Cork date for An Cailín Ciúin star

IT may be only the end of March, but things move fast, and West Cork Music has just opened the booking for this summer’s West Cork Chamber Music Festival which runs in Bantry from June 23 to July 2.

National and international performers, stories, coffee concerts, recitals, evening shows and candlelit late nights - it is all coming up and you need to book right away.

The many highlights include Pacifica Quartet playing Beethoven’s unmatched Song of Thanksgiving for recovery from illness; Brett Dean’s Madame, ma bonne Soeur, the last letter by Mary Queen of Scots to her cousin Elizabeth I of England hours before her execution; and Biber’s famous Mystery Sonatas performed by Ariadne Daskalakis with specially commissioned poems by Ruth Padel.

There will be free family friendly Fringe concerts around the wider West Cork area and pop-up performances in Bantry town too, while Ireland’s only instrument exhibition runs throughout in the Old Methodist Church.

Full programme can be found on www.westcorkmusic.ie

Frankie Boyle’s Lap of Shame at the Opera House tonight is sold out. Friday night brings Galway’s Mike Denver, with special guests Ray Lynam and Brendan Shine. The Two Norries on Saturday are also sold-out, a tribute to their popularity.

Next Thursday, The Wonderism Festival is something new: created by students from the MA in Arts Management and Creative Producing at UCC, in partnership with the Opera House, it’s a one-day festival for everyone, with the theme of childlike wonder at its centre. Music, art and storytelling from 10am. More on www.corkoperahouse.ie or 021 4270022.

The Teddy Bears’ Picnic by Louis Lovett is at Everyman, today at 10.15am and 12.15pm, and tomorrow at 10.15am, Ideal for toddlers, infants, juniors - and you will enjoy it too!

Tomorrow (Friday) at 7.30pm, BBC star Sarah Pascoe is in with her new show, Success Story, and on Saturday, Eddi Reader with her wonderful songs.

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

And here is something you really will want to catch on Saturday and Sunday - The Everyman’s Vintage Fundraiser. Wonderful costumes on offer from great shows. 11am to 4pm, but be early if you want to catch a bargain!

A new and exciting piece at Dance Cork Firkin Crane tomorrow night. Òwe by Mufutau Yusuf is a solo work inspired by meditations on a collection of Yoruba proverbs, which form an archive of ancestral knowledge, intuitions and values of the Yoruba people.

Friday, March 24, 7.30pm. Booking on 021 450 7487 or dancecorkfirkincrane.ie.

Cork’s Michael Patric, from the Oscar-nominated film An Cailín Ciúin, is appearing at Cork Arts Theatre from Tuesday to Saturday next week in Seán Moylan - Irish Revolutionary. Written and performed by Patric himself, it tells the story of one of Ireland’s most formidable commanders during the War of Independence. Directed by Geoff Gould and designed by Cormac O’Connor, for Blood in The Alley Theatre Company.

March 28 to April 1 at 8pm. Book on 021 450 5624 or see www.corkartstheatre.com/event/sean-moylan/.

This Saturday at the Glen Theatre in Banteer, Ann Gildea appears with a show that was a sell out in Dublin last year, How To Get The Menopause And Enjoy It. Audiences have confessed to never having laughed so much, so why not celebrate by going along to it?

And on Sunday, April 2, 26-year- old Scottish sensation Brandon McPhee comes to Banteer. This accordion champion and country singer has played for the (then) Prince Charles several times, and, something which might resound more clearly for our audiences, has performed with both Daniel O’Donnell and Foster & Allen.

Booking for both these shows on 029 56239 or 087 755 8752.