What’s on in the Arts

Wednesday 15th March 2023 at 11am 0 Comments

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• Festivals
• Visual Arts
• Music
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• Community Arts/Arts & Health

FESTIVALS

Duncairn and Beat Carnival St Patrick’s Day: Custom House Square host a free concert on Thursday 16 March, organised by The Duncairn Arts Centre. Headlined by award-winning singer/songwriter Lisa Hannigan, the family-friendly, alcohol-free event will also see performances by trad supergroup Jiggy who mix Irish traditional music, world rhythms and cutting-edge dance grooves, ethnic dance group Shamrock Bhangra and internationally acclaimed folk singer David Keenan. There will be free face painting, circus performers, and balloon artists and buskers to keep little ones entertained, as well as a selection of food vendors on site.

And on St Patrick’s Day (17 March) the annual parade organised by Beat Carnival will snake its way through the city centre – a colourful pageant of costumes, music, dance, circus and theatrical performances. Visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk

Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics: one of Belfast’s most innovative and engaging festivals, the Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics is taking place during 20-26 March. The 9th edition of this annual festival includes over 350 speakers and performers from Australia, USA and closer to these shores. Featuring comedy, poetry, music, theatre, performance art, film, poetry, tours, workshops and talks from leading speakers and performers, many of the participants are appearing in Belfast for the first time. The diverse line-up includes headliners such as Noam Chomsky, Francis Fukuyama, Medbh McGuckian, George Monbiot, Jonathon Porritt, Sherine Tadros, Oliver Callan, Tiff Stevenson, Paddy Cullivan, Steve Richards, Biddy McLaughlin, Henry Normal, Luke Wright and Clare Pollard, Fin Taylor, John Otway and The Wood Burning Savages., to name but a few. Visit. Visit www.imaginebelfast.com

Creative Holywood Festival: This year’s Creative Holywood Festival started on Thursday 9th March and continues throughout the rest of March. Highlights include:

• Artist in Residence, Ed Reynolds, a Holywood resident and well-known artist will have an exhibition of work at Holywood Library where his vivid paintings will be complemented by an audio soundscape created by his conversations and the everyday noises of life in the town.
• ‘25 Pieces’ delves into the history of the road to Good Friday 1998 and beyond. With an accompanying exhibition and book that draws on the extensive archive of veteran journalist, Brian Rowan, the event will shine a light on the ongoing journey of the Good Friday Agreement, and the major moments in the transition from conflict to peace. Brian will be in conversation with former BBC colleague, Mervyn Jess, and we will also hear from the post-conflict generation, as they lay out their hopes for the next 25 years.
• Also in the festival line up is an intriguing mix of Sunday morning coffee accompanied by some amazing jazz. Traditional harpist Gráinne Meyer and jazz pianist Scott Flanigan will bring together their unique approaches to music for this special concert of jazz, trad, and improvisation.
• Not to be missed is an 'In Conversation' evening with two of our best known journalists and broadcasters. Kathy Clugston is one of the most familiar voices on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC World Service. In 2019, she became the chair of Gardeners' Question Time. Kathy will be chatting to Mark Simpson who started his journalistic career with the News Letter, the Irish News, and the Belfast Telegraph. He joined the BBC in 1998 and became the BBC's Ireland Correspondent in 2008. A fanatical football fan meets a dedicated ukulele player – but which is which?
• For any foodies that want something special, there is an evening that includes exquisite Persian cuisine prepared by amazing cooks from our Iranian community. For ‘afters’ there’ll be music by Sir Plus and the Prophets, along with Shaunna and the Seasiders with their repertoire of classic hits from the 70s and 80s.
• On Saturday 25th you can ‘Come and Sing’ Vivaldi's Gloria under the direction of Matthew Owens, the distinguished Music Director of the Ulster Consort.
• Don’t miss a specially curated evening of dance, with live performances of Irish, Argentine Folklore and Tango, and contemporary dance, plus 3 short digital works.

Visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chf-creative-holywood-festival-2023-tickets-551360934397

Stickyfingers: presents International Children’s Arts Festival, 25-31 March 2023. Highlights include:

• Festival Mish Mash, 25 March
• The Gathering Drum, 25 March
• The Word Factory Performance, 26 March
• Tell Me Another One: Sharing Stories with Young Children Workshop with Liz Weir, 26 March
• The Hare and Moon Suitcase, performance and lantern workshop 27 March
• The Gingerbread Man Performance, 28 March
• Shadow Puppet Show Workshop, 28 March
• Little Brown Duck Workshop, 29 March
• Kukki Performance, 30 March
• Sing A Song A Story Performance, 31 March
• Paul Currie, Dada Dodo, 31 March

Visit www.stickyfingersarts.co.uk

Féile an Earraigh: presents a vibrant and inclusive culture and arts festival, celebrating and showcasing Irish culture, music and diversity. The programme offers a wide variety of arts and cultural activities including traditional music, workshops, concerts, tours, walks, talks, literary events, youth and sporting events and family based activities. Féile an Phobail’s Spring festival, Féile an Earraigh, celebrates and showcases local Irish culture and diversity through an eclectic mix of vibrant and inclusive Irish cultural and arts activity for local people and visitors to the city in the lead in to and including St Patrick’s Day.

Highlights include:

• The Féile Trad Trail, with live traditional music in various locations throughout Belfast
• Workshops
• Irish language crash courses for all levels of ability
• Family friendly trad music session
• Talks and discussions
• Activities for families in local community centres and public libraries
• Multiple tours and walks
• Number of headline concerts

Féile an Earraigh is now on until Friday 17 March 2023. Visit www.feilebelfast.com

Walled City Music Festival: takes place from 23-26 March 2023 in Derry-Londonderry featuring live performances with some of the world’s finest musicians including:

• Raphael Wallfisch with Cathal Breslin, Thur 23 March, Christ Church. Raphael Wallfisch is one of the most celebrated cellists performing on the international stage. He opens the Festival on Thursday 23rd March, alongside Derry-born pianist Cathal Breslin (also co-artistic director of the Festival), with a programme including Debussy, Brahms, Schumann and Franck.
• Sharon Carty and Fiochra Garvey, Fri 24 March, Christ Church. Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty will be joined by Fiachra Garvey (piano) on Friday 24th March, with a programme of beautiful art songs by Grieg, Debussy, Stanford and Elgar
• Barry Douglas, Sat 25 March, Christ Church. On Saturday 25th March, celebrated Belfast pianist Barry Douglas will give the final evening concert of the Festival, with performances of Schubert Impromptus, Beethoven’s “Appassionata” and Schubert’s iconic Piano Sonata in A minor.

Visit www.walledcitymusic.com

MUSIC

BBC NI and Arts Council of Northern Ireland present: Young Musicians’ Platform Award Concert: The BBC NI Young Musicians Platform Award: The Winners' Concert will take place at the Ulster Hall on 16 March 2023 featuring the Ulster Orchestra performing alongside the winners of the BBC Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Northern Ireland Young Musicians’ Platform Award. Free tickets available now at the Ulster Hall’s website https://www.ulsterhall.co.uk/what-s-on/young-musicians-platform-award-2/

Classical awardees - soprano, Rebecca Murphy and tenor, Andrew Masterson will be performing a selection of operatic arias and songs including music from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Berlioz’s Nuits d’été and music by Kurt Weill.

Traditional folk music awardee and fiddle player, Méabh Smyth, will perform alongside guitarist Marty Barry in a specially arranged selection of airs and reels, and contemporary singer-songwriter awardee, Eve Belle-Murtagh will be performing her own songs with the orchestra.

Finally, Jazz awardee, drummer, Andrew McCoubrey will be taking to the stage with a bass player and pianist alongside the Ulster Orchestra to perform two Jazz standards, I Love Music, written in 1974 by the American composer and pianist Hale Smith, and John Coltrane’s, Naima, taken from his 1959 album Giant Steps.

The Ulster Orchestra is conducted by conductor Roderick Dunk, renowned for his time as conductor with the BBC Concert Orchestra for the BBC's, Friday Night is Music Night, and this concert is presented by John Toal.

Northern Lights Project: presents,

Michel Chion: Requiem - 50th anniversary performance
Sunday, 19 March 2023, 7.00pm
Guildhall, Derry

Chion's "Requiem" was realised in the studios of the Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM) in Paris (France) and premiered on March 19, 1973 at the Théâtre Récamier in Paris.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first performance, Northern Lights Project is embarking on an ambitious project to perform this work live in a number of locations in Ireland in 2023, starting with Derry's Guildhall exactly 50 years after the first performance.

“Chion's Requiem probably represents one of the defining moments of the musique concrète canon, a work all other pieces must be judged by and one of the few absolute masterpieces of the genre.” – Modern Illusions

Visit www.northernlightsproject.org

Walled City Music Festival: takes place from 23-26 March 2023 in Derry-Londonderry featuring live performances with some of the world’s finest musicians including:

• Raphael Wallfisch with Cathal Breslin, Thur 23 March, Christ Church. Raphael Wallfisch is one of the most celebrated cellists performing on the international stage. He opens the Festival on Thursday 23rd March, alongside Derry-born pianist Cathal Breslin (also co-artistic director of the Festival), with a programme including Debussy, Brahms, Schumann and Franck.
• Sharon Carty and Fiochra Garvey, Fri 24 March, Christ Church. Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty will be joined by Fiachra Garvey (piano) on Friday 24th March, with a programme of beautiful art songs by Grieg, Debussy, Stanford and Elgar
• Barry Douglas, Sat 25 March, Christ Church. On Saturday 25th March, celebrated Belfast pianist Barry Douglas will give the final evening concert of the Festival, with performances of Schubert Impromptus, Beethoven’s “Appassionata” and Schubert’s iconic Piano Sonata in A minor.

Visit www.walledcitymusic.com

Northern Ireland Opera: returns to The Grand Opera House in 2023 with Puccini’s Tosca, after their critically acclaimed production of La Traviata in 2022. Tosca is an operatic thriller set in Rome, taking place over one day, making it one of the most intense and exciting operas ever written.

Floria Tosca is a beautiful soprano, deeply in love with painter Mario Cavaradossi. When the corrupt Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia, discovers that Mario has been helping political prisoners escape, he sees a way of forcing Tosca into the ultimate sacrifice to satisfy his lust. Scarpia will entrap her and try to get rid of her lover… who will survive?

Directed and conceptualised by Cameron Menzies, performed with the Ulster Orchestra and the NI Opera Chorus on 9,12,14 & 16 September.

Visit www.niopera.com

Brigid O’Neill: has released her new single Easy. The single is from the singer’s forthcoming album The Truth and Other Stories due for release this March. The album was recorded in Nashville with Grammy-Nominated producer Neilson Hubbard (Mary Gauthier, The Orphan Brigade, John Prine). The album will be launched at the Black Box Belfast on 16th March and Bigid will be touring the album throughout Ireland and the UK starting with 16th March and followed by a gig at the Cobblestone Dublin on the 22nd April. Other dates throughout Ireland coming up soon! Visit www.brigidoneill.com

Sestina Music: presents Music of Celebration: ceremonial music from the courts of the European Baroque era. The programme opens with G.F. Handel’s well-loved coronation anthem for King George II of England, Zadok the Priest, and continues to include Jean Baptiste Lully’s sumptuous setting of the Te Deum, for the French court of Louis XIV.

Come, ye Sons of Art by Henry Purcell, was written as a birthday ode for Queen Mary of England in 1694 and includes the famous duet Sound the trumpet. Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata BWV 29 Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir was written to celebrate the ‘ratswechsel’ (inauguration) of the Leipzig town council in Germany (1731). The programme concludes with Handel’s Sing unto God, written for the marriage of Fredrik Prince of Wales to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha in 1736. A celebration of music not to be missed!

Join Sestina Music and their 20-piece period ensemble for celebratory choruses and virtuosic vocal arias, written for the finest singers of the day. Music of Celebration marks the first event of the 2022/23 season for participants in Sestina’s unique Next Generation initiative. Sestina Music Next Generation offers up-and-coming singers based on the island of Ireland, a career expanding opportunity under the mentorship of professional Sestina Music singer

Performances take place in Belfast, Kilkenny and Dublin on:

Friday 14th April 2023, 7.30pm, Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast
Saturday 15th April 2023, 8pm, St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny
Sunday 16th April 2023, 8pm, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Visit www.sestinamusic.com

Ulster Orchestra: presents:

• 24 Mar, Open Spaces, Ulster Hall
• 25 Mar, Worlds of Fantasy, Waterfront Hall
• 7 April, The Creation
• 21 April, Latin Rhythms
• 5 May, Dwellers in all time and space
• 6 May, Symphonic Soul and Motown
• 12 May, Midsummer Night’s Dream
• 26 May, Bella Italia

For further information and to view the new season programme please visit www.ulsterorchestra.org.uk

Oh Yeah Centre Belfast:

The NI Music exhibition at Oh Yeah is the only permanent exhibit for popular music in Northern Ireland. There is much to see, including a series of storyboards documenting and plotting the history and the stories of Folk, Punk, Rock, Jazz and more.

Exhibition Opening Times
Mon – Fri: 10am-4pm
Sat: 12-5pm

To enquire about a visit, or for further info and group bookings please contact info@ohyeahbelfast.com or call 02890310845

Moving On Music: presents,

• 25 March, Anna B Savage, London Singer-Songwriter, Black Box
• 13 April, Karen Casey (folk/trad), Duncairn

Visit www.movingonmusic.com

The Black Box: For further information visit www.blackboxbelfast.com

Scott’s Jazz Club: Scott's Jazz Club runs a weekly concert in Ballyhackamore club 1a Sandown Road every Friday Night from 9pm. The club provides a welcoming environment for world class jazz music to be experienced in a concert setting. For upcoming performances visit https://www.scottsjazzclub.com/

Portico of Ards: presents Four Sunday Afternoon Recitals at Portico in Portaferry

On Sunday 26 March, rising star British baritone James Newby and pianist Niall Kinsella perform Schubert’s song cycle Die schöne Müllerin. Opera Today noted, “Newby’s is a wonderfully even baritone voice, velvet-smooth and secure throughout the range with an unshakable technique.”

To view the full programme visit porticoards.com

ITMA: 'Drawing from the Well' is an online monthly ITMA series which connects artists with archival materials to inspire new art. To date, nine videos, podcasts and blogs have been created by leading traditional musicians, singers, and dancers, including Louise Mulcahy, Martin Hayes, Edwina Guckian and Cormac Begley. All episodes are free to view online at https://www.itma.ie/drawingfromthewell

Tommy Sands and Artsawonder: In this new online film series, legendary musician, Tommy Sands, films, sings, listens and learns from a singing five times world champion drum major Alan McBride, two young women, Jenna Stevenson and Wendy Graham Hanna, who initiate and drive an Arts hub shop, a rhythmic drum weaver rhythmic drum weaver Damien McKeown and a young woman Bronagh Kelly who lovingly echoes the poetry of her mother. To watch visit Media | Artsawonder (wixsite.com)

VISUAL ARTS 

The Citizens Wallpaper Project 2023: The Citizens Wallpaper is an artistic project, led by experienced international photojournalists, artists and workshop leaders. It benefits the local community by giving the participants skills and techniques in citizens’ journalism and photojournalism using the latest technologies. The project engages communities in the creation of a visual representation of their lives, traditions and cultures. A photographic exhibition by APAC, Belfast’s CPA and Ballymoney camera clubs, will display 24 representations from the Citizen’s Wallpaper project’s four canvasses. The exhibition can be visited by the public at APAC’s online Eirene Gallery from 23 March – 23 July, visit www.apacfoundation.org

Ulster Museum: presents, The Druthaib's Ball, the 2021 Turner Prize-winning installation by the Belfast-based artists collectively known as Array Collective. They are the first artists from Northern Ireland to win the prestigious Turner Prize. The group of eleven artists from the north and south of Ireland, England and Italy all live and work in Belfast creating collaborative actions in response to socio-political issues affecting them and their communities.

The Druthaib's Ball will go on display at the Ulster Museum from 24 February to 3 September 2023. Watch this space for more details on the exhibition and accompanying programme of events.

The acquisition to the Ulster Museum collection was supported by the Art Fund and the Department for Communities. Visit www.ulstermuseum.org

Belfast Exposed: presents, Healing Through Photography, a ground-breaking conference on photography and mental health which we are holding here in Belfast from 3rd to 4th April 2023. A two-day conference held at the MAC and various venues across the Cathedral Quarter, Healing Through Photography is built on 25+ years of work by Belfast Exposed using photography in the community. Attendees will get to see the therapeutic benefits of photography and its processes brought to life. Get an insight into inspirational, real-life stories, and develop new techniques and share their experiences with peers.

Confirmed speakers range from Professor Siobhán O’Neill, NI Mental Health Champion and Roisin McDonough, CEO of the Arts Council NI, through to Pulitzer Prize Winner Cathal McNaughton and acclaimed photographer Donovan Wylie. For more info visit https://www.htpconference.com to view the full conference programme.

Belfast Exposed: presents, SHE/HER/HERS/HERSELF, an exhibition of new work by the socially engaged artist Anthony Luvera. Gallery 1, 2nd February – 18 March.

The culmination of a five-year collaboration between Luvera and a participant named Sarah Wilson, She / Her / Hers / Herself explores one individual’s experience as they navigate their transgender identity. The work charts wide-ranging changes in Sarah’s life, as she establishes a career as a beautician, passes a series of personal milestones and lives day-to-day while learning to express her true self.

She / Her / Hers / Herself not only provides an intimate portrait of Sarah's life and experiences, it also represents the evolving expression of Sarah’s femininity set against the social construction of what it is to be female in the contemporary world. Visit www.belfastexposed.org

Anushiya Sundaralingam: Arts Council of Northern Ireland ACES awardee, Anushiya Sundaralingam present her ‘Rip it up and start again’ exhibition at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn from 6 March – 6 April 2023. Visit www.islandartscentre.com

The MAC: presents,

New Exits: 10 Years of Painting Shows, 9 Dec 2022 – 23 March 2023
Free, suggested donation: £3
Booking available but not compulsory
https://themaclive.com/exhibition/new-exits-10-years-of-painting-shows

Curated by Dougal McKenzie & Hugh Mulholland

To mark the end of their 10th anniversary celebrations the MAC will present a major exhibition of new painting. The MAC is delighted to announce that the following artists have been selected to participate in New Exits: 10 Years of Painting Shows.

Juste Bernotaite - Hannah Casey Brogan - Megan Burns - Daniel Coleman - Patrick Hickey - Aimee Melaugh - Tim Millen - Jane Rainey - Yasmine Robinson - Cameron Stewart - Kwok Tsui

New Exits whilst set within the context of the many significant painting exhibitions the MAC has presented since its inception, is primarily an opportunity to draw attention to and celebrate the painting practices that have emerged and continue to flourish through the work of graduates of the BA and MFA Fine Art courses at Belfast School of Art since 2012.

The exhibition acknowledges the close relationship and interdependencies of the Belfast School of Art and the MAC and their proximity to each other has informed their work and contributed to their understanding of what it means to be a contemporary painter today.

The Sunken Gallery will become a space for conversation around painting with a rolling programme of talks, screenings and workshops exploring why painters and audiences continue to engage with this form of art making. Visit www.themaclive.com

Belfast Print Workshop: is celebrating 45 Years of Belfast Print Workshop with an exhibition at their premises at Cotton Court in Belfast. Belfast Print Workshop still has thirteen of the original members who were there at the beginning and it is a home for another generation of artists who are now establishing themselves. The Workshop has been a dynamic home for printmakers and it is a pleasure to acknowledge its contribution to the arts in Northern Ireland as we celebrate forty five years of growth and development with this exhibition. Visit www.bpw.org.uk

Craft Northern Ireland: For more information visit www.craftni.org

Golden Thread Gallery: presents fully conscious movements, fully different time, an exhibition by Dorothy Hunter

In March 2023 The Golden Thread Gallery will present new work in the project space by Dorothy Hunter titled fully conscious movements, fully different time. Hunter uses careful interventions within her installations, creating space to contemplate different geographic sites and aid our interpretation of time and space. She is interested in different modes of displaying artwork and the act of collecting.

Visit www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents

Brexit Sausage le Shiro Masuyama: After Brexit, under the Northern Ireland Protocol it was agreed that Northern Ireland would continue to follow EU rules on product standards to prevent checks along the border. Instead, inspections on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain would take place at Northern Irish ports. This has prompted criticism that a new border has been created in the Irish Sea. Under EU food safety rules, sausages are no longer allowed to enter Northern Ireland from Great Britain. Belfast-based, Japanese artist Shiro Masuyama has realized a new social intervention using sausages to highlight this Irish Sea Border which was created after Brexit. Shiro Masuyama was born in Tokyo. Following international residencies in the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Flax Art Studios, Masuyama moved to Belfast, where he’s been based ever since. As a Japanese artist who has settled in Belfast, he’s in a unique position to question how identity can be influenced by the dominant political forces surrounding us.

For further details visit www.culturlann.ie

VOID Gallery: presents Re_sett_ing_s, from 4 March to 3 June 2023. In October 2022, Re_sett_ing_s – a collaborative exhibition between Locky Morris and Jaki Irvine – opened at The Complex Gallery, Dublin.The artists, who are probably best known for working solo, were approached separately by Mark O’ Gorman speculating on ‘hidden connections’. Unbeknownst to him, they had a close friend in common, artist Anne Tallentire, whose Setting Out 3 (2021), with its yellow builder’s string and hints at musicality, acted as a kind of starting point and touchstone for the development of the work.

Visit www.derryvoid.com .

CCA, Derry-Londonderry: presents URGENCIES, 21 Jan – 18 March. Artists include: Chloe Austin, Husk Bennett, Daniel Coleman, Sarah Diver Lang, DreamBean, Miach Malachy, Julie Lovett, Richard Magee, Silvia Mandic, Yasmine Robinson.

URGENCIES (2023) is the third outing of CCA Derry~Londonderry’s biennial exhibition selected from an open call. The exhibition seeks to present a snapshot of just some of the many preoccupations of early-career artists working today with a connection to our region. The work in URGENCIES (2023) range in media from painting to textile, print, mixed media, film, text and site-specific drawing and installation. The artists respond to the world in which we find ourselves with heartfelt and sometimes wry work considering the energy and climate crises (Yasmine Robinson, Sarah Diver Lang), reflections on the peace process (Richard Magee), gentrification (Silvia Mandic), identity and language (Miach Malachy, Chloe Austin), mental health (DreamBean), loss, isolation and survival as an artist (Daniel Coleman, Julie Lovett). The artists were selected by Artist Joy Gerrard and CCA Director Catherine Hemelryk and the project is presented both in CCA and offsite. Visit www.ccadld.org

Stitch Me Up For Life runs from 11th March – 7th April 2023 at R-Space Gallery (32 Castle Street, Lisburn) and online via R-Space Social media channels and www.rspacelisburn.com

The span of Janet Hackney’s career in art and textiles reflects her artwork itself – strands of textiles, embroidery, modern digital technology, heritage and colour all coming together to create a unique and memorable range of pieces. Stitch Me Up For Life includes early works from her fashion and textile background with supporting drawings. The exhibition will display a variety of textile landscape works that demonstrate a wide range of textile art processes. The gallery will also celebrate the costume work that she does for the volunteers at Castle Ward, the eighteen century National Trust property. This will include four ladies’ outfits, including Robe a La Francaise. Janet will also spend a five day period of residency in the gallery.

ArtisAnn:
ArtisAnn Gallery, 70 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AE
Tue – Fri: 11am to 6pm ; Sat: Noon to 5pm

All artworks are available to buy. You can also buy art from this exhibition through the Arts Council supported Own Art scheme which gives you an interest-free loan over 10 months (and you still get to take the art home immediately the exhibition ends). Visit www.artisann.org

FILM, LITERATURE, DANCE & DRAMA

Kabosh: presents,

• Reunion, 23-24 March at Vault Artists Studios, a play about family, love and all that went before.

Visit www.kabosh.net

The Playhouse: presents the following,

Beyond Belief – The Life and Mission of John Hume, Friday 31 March – 7 April, 7pm, The Guildhall.

A major new musical drama to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Beyond Belief will present John Hume’s life and his odyssey for peace, the right to decent life, and the right to hope.

While he has been described as a “Titan”, a “Giant” and a “Hero” of peace-making and reconciliation, Beyond Belief, in its words and music, will reach for the man: the man who achieved all he did not glibly, without struggle or alone, but as a human being; a human being just like the rest of us. In re-presenting John Hume, his life and his mission – a mission never fettered by shibboleth, dogma or fossilised tenet – Beyond Belief will seek to inspire through words, music, song.

The anniversary performance on 7th April 2023 will be broadcast live and available to stream for 7 days afterwards.

This is the second part of a peacebuilding trilogy, following the phenomenal success of The White Handkerchief, which premiered in the Guildhall on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, 30 January 2022.

For a full programme and tickets visit www.derryplayhouse.co.uk

Linen Hall Library: the Linen Hall Library is a truly unique institution. Founded in 1788, it is the oldest library in Belfast. The library is free for all to enter and enjoy. The Linen Hall Library offers a year-round programme of arts and cultural events featuring authors, academics, historians, performers, and much more. To view the full events programme visit www.linenhall.com

Grand Opera House: presents a series of shows this month and next including the highlights below:

• The Trumpet and the King, 14-15 March
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane, 21-25 March
• Titanic The Musical, 4-8 April
• Six The Musical, 11-15 April
• Good Vibrations, 9-20 May
• Northern Ireland Opera Tosca, 9,12,14 & 16 September

For tickets and the full programme please visit www.goh.co.uk

Tinderbox Theatre Company and Keith Singleton: presents Something Different, a feverish carnal comedy that shines a very awkward light on relationships. Something Different will premiere at the MAC Theatre Belfast 21st-25th March 2023 Tickets available via themaclive.com Something Different stars Keith Singleton and Nicky Harley. Age guidance 16+. Tickets available at www.themaclive.com

Accidental Theatre: presents the following,

• Never Seen It Film Club, Third Saturday of the month, 7pm (monthly) at Accidental Theatre, 12-13 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast The Never Seen It Film Club is a special subscription membership for those who have never seen some of the classics of cinema and for those who’d love to see them one more time!
• Diana: The Untold And Untrue Story, Friday 31st March, Saturday 1st April, 8pm at Accidental Theatre, 12-13 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, BT2 7DB. Do you know the story of Diana? Probably. But do you know our story of Diana? We very much doubt it. Join Diana in heaven as she shares the untold and untrue tale of her extraordinary life.
• Alex Kealy: Winner Takes All, Wednesday 19th April, 8pm at Accidental Theatre, 12-13 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast. The ‘rising star of the British stand-up scene’ (The List) and writer for Mock The Week & The News Quiz explores Silicon Valley tech monopolies, advertising and addiction through his ‘perfectly expressed gags’

Visit www.accidentaltheatre.co.uk

Lyric Theatre: presents a new programme for 2022/23 with highlights including,

• The Visiting Hours by Rod McCance, 17 Mar
• Agreement, Monday 27 March – 22 April, a new play by Owen McCafferty
• Good Vibrations, 9-20 May at The Grand Opera House
• Amadan presents, GEPETTO on 26th, 27th & 28th May 2023. Geppetto is a brand new children's production from Amadan Ensemble premiering at the Lyric Theatre. Geppetto is the story of a lonely old man, grieving the loss of his wife and isolated from the world outside his workshop. He spends his days pottering in his repair shop, half-heartedly fixing broken things, never quite getting to the bottom of the pile of these once loved but now discarded items. His small and solitary life is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a mysterious visitor that brings his broken things to life; a lamp causes havoc, a radio bursts into song, and a Hoover is determined to cause trouble. Geppetto is slowly pulled out of his lonely existence and into a world full of hope and opportunity. He’s finally able to move through life no longer weighed down by loss. As we leave him, the mysterious visitor has one last gift to bestow - one story’s end is just another story’s beginning.

For further details on all events and to buy tickets visit www.lyrictheatre.co.uk

Millennium Forum Derry-Londonderry: presents a new season of music, comedy, theatre and more. Highlights include:

• LMS: 9 to 5, 29 March – 1 April
• New and Classic Country with Daniel O’Donnell, 3 April
• Celtic and Contemporary County with Daniel O’Donnell, 4 April
• Country ‘N’ Irish & The Songs of Patsy Cline, 5 April
• Cirque – The Greatest Show, 8-9 April
• Feis Dhoire Cholmcille, 11-14 April
• Christy Moore, 19-21 April
• Strictly Ballroom, 22-27 May
• Menopause the Musical, 28 May
• Tom Allen, 8 June
• Buddy – The Musical, 8-12 Aug

For the full programme of events visit www.millenniumforum.co.uk

THE MAC: presents a fantastic programme of events with highlights including:

• Something Different, Tinderbox Theatre Company and Keith Singleton present a feverish carnal comedy that shines a very awkward light on relationships, 21-25 Mar
• Billy Boy, 21 -22 April, by East Belfast writer Rosemary Jenkinson, is inspired by interviews with young bonfire builders.
• Wasteland, 27-28 April. A dance show by Gary Clarke Company that dives headfirst into a gritty story of loss, hope, escapism, and survival.
• Jazz Up the 80s with the Jay Raynar Sextet, 13 May, Restaurant critic Jay Rayner, undoubtedly the best jazz pianist in Britain of all the judges on MasterChef, leads an ensemble of top flight musicians through a vivid night of the very best of song-writing and jazz.
• Breast Cancer Awareness Exhibition, 17-24 March. To celebrate International Women's Day 2023 The MAC is hosting an exhibition of work in the MAC Common Room created with women who have had a mastectomy. Artist Mayte Ruiz Cala collaborated with the Knitted Knockers of Northern Ireland, a breast cancer support group based in Lurgan, to create casts of their chests. By recording the impact of cancer on their bodies in this way, the project enabled women to find courage, feel empowered, and build collective solidarity.

Visit www.themaclive.com to view a full programme of events and exhibitions.

DU Dance (NI): presents Belfast Boys, physical dance theatre for boys aged 7-11 years at the Crescent Arts Centre. Classes at 2-3pm every Saturday. No experience is necessary. Book at info@dudanceni.com

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich presents

Poetry Jukebox. Poetry Jukebox are #ChangingTheMessage! This project aims to share beautiful, profound and life-affirming words and change the words on our streets, opening hearts and minds, putting poetry to work where it belongs: everywhere, for everyone. As well as pressing buttons on the physical jukebox outside the Cultúrlann, poetry-lovers will be able to listen online at https://www.culturlann.ie/en

Crescent Arts Centre: has launched a new season of the Crescent’s Creative Learning Programme where you can explore a hobby, brush up on your creative talents, or have a go at something new. Visit https://crescentarts.org/courses

Seamus Heaney HomePlace: Visit www.seamusheaneyhome.com for tickets and information.

Declan McConaghy Show: Newry based former BBC broadcaster, Declan McConaghy has created a new serfies of short films where he talks in-depth to creatives from Newry and the surrounding area who have made a contribution to theatre, music, dance and the performing arts in general. The view the films visit https://www.facebook.com/DMCSHOW or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaH9LxmhE8O1Af3Csk-k6vA

COMMUNITY ARTS

Prison Arts Foundation (PAF): presents an exhibition, ‘Embracing Art’, 14 – 25 March 2023 at 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast. Embracing Art is the Prison Arts Foundation’s annual showcase of art by serving prisoners at Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank Wood College & Women’s Prison, secure patients at Shannon Clinic, and ex-offenders in the community.

This year’s show was curated by PAF’s artists in residence to include works in line with Belfast City Council’s theme of ‘A City Imaging’. The exhibition features a wide range of artforms including painting, drawing, matchstick modelling, craft, music, and writing. The exhibition is free to attend, opens daily from 10am-6pm and features Audience Feedback Cards, on which visitors can write feedback to be sent directly to the artists, providing their students with an opportunity to connect with people outside prison. 25% of all artworks sales is made to Victim Support.

Crescent Arts Centre: has a new term of classes to book and enjoy now. Fancy learning to speak some Italian before your holiday to Italy this year? Well now’s your chance! From visual arts, language classes, acting, dance, music making and more, there’s something to tantalise all tastes. Visit www.crescentarts.co.uk

Duncairn: presents:

• 23 Mar, Brassneck Theatre presents My Corona
• 25 Mar, Live music with Emma Langsford, Molly O’Mahony, Colin Hassard and Deirdre Kelly
• 26 Mar, Super Sunday Session

The Duncairn also has a range of workshops and craft classes and courses. For further details visit www.theduncairn.com

Duncairn Player: all of the previous video projects can now be viewed from the Duncairn Player including The Duncairn Virtual Cabaret, Take 2, Carlingford and the Ring of Guillion Sessions. Visit https://www.theduncairn.com/player

Culturlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: is running an Irish Language Intensive Course. Intensive courses are a great way to boost your language skills in a short space of time. The course will be both motivating and informative and will take your confidence in the Irish language to another level. The levels we offer are: Bunrang|Beginner , Meanrang | Intermediate , Ardrang | Advanced

Please email sinead@culturlann.ie for more information

Wheelworks: unique to WheelWorks Arts is their state of the art ArtCart — a mobile arts studio that travels to your venue and opens up to provide an additional studio space for workshops and is packed full to the brim with digital equipment such as ipads, music and film making technology. Virtual ArtCart activities take place at your own venue. Where outdoor space is limited, Wheelworks bring the ArtCart creativity inside your centre. They also come with a full outdoor suite — marquees, stage sound, lighting and outdoor heaters.

This unique space allows your young people the opportunity to experience professional equipment in a custom-made studio. It allows your centre to offer a range of socially distance spaces and utilises outdoor space.

To book your perfect digital and arts activities just email lisa@wheelworksarts.com and visit www.wheelworksarts.com

Arts Care: has a wonderful range of arts activities available online on their Arts Care 4U Premium +, their online arts delivery channel that everyone can access. Arts Care’s new dedicated online arts and well-being workshop resource, ‘Break-Time’, accessed via their website to support the mental, emotional and physical well-being of children and young people through the Arts. New art, music, dance & exercise, drama, creative writing and clown doctor’s CDTV videos will be uploaded regularly and it’s all FREE. Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ85xLA2BlQQdrnWBhKw1hw

Greater Shantallow Community Arts: presents Spill The Tae Youth Led Podcast from the young people at Studio2/GSCA. This amazing group of creative young people have launched their very own podcast and it can be found on Spotify or Apple Podcast. The young people plan, host, interview and edit the Podcast. To date they have interviewed some of their local MLA’s, Councillors, survivors and local Derry’s own Serena Terry, creator of Mammy Banter. As well as this they have a voice and a safe place where they can openly talk about mental health and what it means to them. You can find the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcast but also by clicking this link below.

https://shows.acast.com/spill-the-tae-youth-led-podcast

Streetwise: Fancy learning how to juggle and other circus skills?! In response to Covid 19 Streetwise Community Circus has developed a team of tutors who are now working via Zoom to reach out to those who can no longer participate in workshops. To take advantage of this opportunity all you have to do is email Streetwise on streetwiseathome@gmail.com. Suitable for participants who range in age from 8 to 80 plus.