Katy Hayes

The ­eccentricities of Dumbledore actor Michael Gambon from the woman who was his ‘earwig’ Acting is like quicksilver. It’s difficult to pin down exactly what makes one actor great and another merely good. As a critic, you can run the gamut of the thesaurus and it’s still hard to capture a ...

My review of The Great Gambon, Milly Ellis's book about actor Michael Gambon.
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Theatre review: A moving tribute to Amelia Earhart and the loss of a great hero of the sky Amelia Earhart is one of the great derring-do heroes of the early days of aviation: those foolhardy daredevils determined to shrink the globe as technological advances struggled to keep up with their ...

My Amelia review from Sligo's Blue Raincoat Theatre Company
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Celine Byrne is brilliant in sparkling modern take on Madama Butterfly Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini is an opera of exquisite pain. A lovely Japanese girl marries the American soldier Pinkerton and bears him a child. She remains faithful to her absent man as he hea...

My review of Puccini's Madama Butterfly from Irish National Opera, starring Celine Byrne
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Theatre review: Millennials tackle their demons as the world hurtles towards catastrophe in Denouement It requires courage to plonk a world premiere by an emerging writer on a main stage. Theatre so often relies on the tried and true for box office. But if there isn’t constant new work and new talent, ...

My review of Denouement at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast
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Really enjoyed this interview, with its attention to the whole body of work.

Opera has fascism in its sights, but battle plan is too timid Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, originally in Italian, dates from 1853. Wexford Festival Opera here offer us the slightly later reworked French version, complete with a ballet inserted. To make this kind of m...

My review of Le Trouvère at Wexford Festival Opera.
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More of these two. (Including a halloween profile pic)

Also, my review of Waking The Feminists book from @ucdpress.bsky.social in today's Irish Independent @independent.ie . Lovely stormy day to go out to Coffee Shop and #buyapaper

My first week of Dublin Theatre Festival reviews in today's @ReviewIndo independent.ie . The Boy at Abbey; The Quiet Man at the Civic; The Sound Inside at the Pavilion. Rich pickings in Theatreland.

Dublin Theatre Festival: Katriona O’Sullivan’s story of triumph over adversity makes a triumphant show Katriona O’Sullivan’s bestselling memoir has a Dickensian feel: a young girl grows up in abject poverty in Coventry and Birmingham, in a household wrecked by parental heroin use, and gets pregnant at ...

My review of Poor at the Gate Theatre, Dublin.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

The First Fire of Halloween is also:

No.1 in Multicultural Tales & Myths for Children
No.2 in Mythology
No.5 in Horror & Ghost Stories for Children
No.14 in Science Fiction & Fantasy for Children

Thanks folks!

#Halloween #Samhain #SpeirGorm

Sweet portrait misses chance to put the Irish mammy in the spotlight People often take their mothers for granted. Especially if they are the ordinary, non-monstrous type, who lives a life of self-sacrifice and caring for others. The mam in this show is that kind of wom...

My review of The Seven Ages of Mam at Viking Theatre, Clontarf, Dublin.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

I got "Irish-British archipelago" past the subs in The Sunday Times once and was very proud.

Story of failure in love in Limerick city needs more explanation Jack is like a man who has strayed in from a Saw Doctors’ song: a western seaboard awkward male seeking love amongst regional city girls. Liam McCarthy’s play is the story of an unlived life, with a h...

My review of Jilly Morgan's Birthday Party, which I saw at Pavilion Dún Laoghaire, but it's now on a national tour.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

Dazzling show about growing up black and Irish in Longford town Felispeaks is well-known as a spoken word poet and actor. They have a following amongst a young crowd into slam poetry and rap. But there is something utterly theatrical about their instincts and the ...

My review of Octopus Children at Project Arts Centre, Dublin.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

Drama exploring a normal couple’s collapsing marriage feels like you’re stepping inside their lives So many stories end with a wedding. It’s a staple of romance, that the journey takes you to the altar/register office. But what then? Here we have a play about what happens next, about how a marriage ...

My review of Synapses, new play by Liam Wilson Smyth, at Civic Theatre Tallaght, Dublin.
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Mortal Sin review: JFK and a rich picture of life in 1960s Ireland for teens who dream Mortal Sin is ostensibly about a pair of teenagers who stage a protest to try and get a day off school on the day of John F Kennedy’s funeral. The protest is half-hearted, and fizzles out. But Benjami...

My review of Mortal Sin in Bewley's Café Theatre, Dublin.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

Laura Whitmore shines as boozed-up Rachel in twisty whodunnit The Girl on the Train When journalist Paula Hawkins made her first foray into thriller-writing in 2015, her book was a sensation. It’s a tautly written account of an alcoholic woman who is so out of control, she’s not sure...

is My review of The Girl on the Train at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin. www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

Go Cristín!

Barmy, chaotic comedy ­tackles the world of corporate philanthropy The Irish business world is having a moment on the Dublin stage, with this absurdist frolic into corporate shenanigans following on from Sugarglass’s production of Molière at Smock Alley. Caitríona Da...

My review of The Lunch Punch Power Hour in Conference Room 4 at the Peacock Theatre in Dublin.
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Congrats David. Maith thú!

Happy birthday 🎂 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

Brendan Gleeson’s star power shines in brilliant revival of haunting play ‘The Weir’ Conor McPherson’s The Weir is one of the most frequently revived plays of the modern Irish canon and has been widely seen over the years. But this new outing is so sharp, vivacious and heartfelt that ...

My review of Conor McPherson's The Weir at 3Olympia, Dublin.
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Kilkenny Arts Festival: A raw and fascinating portrayal of an actor facing his stage-fright demons Busy actors often disappear from the Irish stage; it transpires later they have been plying their trade in the West End or in other exotic locales. So when actor Peter Hanly disappeared over a decade ...

My review of What Are You Afraid Of? at Kilkenny Arts Festival.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

very sad to hear this :-(

Little Shop of Horrors: Musical tale of insatiable flesh-eating plant is a homegrown audience eater Most of the musicals we see in Ireland are imports from the West End or elsewhere. This ­homegrown production is a first for Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, teaming up with Co Meath-based TheatreworX; a bol...

My review of Little Shop of Horrors at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

A delicious reimagining of baroque excesses updated for Instagram generation Creating a version of Molière’s 1666 comedy of manners for a contemporary audience is a challenge. A straight adaptation can feel museum-y. Yet reimagining for a modern context can feel forced. Howeve...

My review of A Misanthrope, after Molière, at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin.
www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

And my review of Brian Friel's short stories Stories of Ireland is also in today's Indo print edition.

Centre pages of today's Indo with reviews and pictures of shows

I have a two-page spread on theatre at the Galway International Arts Festival in today's Irish Independent @independent.ie