Sometimes I’m kicking myself for not doing so and other times I’m completely mesmerised and on cloud nine.

Image borrowed from Imagine Ireland

MIMIC was one of the latter. A one-man show with only a baby grand piano, a mirror and some lighting for company we are taken on an entertaining satirical journey through the life of Julian Neary’s turbulent, dark roller-coaster existence opening with what later turns out to be his dramatic demise.

Julian’s journey is troubled to say the least. Growing up in 80′s Ireland Julian discovers he has an unusual talent for mimicry, not something that his father – a man with strict ideals and stuck in the 1950s – takes a shine to and reacts by moving the family’s piano into the basement, or dungeon as Julian calls it. The dungeon is where Julian spends much of his youth during which time he forms a strong bond with his sister Aoife who seems to spend most of her spare time sneaking boys in and out the back entrance of the house.

Julian’s journey takes us through his failed college experience to his seemingly accidental rise to fame and all the way back down to earth again. The sharp and witty imitations of characters like Columbo and Morrissey set against the piano score make for welcome funny moments in amongst all the dark whirlwind life of the mimic.

I don’t want to say too much as I think part of the reason why I enjoyed it so much is that I went in with an open mind, a clean slate. Plus part of the joy is in how the story is told by Scannell and I certainly can’t do that justice here.

It was without doubt the best one-man show I have ever seen and one of the best pieces of theatre I have seen in my lifetime. I was completely sucked into the tale, absorbed into the crazy world of Julian and a small part of me didn’t want to come back out. Raymond Scannell – the writer, composer and performer – is nothing short of a genius. Stunning.

It’s at the Project Arts Centre only until this coming Saturday the 26th so rush to the website and get yourself a ticket this instant!

At their 35th birthday celebration in Galway last year they included a scene from The Cripple of Inishmaan in their series of vignettes of their work and it was the one that for some reason stood out the most. Since hearing that they were taking it to the stage again I’ve been looking forward to seeing it and I’m thrilled to say it lived up to my expectations and more last night.

The story is based in the 1930s on Inis Meáin – the middle of the three Aran Islands. Cripple Billy is a bright young man tormented moreso by the boredom of island life than his physical ailments, something I think that will strike a chord with anyone who grew up in a remote part of Ireland.

An orphan since he was a newborn, Billy was brought up and lives with his two aunties, shopkeepers of the local grocery who are an absolute hoot. Billy dreams of a life beyond the Aran and beyond captivated by the story of how his parent’s boat sank as they tried to make it to the mainland en route to America.

But any mention of leaving the island let alone the country is shot down by his aunties who fear he does “too much of that – thinking”. When news of a film company coming to the main island from America reaches him Billy hatches a plan to get there in the hope of going to America to be a movie star.

It’s a wonderful story – heart-breaking, warm, full of characters and a side-splitting witty script with some very unexpected twists. Of course being a Druid production the cast is simply top notch with the talented young Tadhg Murphy in the role of Billy, Liam Carney as BabbyBobby and Claire Dunne as the feisty cailín Slippy Helen.

Now playing in Dublin until March 5th, Druid will be touring the production across the USA, Galway city at the end of June and ending in Inis Meáin on June 26th.

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster or the Gaiety box office.

On Thursday the smashing bunch from Devious Theatre in Kilkenny brought their production Scratcher to a Dublin audience for the first time.

Not an easy feat cutting your theatre cloth to suit your measure when it means trimming a 60mins + production into less than 45 but they did it and did it well with fantastic performances by the all the cast.

Scratcher is very much of the moment – a snapshot of the dole queue as a slice of life for many living or trying to make one in Ireland in 2011. The college graduate who just wants to get that first foot on the career ladder, the builder who won and lost in the property gamble to the civil servant behind the screen just doing his job as he always has and more.

Is it time for revolution? Do we care enough to make a stand? Or should we bother? Is it every many for himself or time to band together shoulder to shoulder?

This condensed production of Scratcher was fast, sharp, funny and thoroughly entertaining despite the real and gloomy subject matter. I can imagine that parts of the piece will do better when allowed to breathe with the original running time restored when it hits Kilkenny this week.

I would love to be able to catch it but I don’t think I’ll be able to unless the teleporter kicks into action this week. It hits No. 76 John Street from Feb 22nd – 26th at 8pm. Tickets are a steal at €12 and on sale via the website and the Kilkenny Arts Office.

Here’s hoping Dublin sees more of Devious in 2011.

I was originally heading down for one show tonight but a kind offer of spares for WHERE DO I START? came my way.

A 10pm half hour show can’t be the easiest sell but the venue was almost full. Nyree I have seen in a few productions at the PAC in the last year or so most recently As You Are Now So Once Were We which has since had a run at The Peacock. This is a solo show for Nyree where Nyree tackles the notion of identity and what it means for a 24 year-old female half Armenian actor who has never broken a bone living in Dublin.

It’s short, sweet, funny and refreshingly personal touching on themes including emigration, family and what it’s like being a 20-something in Ireland in 2011.

If I say much more I’ll ruin the fun for you. Go catch it tomorrow (Tuesday) night in the PAC at 10pm – tickets here or on entertainment.ie/tickets or at the box office.

“I am sick of talking about being young. I have to do this in order to grow up.”

So Shane takes us back to the golden days of youth, specifically to the days of being in Scouts, also termed his period of “immersive research” for this piece.

It’s a really charming production – quite poignant at times and nostalgic even you were never in Scouts through the carefully chosen soundtrack of various songs anchoring the memories in the late 90′s. Shane’s charisma, charm and brilliant wit make for a lovely interactive and chuckle-filled experience.

I left it with a smile on face and a smille in my heart – not much more you can ask for on a rainy Monday night.

It’s running at Smock Alley until Friday at 7.15, grab a ticket here or pick up a ’3 for €32′ for all 3 THEATREclub shows here.

“HEROIN is the story you were never told about the new republic, of the person you never saw, of what you built and them demolished.”

2 years in the making, HEROIN is a compelling and powerful portrayal of a dark side of Dublin that I know little about and receives little attention now that the only story in town is the recession.

I wish there was a record of my life. Like CCTV.

Three characters – Barry, Ryan and Lauren – play actors who each want to tell their story. Barry is the cornerstone of the show – he directs and narrates the performance as well as telling his own experience of life tainted by heroin. He delivered the most powerful performance I have seen in Fringe or indeed on stage in quite a while.

It’s fine though coz none of this is really happening. They’re telling us it’s not happening.

You could feel a sort of a magnetic tension in the room as the audience got increasingly drawn into the emotional, sad and difficult story unfolding.

It’s no accident that HERION has been getting four star reviews from the Irish Times and Irish Theatre Magazine. I’ve had the bones of this review sitting in draft since Friday because I simply don’t know how to do it justice.

Go and see it before it ends in Smock Alley this Friday. Book the individual show or get all 3 THEATREclub shows for €32 via links on their page www.theatreclubbing.com.

The blurb:

Why haven’t you read Ulysses? Ulysses is Dublin. You live in Dublin. So do we. Four actors in a city we don’t really know pick up the most important and unread book in Irish history and follow James Joyce as he invents a whole city and its people.

Except they’re doing it with cardboard boxes in the upstairs venue of the Project Arts Centre. The Company won last year’s Spirit of the Fringe award and I was cursing my luck not to have caught any of their performances that bagged them the accolade. So I got my tush in the door for the preview show of the tongue-twistedly titled ‘As You Are Now So Once Were We’.

It’s an interesting concept and an interesting execution of the idea. Straddling the worlds of theatre and performance art the four young actors take us on a uinque trip through their day in Dublin.

It was enjoyable performance with plenty of laughs along the way and some great choreography but Tanya’s sequence of forgetfulness about halfway through seemed to make the whole show lose its rhythm a little. Maybe that was the point – who knows?!

I’m marking it as “just wasn’t for me” or possibly I wasn’t in the right frame of mind as I never really engaged with it. Still worth seeing though and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more productions by The Company down the road.

Catch it Monday to Wednesday at 9pm at the Project Arts Centre. Tickets are €14 and available here from the Absolut Fringe website.

“It’s all memories”.

Sorcha Kenny loves dresses. More specifically, she loves vintage dresses and not simply for the look or feel of them but for their stories and experiences.

A few months ago Sorcha embarked on a quest to collect these stories from around the country via her blog – http://mylifeindresses.wordpress.com. The show takes us through a sample of the dresses and their stories filled with nostalgia, tears and laughter.

One of my favourite moments was during the submission “dresses made special by a former lover”. With an accompanying photograph the contributor describes her “dress of power”:

“I only wore it when I wanted to manipulate him.”

The knowing chuckles and shrieks of laughter through the mostly female audience was just brilliant.

I felt the overall show lacked a bit of continuity and flow but then again, it was a preview show so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. While I wouldn’t say it’s exclusively for girls, it will strike more of a chord with the ladies. Either way, a fun way to pass an hour for less than €15.

You can catch My Life In Dresses at the Project Arts Centre every night this week at 7pm until Saturday. Grab your tickets at the Absolut Fringe website or here on the Project Arts Centre website.

The official gist:

Shane’s a bit fucked up.

He wants you to be the witness at an inquest into his life.

With the softness of his mother, and the bravado of his father, he will tell you things he doesn’t want you to know.

Some say he’s comedy gold. Others think he’s self-indulgent. Why don’t you decide?

Group Therapy For One was first presented at the ABSOLUT Dublin Fringe Festival 2009, where it was performed in Shane’s family home and nominated for Spirit of The Fringe.

It was my favourite show of Absolut Fringe last year, my sketchy review is here if you fancy more info.

It’s different, it’s fun and it’s challenging.

Grab your tickets for the Friday show here and Saturday show here at City Arts Centre on Bachelor’s Walk – it’s a steal for a tenner. And maybe give them some Facebook love while you’re at it.

See you there.

Some cherry-picked musical highlights of the day:

Play with Music at The Contemporary Music Centre

The CMC are hosting a range of installations by multimedia students from around Ireland. Bring the little ones (of 4+) and get creative with the sounds, sights and gadgets at CMC between 1 and 4pm. More info available here.

A Musical Menu at The Queen of Tarts

A delicious slice of cake in one of the yummiest places in town with a string trio on the side? Fancy that? Well then head for The Queen of Tarts on Cow’s Lane at 3pm.

Julie Feeney & Tarab at Meeting House Square

The gorgeous poppy sounds of Galway girl Julie Feeney followed by a lively mix of jazz and traditional music from across Europe in the form of Tarab at Meeting House Square at 7pm. It’s free but you better book your tickets here quickly!

Dirty Dancing – Movies on the Square

What better way to round up a musical day in Temple Bar than with this 80′s classic. Get ready to dance in the aisles (well, the street I guess) and sing along. Tickets are going faster than you can say “no-one leaves Baby in the corner” so get in touch with TBCT now! Starts at 10.30pm.

See you there!