Whether you are heading out to watch the antics of a panto dame, donning a straw costume, or have decided that the tension around who gets the best chocolates from the box is enough drama for you this festive season, I hope you have a wonderful, theatrical, Christmas and a happy new year!

December is a busy month but if you find some time to make it to the theatre, whether for a family outing, a work Christmas party, or a solo trip to escape the flurry of festive activity, December has plenty to offer on Ireland’s stages!

Look out at the snow, look upon the stage, page or screen, and think of all the stories that have gone before yours, all the stories that have survived and been revived, and the stories that will still be held in flurries of snow and pages of plays decades and centuries from now.

The nights might feel long and dark at the moment, but there’s always light to be found. Let the theatre lights brighten your evening, and let them shine a light on the stories of those that need to be cared for and stood up for now more than ever. 

Keep sharing art, keep making art, keep finding comfort in art, but keep making change as well.

What’s gracing our stages this month for you to sink your teeth…or fangs…into?

Get out and about tonight and enjoy the best of what Culture Night has to offer, then carry that energy through the next 364 days, and repeat.

With September comes a new school year and, while I reckon it’s a while since you or I were pulling on an itchy jumper and knee high socks that frustratingly slid and bunched at our ankles, I think it’s time we got our timetable for the term.

Whether you are participating in circus workshops, dancing your socks off at a gig, or sitting in the dark with an auditorium full of people enjoying a play, make time for art, make time for joy, make time for connection. 

If you’re looking for ideas on how to keep your brood busy over the coming month, read on for my recommendations of events to fill those long sunny and not-so-sunny summer afternoons. 

Over the coming months I’ll be bringing you musings on the latest news in Irish theatre, interesting stories from the vaults of history, and conversations with makers, movers and shakers in the Irish theatre world.

Whether it is a weekend of revelry at a music festival, discovering new work at a fortnight-long arts festival, or enjoying family fun at a local fair, from here until the autumn you are guaranteed to find a festival almost every week.

Whether it’s a move like I’m making, just a stroll in the park, or a dance with friends, this May I’m making time for movement and it looks like our stages are too!

From Teresa Deevey and Lady Gregory to Waking the Feminists and Mothers Artists Makers, theatre in Ireland has always had capable, talented women at its heart, even in times where they have been overlooked and undervalued.

What is your must-see theatre recommendation for someone visiting Ireland?

With the Grand Stretch still a distant hope, it can be hard to muster the motivation for jogging on a cold morning, or replacing cosy festive evenings with night classes, so I’m here to liven things up and add a theatrical spin to your resolutions.

However you choose to spend your Christmas, I hope it is a warm and loving time, filled with family, food, rest and maybe a bit of theatre. Nollaig Shona Daoibh!

It might be the month of All Souls’ Day, of lengthening nights and crisp falling leaves, but it’s also a time to look forward and so this month I suggest you hunt out some new writing and fresh work to keep the wintry days bright.

Take your seat, have your heart broken, then have it mended again, all in three acts. You’ll feel better for it, I promise.

As the sun shines lazily over long summer evenings, we can enjoy getting involved with artistic events, both indoors and outdoors! 

It’s that time of year again, programmes are landing through letter boxes, theatre companies are hunting down the holy grail of affordable accommodation in Edinburgh, sales of glitter have spiked…it’s festival season.

Whatever catches your attention, be it a local amateur production, the long-awaited run of Hamilton at the Bord Gáis, or an obscure surrealist musical you found running in a basement venue somewhere, give the genre a go and maybe you’ll find a new favourite.

Theatre and the arts in general are fuelled by creativity, innovation and generosity, so celebrate World Creativity and Innovation day by taking yourself to the theatre and discovering something new. 

Read on for some ideas of how to celebrate our national holiday with a whole host of Irish artists, whether you’re on home turf or in some other corner of the globe.

 This February, take the spirit of our new bank holiday to heart and find ways to support women, amplify their voices, and rebalance the scales.

I’m going to play the theatrical devil on your shoulder and tell you to rethink your resolutions, at least a little bit.

If you are looking to escape the stage management of everyday life this festive season and enjoy some time to drift into the Christmas spirit, then what better way than enjoying some more contained theatrics on stage?

Whatever you choose to experience and explore this month, prick up your ears and listen to a voice you haven’t listened to before. With almost 8 billion people on this planet, there are a lot of stories and perspectives to be heard.

Whether or not you believe in ghosts, it’s pretty easy to see how ghost stories easily spring up around theatres. Generations of performers treading each others’ footsteps across the boards, speaking the same scripts, telling the same stories, high emotions onstage and off, the outside world suspended as a crowd of people gathers in a dark room to experience some magic…

Whatever it is that lights a fire in your imagination, kindle it.