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Category: Culture Café Podcast

  • Culture Café #8 // Conal Morrison // Director of Borstal Boy at The Gaiety

    Culture Café #8 // Conal Morrison // Director of Borstal Boy at The Gaiety

    This post originally appeared on CultureCafePodcast.com

    On this week’s podcast I had the pleasure of speaking to Conall Morrison (Centre), director of Brendan Behan’s Borstal Boy which has a run in The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.

    When I asked Conall if he had a website where people could keep an eye on his work, he said that he never really wanted to get a website together because as a Theatre Director and writer, you’re only as good as the work that is currently on stage. So, the best way to find out about his work is to head to The Gaiety and see for yourself!

    Borstal Boy is in The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin until October 11 2014.

    You can get tickets from Ticketmaster

    Here’s the blurb to go with the Production:

    For the first time in 25 years, Brendan Behan’s BORSTAL BOY returns to Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre from 11 September for a strictly limited engagement. The critically acclaimed and commemorative play marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Brendan Behan (20th March 1964) and tells the story of the legendary Irish author.

    Starring Peter Coonan (Love/Hate, What Richard Did, Quirke) and Gary Lydon (Calvary, The Guard, War Horse) as the younger and older Brendan Behan.

    Tickets from €24.50 including booking fee on sale now from Ticketmaster outlets and The Gaiety Theatre box office.

    The production of Borstal Boy was adapted for the stage by Frank McMahon, directed by Conall Morrison, produced by Donal Shiels with executive producer The Gaiety Theatre.

    Dublin born Peter Coonan is best known for his role as Frano in RTÉ’s acclaimed drama series Love/Hate, for which he won an IFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Drama (2014). His most recent credits include a lead role in Brendan Grant’s forthcoming feature Get Up And Go, and series 4 of Love/Hate. His film and TV credits also include Lenny Abrahamson’s What Richard Did and the BBC miniseries Quirke.

    Gary Lydon was born in London but later moved to his father’s hometown of Wexford. He went on to make his London debut in 1988 playing Jimmy Brady in A Handful of Stars (1993) (TV), and went on to perform in Billy Roche’s Wexford Trilogy on stage and television. His film credits include Calvary, War Horse, The Last September, Ordinary Decent Criminal and television credits include RTE’s The Clinic and Pure Mule.
    Director Connal Morrison is from Armagh and is one of Ireland’s leading theatre directors. He is well known for his work with The Abbey Theatre, The Lyric Belfast, National Theatre UK and numerous independent theatres and companies in Ireland and the UK. He has also written three plays.

    Brendan Behan was an Irish playwright and novelist, as well as a youthful revolutionary. In 1939, at age 16, he was arrested in Liverpool with a suitcase full of explosives. Borstal Boy is the autobiographical record of Behan’s experiences from that day through to his imprisonment, trial, remand to reform school and final release. Schools for delinquents in England were called Borstal Institutions, and Behan’s account of his years as a “BorstalBoy” is told in vigorous and dramatic prose. It tells the vivid memoir of his time in Hollesley Bay Borstal, Sulfolk, England. His daughter, Blanaid Walker recently, said ‘In a way he was lucky to end up in a borstal…. The governor was like a principal and encouraged the boys to rise up out of poverty that many had been born into.’

    LISTINGS INFORMATION
    Theatre: The Gaiety Theatre, South King Street, Dublin 2
    Performances: From 11 September for a strictly limited engagement
    Prices: Tickets from €24.50 including booking fee
    Times: 7:30pm evening, 3pm Matinee (Wednesday & Saturday)
    Previews: 11/12/ 13/15th September. All preview seats €24.50
    Opens Tuesday 16th September

    Tickets
    www.ticketmaster.ie | 24hr booking line: 0818719388 (Republic of Ireland)
    Group sales: (01) 648 6029
    Wheelchair/Box booking: (01) 6795622
    In person: Gaiety Theatre Box Office, South King Street, Dublin 2.

  • Culture Café #7 //Scott De Buitléir // Founder of Eile.ie

    Culture Café #7 //Scott De Buitléir // Founder of Eile.ie

    Firstly, I have to apologise. I should have had this podcast online last week. Work was a bit mental and I was wrecked so apologies to this week’s guest Scott De Buitléir.

    So, who is Scott De Buitléir? Scott is the presenter of The Cosmo, a LGBT radio show on RTE Pulse and he also writes for The Huffington Post. More recently, Scott has founded Eile.ie, an Irish based online magazine for the LGBT community.

    Eile was founded in 2013 and during our conversation, we chat about why Scott wanted to set up the magazine and why he wanted to contribute a magazine to the LGBT community. We spoke about what stories are covered in the magazine and also about the podcast which is also attached to Eile.

    Scott was very honest and open about how the magazine runs, how it will always be free for readers and opening up to advertisers. I also thought it was pretty cool how he described Eile as a magazine you could let your Granny pick up and read.

    The website, Eile.ie, is updated every day and each month an online magazine edition is published.

    It’s great to have people with ‘get up and go’, that just aren’t all talk but are also actions. It’s also brilliant to know that everyone involved with Eile is a volunteer and having contributors across the globe gives a genuine world views of LGBT issues.

    Have a read of the August edition of Eile.ie in the widget below.

  • Culture Café #6 // Mattia Bicchi // Photographer

    Culture Café #6 // Mattia Bicchi // Photographer

    Mattia Bicchi is a London based Italian photographer, who just happens to specialise in hyperlapses.

    It’s strange how we find out about people and their work. I was working one day and saw a video of Mattia’s on a colleague’s computer. I found out who Mattia was, found his website and Facebook page and absolutely fell in love with his work.

    I met Mattia for a chat in Trafalgar Square in London, I thought it would be nice as it features in some of his work.

    Enjoy the podcast but first I would watch this. It’s a piece from Mattia called ‘Welcome to London – A Short Hyperlapse Film’.

    .

    P.S. Just a quick word of thanks to Malky who had some lovely words about Episode 5 of the podcast

  • Listen to Culture Café on Radio Vera Ireland

    Listen to Culture Café on Radio Vera Ireland

    Since I relaunched Culture Café I was trying to come up with ways to let more people hear about it. I truly love the arts and feel it’s important to give artists a voice and let others hear about their work.

    So I was delighted when Radio Vera Ireland approached me, asking if they could broadcast Culture Café. Starting tonight, Thursday July 31st 2014, you can hear Culture Café on Radio Vera at 2000 and it will be repeated every Tuesday at 1900. The first episode on Radio Vera will feature Culture Cafe Episode 5, my chat with Frank Benbini of Uncle Frank and Fun Lovin Criminals

    You can like Radio Vera Ireland on Facebook and follow on Twitter.

    You can listen via Tune In, rad.io, Windows Media and Real Player.

    A bit about Radio Vera:

    Radio Vera is of part of the 1Club4Radio Network.
    Other Radio Stations include Total 80s & 1Club4Radio.
    We serve over 20,000 listeners weekly and growing.
    Since its Origins as a single music station in 2012 1Club4Radio has grown from a classic jukebox to an emporium of music.
    Total 80s Rewind was launched the following year to give the 80s audience a slight twist to the way most other 80s radio stations sound.
    Total 80s played all the 80s classic but also plays selected classic comedy from the 80s. This hit the road running and has never looked looked back.
    In September 2012 we launched Radio Vera from our Studios in Limerick City with the concept of having a local online radio station.
    We would progressively roll out shows over the coming months to monitor our audience.We broadcast on a live server and can monitor our audience figures, this helps us decide which are the best shows for Radio Vera.
    We are at present broadcasting live 7 days a week.
    All our stations plays 24-7-365, so we can reach you at the corner of the globe (and we have).

    There you have it! Delighted to be a part of the team!