Latest news with #CompagnieOFF
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Seven red giraffes to parade through streets of Cork city this weekend
Seven towering red giraffes will be seen parading through the streets of Cork city on Sunday as part of a Cork Midsummer Festival and Open Streets event. Les Girafes: An Animal Operetta7 is a Cork City Council-supported event as part of the Open Streets series, which encourages people to come to town without their car, either by walking, cycling, or using public transport. People can enjoy some of the city's streets without traffic and soak up the atmosphere with lively street performances, street play events, and public information stands on cycling and public transport. The parade will see seven red giraffes, accompanied by a troupe of bumbling keepers, musicians, and performers, make their way from North Main Street to Patrick's Street. Led by Compagnie OFF, a renowned performing arts school based in France, the parade will see its monumental giraffes, accompanied by a troupe of bumbling keepers, musicians, and performers, make their way from North Main Street to Patrick's Street. The procession blends circus arts, opera, and street theatre into one display of colour and sound which promises to entertain audiences of all ages. Compagnie OFF has captivated audiences worldwide with their large-scale performances that reimagine public spaces. Their celebrated production, Les Girafes, has visited cities across Europe, including Bourges and Rhone in France, Bradford in England, and Galway. For more information, click here. Read More Theatre For One review: Intimate setting makes for wonderful experience at Cork Midsummer
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Five For Your Radar: 28 Years Later, Neil Young, Live at the Marquee
Cinema: 28 Years Later General release, Friday, June 20 Over 20 years on since the release of 28 Days Later, which made a star of Cillian Murphy and, ahem, revived the zombie genre for the new century, Danny Boyle returns with a sequel, 28 Years Later, and a terrifying new "auteur horror" story. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jodie Comer star. Street theatre: Les Girafes: An Animal Operetta St Patrick's Street, Cork, 2pm, 9pm, Sunday, June 22 Les Girafes parade through Cork on Sunday. Seven towering red giraffes gracefully parade through Cork's city centre, led by an operatic diva, as Cork Midsummer comes to a close after 10 days of memorable events. French street theatre company Compagnie OFF will be accompanied by a troupe of bumbling keepers, musicians, and performers savannah for this free event. Concert: Neil Young and Van Morrison Malahide Castle, Dublin, Thursday, June 26 Both men are 79, and while they may outlast us all, there is a sense that we don't know how long more they'll be touring. The Canadian-American rocker returns to Ireland with a band that includes Willie Nelson's son Micah, and fans will be happy to hear that recent setlists have included such classics as Sugar Mountain and Heart of Gold. Van the man has been a mixed bag in the live arena in recent years, but can still conjure up moments of magic. Streaming: The Bear Disney+, Wednesday, June 25 After a divisive — some would say tedious, others would say slow — third season, The Bear returns for its fourth season. Jeremy Allen White, most recently seen as The Boss in the trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, reprises his role as anger-managing chef Carmy, while Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach also return to the kitchen/melting pot. As usual, all 10 episodes of the season drop at once on Wednesday. Concert: Picture This Live at the Marquee, Wednesday-Thursday, June 25-26 Fans at a previous gig at Live at The Marquee in Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins Picture This kick off a month of shows Live at the Marquee in Cork. Ten years on from the release of Take My Hand and having released fourth studio album Parked Car in 2024, Picture This return for two sold-out shows to kick off the Marquee shows.
Irish Examiner
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Giraffes, a spectacular sun, and a 24-hour play: Cork Midsummer Fest launches programme
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's a herd of giraffes walking down Patrick's Street. Fota Wildlife Park can rest easy though, as these particular specimens will strut their stuff as part of the eye-catching line-up for this year's Cork Midsummer Festival. In Les Girafes: An Animal Operetta, from French street theatre outfit, Compagnie OFF, seven towering red giraffes will parade down the city's main thoroughfare, accompanied by a troupe of musicians and performers. According to festival director Lorraine Maye, the scale of this spectacle hasn't been seen in Cork for decades. 'It is enormously exciting to see the festival using the streets for this very big moment,' says Maye in advance of the event's official programme launch on Thursday evening. Also in the realm of the truly spectacular is Helios, a giant dazzling sun from artist Luke Jerram which will be suspended in the iconic location of St Fin Barre's Cathedral; each centimetre of the huge sculpture represents 2,300km of the real Sun's surface. The church will open from sunrise to sunset (4.30am–10.30pm) on the summer solstice, June 21, giving audiences a unique opportunity to bask in the intensity of the sun at one of the most sacred and symbolic points in the calendar. 'Luke's work is magical and the sun feels like a very fitting installation to have for a midsummer festival,' says Maye. While such large-scale events make this year's festival programme the most ambitious yet, there is a diverse menu of musical, dance, visual art and literary performances from local, national and international artists, as well as the community participation for which the festival is renowned. This includes a new Midsummer Youth Assembly, which will programme, curate and lead an event in Fitzgerald's Park. The booth that hosts the Theatre for One. 'The festival showcases so many different ways to encounter live art. The city really embraces it, so many people put so much into it and it is something that Cork can be really proud of,' said Maye. The festival is leaning into its midsummer theme more than ever, making the most of the long bright nights with performances around the clock, including a solstice céili in the atmospheric surroundings of Elizabeth Fort, and The Second Woman, in which Cork actor Eileen Walsh will perform with an unrehearsed cast of 100 over 24 hours at Cork Opera House. Maye, who saw the show in Amsterdam, says it was 'unforgettable'. Eileen Walsh will perform a 24-hour play with 100 different actors. 'I've never had an experience like it. There are so many ways to encounter it, and whether you do half an hour or 24 hours, it is worth it. The people that you meet and the conversations you have, there is that sense of belonging to a cohort of people who are having this once-in-a-lifetime experience.' The festival will also draw down the curtain, for now at least, on one of its most popular events of recent years, Theatre for One, in which an actor performs a five-minute piece for a single person in a confessional-style booth. This year's theme is 'Made in Cork' and it will feature work from writers including Cónal Creedon, Louise O'Neill and Gina Moxley. 'The focus on Cork voices and stories feels like such a lovely way to round out a third year and pause on this moment,' says Maye. Returning after a hiatus is the literature strand, Western Frequencies, which will be curated by Danny Denton. It marks a new partnership between the festival and UCC, and the events will take part at various venues on campus. Maye lists many highlights across the programme, and is particularly looking forward to seeing in the sunrise at St Fin Barre's with all the other early birds. 'I will be there. There are these moments that will never happen again. When will you get to be in St Fin Barre's at dawn looking at an enormous sun?' Cork Midsummer Festival takes place June 13-22; for further information and tickets, see
