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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · 2d

"It has never been easy to make theatre in Northern Ireland. But does it have to be so hard?" My latest opinion piece for @thestage.co.uk on the challenge of making theatre in Northern Ireland on a per capita spend of £5.07 compared to £25.90 in the Republic. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/nort...

Michael Quinn on North Ireland's theatre funding

Theatremakers in Northern Ireland do a lot with little funding, but this is not sustainable. The social and economic benefits of theatre need to be recognised by the government, argues Michael Quinn

www.thestage.co.uk

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · 6d

Ian McEwan's future-set, post-catastrophe What We Can Know
(@jonathancape.bsky.social) is darkly dazzling; a cautionary tale about "the Derangement" of the preoccupations of the here
and now while all around moves towards chaos and loss.

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · 8d

The 1990s were a fertile period for TV drama from Northern Ireland, so good to see Graham Reid's still pointed and pertinent The Precious Blood available again. And to see strong local support from James Ellis, Margaret D'Arcy, Derek Halligan, Bronagh Gallagher et al. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Screen Two - The Precious Blood

Drama set in Belfast, asking whether it is possible to have peace with justice.

www.bbc.co.uk

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · 20d

Director Lisa May and @bruiserni.bsky.social to stage Northern Ireland premiere of Kill the Beast’s Tom Baker adaptation, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, with Gerard Headley, Mary McGurk, Eleanor Shannon and Jack Watson @themacbelfast.bsky.social. My @britishtheatreguide.info news story:

British Theatre Guide @britishtheatreguide.info · 20d

Theatre news: Northern Ireland première for The Boy Who Kicked Pigs -

Tom Baker’s macabre novel to be staged by Bruiser Theatre Company.

www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/norther...

Theatre news: Northern Ireland première for The Boy Who Kicked Pigs

Tom Baker’s macabre novel to be staged by Bruiser Theatre Company.

www.britishtheatreguide.info

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · 22d

Congrats to director Rhiann Jeffrey (Best Play Revival: Nancy Harris's Our New Girl), actor Michael Patrick (Best Performance: Richard III) and Lyric Theatre Belfast, begetters of both productions, for deserved UK Theatre Award nominations.
www.thestage.co.uk/news/uk-thea...

UK Theatre Awards 2025: nominations in full

Nominations for the 2025 UK Theatre Awards have been announced, with organisations including Sheffield Theatres and Birmingham Hippodrome up for gongs

www.thestage.co.uk

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · 24d

Sondheim's Follies surely inspired Kander & Ebb's "Razzle dazzle 'em and you've got a romance" on the strength of @niopera.bsky.social's whip-crack smart staging @ Grand Opera House Belfast. Three performances left: www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/fol... @sondheimiteuk.bsky.social @thesondheimhub.bsky.social

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · 28d

The end of the beginning… Dummy has spoken. Huge thanks to Emma Dawson, Holly Hannaway, Brian McAvera, Louise Parker, Dylan Quinn, Chris Robinson, Keith Singleton, Katie Richardson, hosts Prime Cut Productions, and funder Arts Council NI, for making possible an incredible workshop and reading.

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Sep 10

Catching up with a thrilling, luxurious BBC Proms debut by Irish Baroque Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Peter Whelan in Handel's Alexander's Feast. Soloists: Hilary Cronin, Hugh Cutting, Stuart Jackson. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Classical Live - Handel’s Alexander’s Feast from the BBC Proms - BBC Sounds

Great summer music-making from home and abroad.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Sep 7

The end of the world comes to Lyric Belfast with John Morton’s Denouement, directed by Jimmy Fay for @belfastfestival.bsky.social. Luxury casting with Anna Healy and Patrick O'Kane. My @britishtheatreguide.info news story:

British Theatre Guide @britishtheatreguide.info · Sep 7

Theatre news: The end of the world comes to Belfast’s Lyric Theatre -

John Morton’s apocalyptic “dark comedy” Denouement receives its world première.

www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/the-end...

Theatre news: The end of the world comes to Belfast’s Lyric Theatre

John Morton’s apocalyptic “dark comedy” Denouement receives its world première.

www.britishtheatreguide.info

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Sep 5

Jay Sefton to appear in Unreconciled, his and Mark Basquill's powerful play about surviving sexual abuse, directed by Geraldine Hughes for @belfastfestival.bsky.social at the Lyric Theatre, then at @druidtheatre.bsky.social's Mick Lally Theatre in Galway. My @britishtheatreguide.info news story:

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Sep 5

“David Ireland’s Ulster American steadily curls itself into a clenched fist before delivering knockout blows” with superb playing by Caroline Curran, James Boal and Andrew McClay for Bright Umbrella at Belfast's Sanctuary Theatre. My review for @britishtheatreguide.info…

British Theatre Guide @britishtheatreguide.info · Sep 5

Theatre review: Ulster American from Bright Umbrella at Sanctuary Theatre, Belfast

www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/ulst...

Theatre review: Ulster American from Bright Umbrella at Sanctuary Theatre, Belfast

Theatre review of Ulster American (David Ireland) from Bright Umbrella at Sanctuary Theatre, Belfast - reviewer: Michael Quinn

www.britishtheatreguide.info

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 28

A stack of palettes, plates of biscuits, heaps of laughs and a huge heart in Keith Singleton's Shedman, delivered with gusto and grace. One more performance at @themacbelfast.bsky.social: themaclive.com/event/shedman

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 17

"An intelligently programmed, incisively played recital of 20th-century Russian cello sonatas." Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Martin Helmchen's two-disc From Eastern Europe on Alpha Classics. My review for Limelight magazine: limelight-arts.com.au/reviews/from...

From Eastern Europe ★★★★

Read the Limelight review.

limelight-arts.com.au

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 15

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Full audition day for Brenda Murphy's Baby It's Cold Outside for Bright Umbrella at Belfast's Sanctuary Theatre. Delighted to be directing with such a welcoming company and venue. Never too early to book seats: www.ticketsource.co.uk/brightumbrel...

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 14

The first full staging in Ireland of Sondheim’s Follies by @niopera.bsky.social at Belfast's Grand Opera House boasts luxury casting: Lesley Garrett, Alasdair Harvey, Mark Dugdale, Anna-Jane Casey et al. @thesondheimhub.bsky.social @sondheimiteuk.bsky.social My @britishtheatreguide.info news story:

British Theatre Guide @britishtheatreguide.info · Aug 14

Theatre news: NI Opera’s historic Follies begins rehearsing -

Full company gathers for the first staging in Ireland of Sondheim’s poignant homage to early musical theatre.

www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/ni-oper...

Theatre news: NI Opera’s historic Follies begins rehearsing

Full company gathers for the first staging in Ireland of Sondheim’s poignant homage to early musical theatre.

www.britishtheatreguide.info

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 13

Looking forward to reading @ruairiconaghan.bsky.social's remarkable Lies Where It Falls (PlayDead Press). Having seen it on video and stage, I'm keen to see how it works on the page. Flattered to get a mention of thanks.

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 10

Some arguments are more worth having than others!

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 10

“PaulaMcFetridge again shows herself a sensitive and assured mediator of difficult material”: Charlotte McCurry’s Julie for
Kabosh at Féile an Phobail. Touring to @shhomeplace.bsky.social, Derry Playhouse and Old Chiurch Centre, Cushendun. My @britishtheatreguide.info review:

British Theatre Guide @britishtheatreguide.info · Aug 10

Theatre review: Julie from Kabosh at Roddy McCorley Republican Heritage Centre, Belfast

www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/juli...

Theatre review: Julie from Kabosh at Roddy McCorley Republican Heritage Centre, Belfast

Theatre review of Julie (Charlotte McCurry) from Kabosh at Roddy McCorley Republican Heritage Centre, Belfast - reviewer: Michael Quinn

www.britishtheatreguide.info

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Aug 1

Five arts companies in Northern Ireland have closed in the past year; National Youth Choir and Riverside Theatre this week alone. Not a peep about it from @communitiesni.bsky.social & absentee Arts Minister, Gordon Lyons. My latest for
@journalofmusic.bsky.social: journalofmusic.com/opinion/why-...

Why is Northern Ireland Losing Its Youth Choir?

After 26 years, the National Youth Choir of Northern Ireland is closing due to funding issues, but how have we reached this point, asks Michael Quinn.

journalofmusic.com

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Jul 31

Valuable new research by Arts Council Northern Ireland into the economic worth of the arts. Public spending of £13.27 million generated £24 million GVA for ACNI clients; 80% (£104 million) of the whole arts sector's GVA. I'd say that was money well spent. artscouncil-ni.org/resources/ec...

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Jul 25

Tara Lynne O'Neill's Rough Girls is back on BBC iPlayer. Excellent all-female cast, Katie Richardson's superb music, Dylan Quinn's theatrical choreography. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... My @britishtheatreguide.info review of Belfast Lyric's premiere: www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/roug...

Rough Girls

Tara Lynne O’Neill’s debut play chronicles the courage and determination of the first Northern Irish women’s football team, known as the suffragettes of soccer.

www.bbc.co.uk

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Jul 25

Published in 1939, Michael McLaverty's evocative first novel, the Rathlin Island/pre-Partition Belfast-set Call my brother back, is one the great Northern Irish novels. Seamus Heaney hailed it as being 'among the verifying texts of modern Ulster writing'.

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Jul 23

Maybe money CAN buy you love? Stockpile your unsold issues for your retirement fund, Huw!

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Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Jul 22

One of the most individual, iconoclastic & greatest frontmen, @black-sabbath.bsky.social's Ozzy Osbourne, has died. Here is his credible version of @johnlennonofficial.bsky.social's How?, tributing The Beatles icon on what would have been his 70th birthday in 2010. www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOc...

Ozzy Osbourne sings John Lennon's "How?"

YouTube video by Amnesty International USA

www.youtube.com

Michael Quinn @quinnfreelance.bsky.social · Jul 20

Opera Fantasies for cello and piano "all realised with becoming and engaging vivacity by [Zlatomir] Fung and [Richard Fu] on Signum Classics. My Recording of the Month review for Limelight magazine: limelight-arts.com.au/reviews/fant...

Fantasies ★★★★

Read the Limelight review.

limelight-arts.com.au