News about Brian Friel

Spectacular stage performances, brilliant new albums, a slew of fantastic films, and stunning art shows are among our writers' picks of the best of theatre, music, film, and art. Find out what to expect and do this weekend.

MONT MANION: Eugene O'Hare's latest play, starring Kathy Kiera Clarke (ditzy Aunt Sarah from Derry Girls), is as bleak and beautiful as you might expect. In a Northern Irish border town, the subject is high alcoholism, but it's really about love, terror, and bereavement. It seems that it has been around forever and has lyricism to rival Brian Friel, and was only written last year. But don't let the kid you fool into believing you're in for a simple ride. Chrissy (Mairead McKinley) is a long-serving boozer who has been long since barred from attending the last-chance saloon. We find her embedded in a tiny, sticky mess of a house. A soiled sofa, stacks of clothes, and a coordinated scattering of empty bottles and buckled cans are welcomed behind closed curtains.