Theatre Nights: Dance, comedy... and harbour fest

Reggie from the Blackrock Road is back in the Everyman tonight with Oh Lads!

Expect a witty and wonderful evening from the man who can teach us so much about upper class Leeside.

Tomorrow night, Ireland’s queens of comedy, DirtBirds, return with their sell-out show Girls World Tour, a fast-moving mix of stand-up and sketches. A great night out for a gang of friends.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Superstars Cork Academy presents its end-of-year show, Shine, full of all your favourite songs, performed by students from all over Cork city and county. That’s at 12.30pm and 6.30pm.

The Second Captains Podcast Live is here on Wednesday at 7.30pm, with Eoin McDevitt, Ken Early and Ciarán Murphy.

The Life And Times Of Paddy Armstrong plays on Friday and Saturday, starring Don Wycherley in the title role. Inspired by Paddy’s 2017 memoir Life After Life: A Guildford Four Memoir, it is presented by Wooden Bridge Productions.

And advance news of a very special musical treat coming up on June 6, when Northern Ireland Opera presents Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, a highly charged one-act, one-woman opera based on Coceau’s play of the same name.

Call 021 450 1673 or www.everymancork.com for bookings.

At the Opera House, from tomorrow (Friday) until Sunday, the Montfort College of Performing Arts stage Applause 2025, a song and dance extravaganza featuring over 1,500 students from Cork city and county. 6pm Friday, noon and 5pm Saturday and Sunday.

Next Wednesday, May 28, Luail – Ireland’s National Dance Company - in collaboration with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, brings its inaugural performance, Chora, to the Opera House - a triple bill of new dance acts by choreographers Maria Campos and Guy Nader, Liz Roche, and Mufutau Yusuf. 8pm.

Call 021 427 0022 or see www.corkoperahouse.ie.

Fishamble are back at Cork Arts Theatre this week, with the blackly comic Underneath, written and performed by Pat Kinevane, directed by Jim Culleton. A testament to those who live on the fringes of everyday life, it runs until Saturday at 8pm.

Next week, a great annual event at the venue, ten new ten-minute plays, this time on the Views from a Couch theme.

Now in its tenth year, this was originally conceived to encourage new writing for the stage, and has achieved that. See https://corkartstheatre.com/event/views-from-a-couch/ for all the details, or ring 021 450 5624.

This year’s Cork Harbour Festival, Ireland’s largest celebration of maritime culture, kicks off on Sunday, and runs to June 2.

The flagship Ocean to City – An Rás Mór, Ireland’s premier long-distance rowing race, takes place on May 31. There is also Songs Of The Sea with Cork Singers Club, Seal Rescue Volunteer Training with Seal Rescue Ireland, and A Taste Of Yachting with Sail Cork.

Plus, kayaking, sailing, surfing, scuba diving, power boating, or a relaxing boat tour.

On land, there are guided walks, heritage tours, storytelling sessions, art exhibitions, theatre performances, beach clean-ups, even a smokehouse tour.

A really packed programme with something for everyone. Check out https://corkharbourfestival.com/.

At the Glen Theatre in Banteer this Saturday, May 24, at 8pm, Seamus O’Rourke appears as The Reverend.

The cleric in question is the Reverend Thaddaeus Noone, a non-denominational Irish preacher who has ‘saved’ before and will again.

And the following Wednesday, May 28, Old Baby Mackerel are in concert with their high-energy, foot-stomping Bluegrass sound.

Bookings for the Glen on 029 56230.