Theatre Nights: Music, dance, and plenty of laughs

It may be too late to tell you this, since the tickets went on sale last Friday, but The Boomtown Rats are regrouping and giving just one Irish concert January 31, 2026, at The Hub in Kilkenny.

Try www.theboomtownratsofficial.comtarget="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">, powertik.com or Ticketmaster.ie for tickets.

There is a welcome return to the City Hall this Saturday, October 18, for The National Symphony Orchestra. In association with Cork Orchestral Society, they will present Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Mairéad Hickey as soloist, alongside Shostakovich’s gripping Fifth Symphony and the Irish premiere of Anna Clyne’s Restless Oceans. The concert will be conducted by Anna Rakitina.

Quite an evening in prospect. Full details and booking: corkorchestralsociety.ietarget="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> or nch.ie.

And another popular return: the East Cork Early Music Festival opens today and runs to Sunday, October 19, offering four days of glorious music from the Baroque and Renaissance eras.

At 6pm today in the Goldie Chapel at Nano Nagle Place, a literary-musical experience, as harpsichordist Malcolm Proud, alongside narrator Susan Proud and tenor Stuart Kinsella, explore the early music that inspired James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Tomorrow at 7pm in St Peter’s in North Main Street, The Marvellous Madame Maupin, with mezzo-soprano Emma Power and the Cork Baroque Players. Saturday brings a special Early Irish Harp Discovery Day at Doneraile Court, with a chance to try out the instrument yourself in a workshop, while the same evening the harp will be heard again in a Renaissance concert by The Earls of Ormond.

The festival concludes on Sunday, October 19, with Baroque to Bharatanatyam, a unique fusion two types of classical dance, featuring Baroque dancer Mary Collins, Indian classical dancer Bhavana Anand, and dual ensembles of Carnatic and Western Baroque musicians, at Nano Nagle Place. That begins at 6pm, and should be wonderful. All tickets from www.eastcorkearlymusic.ie.

Chris Kent is at Everyman tomorrow and Saturday night, with his brand-new show, Offline, in which he tries to give up the internet and navigate life without asking his phone for advice on everything! Tuesday next, October 21, Jenny Keane brings her lively Orgasm Tour, just right for a girls’ night out, while on Wednesday, Chris McCausland is here with Yonks, a masterclass in standup comedy. All bookings on www.everymancork.com or 021 450 1673.

The big three voices at the Opera House tonight – Sharon Shannon, Frances Black, and Mary Coughlan.

Friday and Saturday, Rhod Gilbert is back with The Giant Grapefruit - hilariously dark and personal. Onóir on Sunday are already sold out, but on Tuesday next, another chance to experience Emma Martin and Andrew Hamilton’s celebratory Dancehall, reimagined for Luail, Ireland’s national dance company, along with Crash Ensemble. Revisit the power and raw humanity of our old dancehalls in a veritable tribute to what it means to be alive! 021 427 0022 or www.corkoperahouse.ie.

The Cork International Short Story Festival is in full swing at the Cork Arts Theatre, and continues until Saturday.

Tonight at 7.30pm, Dave Tynan and Shane Tivenan, and at 9pm, Peter Bradshaw and Paul McVeigh. Friday brings Marni Appleton and Rebecca Ivory, Gina Chung and Mahreen Sohail; while on Saturday at 3pm comes the Ó Faoláin Prize Reading, followed at 4.30pm by Tanya Farrelly & Nuala O’Connor, at 7.30 by Yoko Tawada, and at 9pm, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne. Great chance to hear the newest in short story writing in this renowned festival. www.corkartstheatre.com or 021 450 5624.

Two reminders, in case you needed them: the Daniel Herskedal Trio from Norway will be playing at the Triskel on Saturday, October 25, at 2.30pm.

And that same Halloween bank holiday weekend of course, the legendary Jazz Festival is back in town. In fact the Herskedal Trio is appearing as part of that huge event. More on both of those next week.

Shortt Stuff is completely sold out at the Briery Gap in Macroom tomorrow night, but on Saturday, live music meets podcast with Mary Coughlan and Ultan Conlon. Tickets on 083 143 6884 or by calling in.