical contact or verbal communication, the notebook is left precariously in public places and ferried between friends and family members, who act as uncompensated couriers of this budding romance. This brings the viewer on an idyllic, whistle-stop tour of New York in December, taking in all the hotspots from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree to Grand Central Terminal. This setting had an added sense of magic given that the crowds of holiday revelers are notably absent this year. While I would argue that the festive period has enough organic opportunities for magic and intrigue, the show tries a little too hard to add some cinnamon spice to the mix. We are told by every character on screen that Lily is a ‘quirky girl’, but it is hard to buy into her being a weird outcast just because she wears vintage clothes and likes Christmas a lot. Additionally, after going on two nights out in the city, she is treated like a war criminal by her family, which led me to believe she was a lot younger than 17. While the writers may have gone overboard embellishing the character of Lily, with Dash, it feels as if they didn’t try hard enough, leaving him pigeonholed into a typical ‘sad rich boy’ trope. These jarring characterisations made it hard to root for their relationship to work out, as both Dash and Lily felt as unrealistic as their meet-cute in contrast with the dynamic New York atmosphere. While I do understand, and even embrace, that a certain degree of logic must be thrown out the window when it comes to rom-coms, I found it hard to stomach the fact that two complete strangers are able to form a full-on pair bond, dodgy handwriting and all, yet I can’t even get a text across in the right tone without a few strategic emojis. Am I just cynical, or is it actually possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never met? Maybe it truly is a Christmas miracle. Critics will often complain that a certain movie deserved to be made into a TV series, as there was just too much content to pack into a mere two hours. With Dash and Lily however, I would argue that the opposite would have been preferable. Its premise may go beyond belief, even by rom-com standards, but still, the show’s format of Christmas cheer compacted into bite-sized chunks that can easily be consumed in-between study like a virtual advent calendar brought a smile to my face. This love letter to New York optimism and the festive spirit, for all its flaws, was an enjoyable watch. This may have been down to the accompanying joyful holiday soundtrack, or one too many glasses of mulled wine, or maybe the magic of Christmas is just alive and well after all.
WORDS BY CIARA CONNOLLY 21
ALT.
an unprecedented christmas WORDS BY ANN MORONEY
I
have honestly never looked forward to Christmas less. I feel I can speak for most people with that statement. Not only is there the small issue of a global pandemic but we now have exams and deadlines in January which aptly encapsulates the cliché of adding insult to injury. The 2020 holiday season is hardly one that is going to go down in the annals history for the right reasons and the traditions we usually all enjoy and rely on have been thrown into upheaval; some belong to our pre-Covid world and some remain intact. Last week I was standing outside a coffee shop and heard the familiar opening chords of ‘Fairytale of New York’ for the first time since last December. There is something about the raspy timbre of Shane McGowan growling ‘it was Christmas Eve babe’ that overwhelms me with such a nostalgia that no other Christmas song or symbol has ever matched.
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I associate it with the strongly relatable image of standing in a packed, overheated pub full of cheap Christmas jumpers, tinsel and spilt Guinness as everybody throws their heads back to loudly bellow ‘the boys of the NYPD Choir’- completely off key. It reminds me of the inevitable festive happenings that involve getting caught in a semi-inebriated conversation at the bar with someone from primary school in which you both ask ‘so what are you doing in college again’ an uncomfortable amount of times. It is the soundtrack to organising a college Christmas dinner in which the worry about numbers usually relates to the sufficiency of undercooked turkey to go around as opposed to legal restrictions. The radio plays it on an unrelenting loop as a conveyor belt of relatives bustle in and out of your house depositing identical brands of mulled wine and chocolates. ‘Fairytale of New York’ and its evocative influence reminded me of just how different this Christmas is going to be. A festive season without numerous choral recitals, ballets and pantomimes seems like a dystopian, alternate reality. Wishing for a ‘quiet, peaceful Christmas’ has never lived up to its promise in such a depressing manner. COVID has robbed us of so much so far but a festive season without the usual car crash that is the twelve pubs of Christmas, bustling overpriced markets and most tragically, the ease of being able to hug an elderly relative, just stings that bit deeper. However, certain aspects and traditions of Christmas remain intact regardless of apocalyptic world crises. The innate human ability to justify spending a fiver on a Starbucks toasted white chocolate mocha simply to get in the ‘Christmas spirit’ is stronger than ever. There will always be a gaggle of girls somewhere wearing Christmas hats and videoing each other pointing at the camera while shrieking ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’. Your neighbours’ lights will still be visible from Mars and I will still block people on Instagram who use the caption ‘silly season is well and truly underway’. Christmas is special for a multitude of different reasons. You will simultaneously hate and love your family more intensely than any other time of year. Decorating the Christmas tree brings out the petty, critical side in everyone and tensions rarely run higher than when the turkey cooking time is inevitably misjudged, and no one gets fed for hours. This year many people will not have seen their family for a long time so all the fights, hugs and laughs will be more of novelty than ever. We should appreciate them and take a moment to reflect on how lucky and privileged we are. Think of the friend or the sibling or the parent that got you through the dark days of lockdown and buy them a thoughtful present. Try to be more convincing when your sister asks you if you like her homemade mince pies and don’t shout at your dad for suggesting that you all watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the sixth year in a row. There are certain things that I can always rely on each holiday season; even a bizarre one like this. I know that I am going to overindulge on chocolate and cold turkey sandwiches over Christmas week and then write a ridiculously ambitious list of New Year resolutions that never even get started on. I know that I am going to leave every bit of shopping until the last minute and end up panic buying someone a mug in Tower Records. I also know that when it gets to the part in Love Actually where Emma Thompson breaks down in her room while listening to Joni Mitchell, that I will sob pathetically despite having seen the movie over fifty times. Already I am excited to pack a suitcase to get the evening bus home on that last weekend before Christmas. Despite not heading back to traditionally join my friends in a crowded beer tent, I will still lean my head against the window and happily romanticise the act of ‘driving home for Christmas’. The bus will speed down the motorway through driving rain, past flashes of twinkling houses as the strains of The Pogues filter through the radio speakers and Shane McGowen sings ‘I can see a better time, when all our dreams come true’.
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