Greetings from Safe Harbour
This week the Sound of Music plays its last six performances at the Opera House after an extension nobody planned for.
Hothouse Flowers take Connolly's outdoor stage in Leap for two nights. Martin Hayes has Bantry House, Marino Church and Whiddy Island for five days of Masters of Tradition.
Cyprus Avenue gets The Wailers on Thursday and Babyshambles on Saturday.
A Streetcar Named Desire runs three nights at The Everyman, Triskel has Edward Scissorhands on a Saturday evening, and fifty life-size dog sculptures go up across the city.
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Hothouse Flowers
Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August · Doors 18:00 · Connolly's of Leap
The first night sold and they added a second, which is roughly how every Hothouse Flowers booking at Connolly's has gone for the last thirty years. The band and the venue have a history that goes back far enough that neither treats it as a normal gig, and Liam Ó Maonlaí tends to play accordingly. Both nights are on the outdoor stage, so pack for West Cork in August rather than for August. Doors at six, and the drive to Leap is worth doing properly with a designated driver.
The Sound of Music
Tuesday 18 to Sunday 23 August · Cork Opera House
Relaxed performance Tuesday 16:00 · Evenings 19:00 · Matinees Saturday 14:00 and Sunday 13:00
This was supposed to close on the 16th. Demand pushed it another full week, and Sunday afternoon is genuinely the last chance. The Irish Times gave it five stars, which the Opera House will not let anyone forget, and the closing-week cast has Wendy Carr as Maria, Matt Blaker as Captain Von Trapp and the opera singer Majella Cullagh as the Mother Abbess. Tuesday's four o'clock show is the relaxed performance, with adjusted sound and lighting.
Masters of Tradition
Wednesday 19 to Sunday 23 August · Bantry House, Marino Church, Whiddy Island and Future Forests
Martin Hayes programmes this one himself, and it shows in the places he puts the music as much as in who he books. Five days across Bantry House, a church, an island and a forest nursery, with Ciarán Ó Gealbháin, Louise Mulcahy, the Portuguese guitarist Tiago Matias and the Scottish fiddler Ryan Young all playing. The pick is Méav Ní Mhaolchatha's late-night candlelit set in Bantry House, previewing her album Sweet Sorrow. There's also a world premiere of Selena O'Neill's Irish Rhapsody, written by a Chicago-Irish pianist born in 1893 and unheard until now.
The Fynches
Thursday 20 August · Connolly's of Leap
Two nights before Hothouse Flowers arrive, Connolly's does what it does on an ordinary Thursday, which in Leap still means a proper band in a proper room. The Fynches are worth the drive on their own if you'd rather not fight the weekend crowd for the same venue.
The Wailers
Thursday 20 August · 19:00 · Cyprus Avenue
Fifty years of Rastaman Vibration, and the band is led by Aston Barrett Jr., son of the man who played bass on the original. Mitchell Brunings handles the vocals. Cork sits in the middle of a three-night Irish run, Belfast on Wednesday and Dublin on Friday, which usually means the middle night is the loose one.
Curveball
Saturday 22 August · 13:00 · Triskel Arts Centre
Six young players out of Cork, formed this year, doing the Triskel lunchtime jazz slot with saxophone, trombone, steel pans, guitar, keys, bass and drums. A brand new band on a lunchtime bill is exactly the right amount of risk for an hour on a Saturday. The Triskel's converted church makes almost anything sound better than it should.
Babyshambles
Saturday 22 August · 20:00 · Cyprus Avenue
Eleven years since Babyshambles last played, and Pete Doherty has the original four back together, Mick Whitnall, Drew McConnell and Adam Ficek included. The Dandy Hooligan tour marks twenty years since Down In Albion, a record that was chaos on release and has quietly become the one people defend. Cork gets the first of three Irish nights, ahead of Dublin and Belfast, with Gag Reflex opening.
M A D D E E P
Sunday 23 August · Dali
Sunday night electronic at Dali, which remains the venue in Cork most likely to still be going when you'd expected to be in bed. A Sunday session is a commitment. Know that going in.
Craic! The Improv Irish Play
Tuesday 18 to Saturday 22 August · Cork Arts Theatre
The audience picks the Irish stereotypes and the cast has to build a play out of them on the spot, from the team behind the Improv Panto and the Improv Murder Mystery. Five nights means the show is different every time, and the failures are usually funnier than the successes. Small room, so it's on top of you.
Walls that Shaped a City: Excavating Cork's Medieval Defences
Tuesday 18 August · City Library, Grand Parade
A talk on the medieval walls that are still under the city centre, and what the excavations have turned up. Cork's island geography makes this a better story than most city-wall talks, because the walls were fighting water as much as anyone else. Free, and the Grand Parade library is a two-minute walk from where the walls actually ran.
A Streetcar Named Desire
Thursday 20 to Saturday 22 August · 19:30 · The Everyman
Lee Promotions bring Tennessee Williams to The Everyman for three nights, and the play remains one of the few where a local production can hit as hard as a touring one, because the writing does most of the lifting. Blanche DuBois is a part that either works completely or collapses. The Everyman's Victorian interior suits the heat and claustrophobia of it.
Edward Scissorhands
Saturday 22 August · 19:00 · Triskel Arts Centre
Part of Triskel's Tim Burton season, and the one where the whimsy earns itself. Thirty-six years on, the suburban satire has aged better than the gothic styling, which is not what anyone expected in 1990. Seeing it projected in a deconsecrated church is a joke Burton would probably approve of.
Cork Craft Month
All week · Venues across Cork city and county
Over ninety workshops, demos, exhibitions and markets, run by Cork Craft & Design on behalf of about a hundred and ten professional makers. Two-thirds of it is hands-on rather than watching, which is the right ratio. Several of the library workshops are free, and the full programme lives at corkcraftanddesign.ie.
A City of Tails
Saturday 22 to Friday 28 August · Marina Market and locations across Cork city.
Fifty life-size dog sculptures, decorated by schools, artists, community groups and businesses, going up across the city to mark fifty years of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. Each one carries a QR code linking to a client's story and a donation option, and there's a worksheet to download if you're doing it with children. It's a free walking route through the city with a reason to keep going, which is a hard thing to arrange with a seven-year-old.
Lino Cut Workshop with Solas Agus Scath
Saturday 22 August · 13:00 · St. Peter's Cork
Lino cutting for anyone aged ten and up, in the old church on North Main Street. Printmaking is one of the few crafts where a first attempt looks deliberate rather than bad, which makes it a good one to try with children. Places are limited, so book.
Archery Tag
Wednesday 19 August · 16:00 · Ballyhass Adventure Centre, Coachford
Cork Outdoors Week is running free sessions and this is the one that will actually get a teenager into a car. Archery tag is dodgeball with bows and foam-tipped arrows, ages twelve and up. Free, but you have to register in advance and Ballyhass fills these quickly.
Comedy Cavern: Test Tube Babies
Tuesday 18 August · Coughlan's
Coughlan's monthly improv night, and the sort of low-stakes Tuesday that Cork does better than anywhere. Test Tube Babies work off audience suggestions, so the room shapes the show. Douglas Street, cheap, and you'll be home at a reasonable hour.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Cork check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
Thanks for reading Safe Harbour!
If you enjoy the newsletter or you find it useful here are some ways you can help us:
💌 Forward it to a friend, neighbour, or your local WhatsApp group
📝 If you were sent this and want in on the action, sign up here.
💛 Consider supporting the newsletter with a monthly subscription (coming soon)
See you next week 👋
P.S. Not feeling it anymore? No hard feelings. You can unsubscribe from the email footer below