Theatre Nights: A feast of delights in Midsummer fest

It’s all happening from tomorrow!

Cork Midsummer Festival runs from Friday, June 13, to Sunday, June 22, offering a full ten days of Irish and international theatre, music, dance and much more.

How about dancing with seven giraffes and an opera diva through the streets? Or taking on a 24-hour theatrical marathon? Solving a dolphin murder mystery? Participating in one-to-one performances? Or, if your tastes are a little more sedate, wander through inspiring new exhibitions and installations?

Well, of course you would! Here are just some of the highlights...

At Everyman, the Irish premiere of Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill opens tonight and runs until Saturday. Directed by Annabelle Comyn, it viciously satirises contemporary capitalist culture while celebrating the (often unheard) voices of ageing women.

Call 021 450 1673 or see www.everymancork.com.

At the Triskel from tomorrow right through to June 22, Cork Theatre Collective (CTC) presents Process: A Celebration of New Work, which encompasses work-in-progress sharings, workshops, and talks by some of the most compelling voices in contemporary theatre, including Annabelle Comyn on the making of Escaped Alone, mentioned above.

Also of great interest will be How We Make It, a workshop with UK theatre makers Action Hero (Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse), and there’s a high-energy participatory workshop of Australian theatre collective Pony Cam.

The Irish premiere of Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill opens tonight and runs until Saturday

“Are you mad?” That’s the question Irene Kelleher most frequently gets asked when she discloses her plan to perform not just one but two of her shows in the Festival: Footnote at Triskel on June 14, 16 & 17. and Stitch in J. Nolan Stationery at 21, Shandon Street, from June 13, with at least two shows each day. Well, we’ve heard of keeping busy, but…

Triptych is surely a must for all dance aficionados. Rising star of Australian dance, Lewis Major joins forces with his mentor, the legendary Russell Maliphant OBE, for an evening of breathtaking physical poetry.

Together, they explore universal rhythms and shifting cycles, performed by Major’s world-class dancers in a hypnotic interplay of light, sound, and motion.

That’s on tomorrow, Friday, at 9.30pm and on Saturday at 8pm, up at Dance Cork in the Firkin Crane.

And another fascinating piece in the dance genre in the Millennium Hall at City Hall tomorrow and Saturday, Save The Last Dance for Me. One of Europe’s most innovative artists, Alessandro Sciarroni, who discovered this nearly extinct folk piece in 2018 when only five elderly men in Italy were still practicing it, brings it to Cork.

Set to a techno beat, performed by dancers Gianmaria Borzillo and Giovanfrancesco Giannini, it’s the polka chinata – a courtship dance traditionally performed by men in early 1900s Bologna. 1pm and 6.30pm tomorrow, noon and 6.30pm Saturday.

There is so much packed into this year’s Midsummer Festival, we can do no more than give you a taster here. Get all the info, and make bookings on www.corkmidsummer.com/ as above.

Meantime, at Triskel tonight, Thursday, Cork Music Network is delighted to present stellar jazz saxophonist Emma Rawicz with her quartet, 8pm start. 021 427 2022.

Or if you feel in need of a laugh, get to City Limits – The Cork Comedy Club this Saturday, June 14, to enjoy the antics of Colin Murphy.

Star of the BBC’s Blame Game, The Panel, and Blizzard of Odd, he has also found time to take his show to every corner of the world. Doors 8pm, show 9pm. 085 257 3480. Tickets on the door on the night or in advance at www.tickets.ie. To hold, email tickets@thecomedyclub.ie.