All posts by midnightmurphy

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About midnightmurphy

Limerick to Dublin to Amsterdam to Dublin to Limerick

Musical review: ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’

Australia, Gay, Musical Theatre, Theatre,

duga

Once upon a time (in the 1990s) in a hemisphere far, far away there appeared a holy trinity of outsider films from the country of Australia. All featured the legendary actor Bill Hunter, and each of them is among my all-time favourite films. ‘Strictly Ballroom’; ‘The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert’ and ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ exist individually as brilliant films, but as a grouping is an incomparable troika of cinematic brilliance. All three have been adapted as stage musicals. This week the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin is staging ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’. Last night I attended the show. Continue reading Musical review: ‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ →

Brand Limerick – Atlantic edge, European embrace

Ireland, Limerick, Uncategorized

din

People who regularly read my musings will know that I have limited patience for marketing and PR guff. For example I make a point to avoid any food establishment that styles itself as an ‘eatery’. Adding an ‘-ery’ to the end of a verb does not a noun make. Likewise a food venue advertising ‘street food’ should – by definition – cook and serve the food outdoors. My little OCD heart demands this. When I saw that a new deli was proclaiming itself part of the ‘rotisserie revolution’ my blood boiled as I pictured the cocaine addled PR hack in some advertising agency coming up with this ‘concept’.

 Which brings me to today’s launch of ‘Brand Limerick’ – a €1 million campaign by Limerick City and County Council is to promote the city’s reputation on an international scale. The PR firm M&C Saatchi will be overseeing the campaign with input from the students of the Limerick School for Art and Design. This company has previously done branding campaigns for New Zealand, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, Georgia and others. Continue reading Brand Limerick – Atlantic edge, European embrace →

‘Please alight for the diabetes asylum’

Diabetes, Dublin, Uncategorized

duga

The alarm clock this morning resembled a blood-curdling shriek. Hauling myself from my pit at the regular time of 7.30am is bad enough; but today my day began an hour earlier. Having suffered from the drearily unglamourous condition of Type 1 diabetes for forty years now; on a fairly regular basis I attend the diabetes clinic, where the doctors and nurses hum and haw at my file, make some suggestions to me and send me on my way to injection happiness. Some days before each appointment I present myself at the hospital for bloods to be extracted for analysis in time for the real appointment. Continue reading ‘Please alight for the diabetes asylum’ →

Irish General Election 2020 – vote early; vote often

Politics, Uncategorized, , , ,

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Ireland has a general election  on Saturday, February 8th. This will be the first time since I have been able to vote that I have missed one. Instead I shall be in Rome on a holiday I booked six months ago, long before the vote was a serious consideration. As Ireland only allows postal voting under very strict criteria – which I don’t meet – my choice is to either cancel my first trip to the Eternal City or to abstain. Abstention is my decision. Continue reading Irish General Election 2020 – vote early; vote often →

A book: ‘The Madonna of Bolton’ by Matt Cain

Books, Fiction, Uncategorized, ,

din

‘The Madonna of Bolton’ is the third novel by Matt Cain. Having been rejected thirty times by publishers – apparently because the main protagonist of the book Charlie Matthews is gay – it was finally published through a crowdfunding campaign which reached its target within a week. Continue reading A book: ‘The Madonna of Bolton’ by Matt Cain →

Theatrical: ‘Well that’s what I heard’

Dublin, Theatre, Uncategorized,

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For my last theatrical outing of the year, I went to the Project Arts Centre this afternoon for the matinee performance of ‘Well that’s what I heard’ by the Breadline Collective. Written and directed by Thommas Kane Byrne (who I’d seen acting in ‘Dublin will show you how’ at the Complex in April), this show originally ran in 2018 at Theatre Upstairs before its revival in the Cube space at the Project this week. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘Well that’s what I heard’ →

Theatre 2019 – a year in review – the list

Uncategorized

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It’s the time of year that the year’s ‘best of’ lists are popping up. I am partial to a list myself, so I decided to compile one of my theatrical excursions this year. The year 2019 has seen my attendance at more theatrical events than any other year in my life to date. I’ve been averaging a play a week Whether such intensity can be maintained in 2020 is to be seen – thus far I have only eight show booked for 2020. Without further ado may I present my review of 2019 and the reviews where I wrote them. Continue reading Theatre 2019 – a year in review – the list →