Theatre Nights: All the fun of the Cork Midsummer Fest!

THIS weekend sees the premiere of Everyman’s The Summer I Robbed A Bank.

Directed by Sophie Motley, it runs Saturday and Sunday, and again the following weekend, June 15-16. noon and 4pm performances both Saturdays, and 2pm shows on the Sundays, so just right for smaller theatregoers.

There is a special ISL-interpreted performance plus audio-described performance with touch tour on Sunday, June 16 (make sure to make it clear if this is what you want, when booking).

A 12-year-old having to spend his summer holidays on Achill with an eccentric old uncle doesn’t seem like fun - but wait till he sees what that same uncle (and a crowd of helpful sheep) have in mind!

The cast includes Bryan Quinn, Damian Kearney, Orla Scally, and Stephen O’Leary. Part of the great Cork Midsummer Festival, of course, and what a great way to kick it off!

The Festival itself runs from June 12-23, with a packed programme of shows and events all over the place, both free and ticketed. We particularly like the idea of Theatre For One, where 12 short plays will be performed by one actor for one audience member at a time, in a purpose-built booth on Emmet Place. A return to the days of fairground theatre, yay!

We also love Travelling Rope, another free event in which a giant, oversized rope appears on the streets and parks of our city, inviting you to grab hold and see where it takes you! Graffiti Theatre is staging Grace, a piece for families and young people, while big events include Proms At The Opera House, as three concerts showcase Irish rock in Heyday (June 12 & 13, New World Music (June 16) and musical theatre in There’s No Place Like Home (June 19 &20).

See https://www.corkmidsummer.com/whats-on/.

The Midsummer Festival encourages you to get out and about, but here is advance notice of something really in the line of the old-fashioned travelling theatre.

Cork Opera House and Gavan Ring, in association with The Cahersiveen Music and Arts Festival, present Puccini’s La Bohème on Sunday, August 4 at the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church in Cahersiveen, with Rachel Croash as Mimì and Gavan Ring as Rodolfo.

Now how is that for fun at the far end of the old Great Southern & Western Railway? Pity we can’t go down by train any more, but cars will do. Book NOW through the Opera House for the operatic experience of a lifetime!

Meantime, BillieJean’s RDC & School of Performing Arts is at the Opera House tonight with its big end of year show, A Night At The Movies. That starts at 6.30pm and you had better be quick if you want tickets - they’re like gold dust.

And something very beautiful at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral tomorrow night, Friday, for which you book through the Opera House: the world-renowned Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Sacred choral music in a perfect setting.

Booking for all the above on 021 427 0022 or www.corkoperahouse.ie.

There is still time to get in to the Cork Arts Theatre to see that excellent production of Educating Rita, starring Karen Ray and Jim O’Mahony. Willy Russell’s sharply observant work shows how a tough Liverpool girl can teach cloistered academics a thing or two. Until Saturday, 8pm start.

Call 021 450 5624 or see www.corkartstheatre.com.

Finally, Rossmore is holding its first ever Short Play Festival this Sunday, June 9, with seven miniscule playlets in one night!

On the bill are ant From Hell by Barry Wood; Anne With An E by Sheila Wall; Departure Lounge by Leonie Thompson; It’s A Bollocks Being Grown Up by Mike Russell; Trapped by Barry Wood; The Date And The Drug Deal by Kieran Doyle; and Pornstar Martini by Jamie McLeish.

Tickets at the door.