Entertainment a-plenty at Birr Theatre

Dark winter evenings don't have to mean dark days for entertainment, as Birr Theatre's November line-up proves. The Illustrations The Illustrations, curated by Julia Donaldson, will exhibit at Birr Theatre until November 9. The exhibition will be open Monday to Friday 1pm to 5.30pm and during performances. Common Ground The fifth annual Common Ground exhibition will be on show at Birr Theatre during November and indeed until mid-January 2013. The exhibition comprises works from artists living in the midlands and will be open Monday to Friday 1pm to 5.30pm and during performances. The Nualas Ireland's top all-female comedy singing sensations The Nualas are back in Birr on Saturday, November 3 at 8pm with new show "One Night of Dignity". Expect original self-penned numbers, scintillating vocal harmony, ambitious choreography and a night packed solid with craic, laughter, tears, and chat (not necessarily in that order). Tickets cost €18/€16. The Kid with a Bike Birr Film Club presents this 2011 Belgian film on Tuesday, November 6 next at 8pm. A troubled twelve-year-old, reluctantly living in a home since his father abandoned him (let alone the titular promised bicycle), meets and is shown sympathy and understanding by a hairdresser, who finds herself having to deal not only with the kid's own capacity for violence but with the temptations put in his way by a local gangleader. This is a tale of crime and punishment, longing and disappointment, love, hatred and forgiveness. But in the end it's probably best to forget such contextual stuff, as the film is primarily about people. Tickets €7/€5/€3. Sonic.art Saxohphone Quartet Ruth Velte, Alexander Doroshkevich, Adrian Tully and Annegret Schmiedl brings its unique and thrilling repertoire to Birr on Saturday, November 10. A favourite with audiences and critics alike, the group has toured extensively in Europe, Asia, America and Africa. En route it has picked up a slew of awards, including First Prize and the Grand Prize of the International Chamber Music Competition for New Music in Cracow, Poland, the German Music Competition Award and Switzerland's Classical Music Award. Tickets €16/€14. The Source Birr Film Club present this 2011 film on Tuesday, November 13. In a small, drought-ridden village situated somewhere between North Africa and the Middle East, widespread unemployment and the relative stability of peaceful times have left the male population with little to do but sit around the village, drinking tea and idling away the day. The women are still expected to fetch water from a mountaintop spring. The journey is fraught with difficult and danger. Whilst initially, it appears that this film may appear too simplistic and one-sided with the women as heroic rebels and the men as feckless chauvinists locked in an unsustainable notion of women as wives and mothers who know their place and never complain. Fortunately, the perspectives do shift and we also gain a sense of how some of the men feel emasculated by the erosion of their traditional roles. Tickets for the 8pm showing cost €7/€5/€3. Murphy's Legacy Presented by Harbour Theatre Company, this Eddie Alford-written play comes to Birr Theatre on Thursday, November 15. Charting the "brown envelope" culture of the 1990s, this is a play about corruption, marital breakdown and sex in a small town. And pig racing. Its characters are a smarmy priest, a slippery politician, a practical caretaker with his ear to the ground, a sophisticated Dublin solicitor and an upwardly mobile, sexual adventurous estate agent. Tickets for the 8pm show cost €15/€12. Jack L The legendary Jack L brings his show "The 27 Club" to Birr Theatre on Friday, November 16. The 27 Club features the work of iconic singers such as Janis Joplin, The Doors, Robery Johnson, The Rolling Stones, Amy WinehouseJimi Hendrix and Nirvana - a remarkable group of artists who passed away at the age of 27. Jack L interweaves their legacy not through a vale of tears but in a rip-roaring musical celebration of life itself. It will be a dramatic and unforgettable show. Tickets €20. Opera D'Arte Experience all the passions of opera in one spectacular production on Saturday, November 17, featuring leading voices of the Irish and international operatic stage: Sandra Oman, soprano (Opera Ireland, Co-Opera and Opera Holland Park); Deirdre Masterson, mezzo-soprano (Opera Ireland, Wexford Festival Opera, Lyric Opera); Eugene Ginty, tenor (Opera Ireland, ENO, Scottish Opera) and Owen Gilhooly, baritone (Opera Ireland, Wexford Festival Opera, ENO, Royal Opera House). Piano accompaniment by musical director, David Wray (musical director: Opera in the Open, Music Theatre Ireland). Immerse yourself in a diverse programme of musical masterpieces including selections from La Traviata, Carmen, Cosi Fan Tutte, Rigoletto, La Bohème, The Magic Flute, Die Fledermaus and the Barber of Seville. Tickets €22. Seven Solos: A Documentary Birr Film Club brings this 2011 American film to life in Birr on Tuesday, November 20 as part of I.F .O.N.L.Y./ International Festival Of a Necessarily Lonely You in partnership with Agite Y Sirva - Touring Screendance Festival, Mexico. Have you ever wondered what goes on in a dancer's mind as they learn different choreographies? This documentary follows the process of dancer Li Chiao-Ping as she prepares to perform the work of seven postmodern choreographers including Elizabeth Streb, Heidi Latsky, June Watanabe, Victoria Marks, Cynthia Adams, Molissa Fenley and Bebe Miller. As Li immerses herself in the choreographic language of each choreographer and learns the solos created specifically for her, the camera captures and witnesses the passage of embodied knowledge and the hand-to-hand transfer of the creative impulse. This film communicates the value of artistic generosity and shared wisdom. Tickets €7/€5/€3. I.F.O.N.L.Y. (International Festival of a Necessarily Lonely You) Now in its fifth year, this event is full of great artists, workshops, screenings and incredible performances. Highlights include Mamuska Night on Saturday, November 24. In a café-style setting you'll be able to relax, drink a glass of wine, chat, listen to live music and watch a rich program of short live performances of various styles and genres. The festival runs for two days, with both free and paid for events. Headhunters The final Birr Film Club offering of the month, this 2011 film from Norway follows Roger Brown. Brown is Norway's top corporate headhunter, the proud owner-occupier of a blonde trophy wife and a multimillion-dollar home. He can't afford either but, as he hurriedly explains, he somehow has to compensate for standing at a mere 168cm. So how does Roger finance his glamorous spouse's new gallery and a mistress on the side? Well, by day he's sifting through high- profile clients, by night he's robbing their art works and replacing them with forgeries. Tickets €7/€5/€3. Out of Order Banagher Drama Group returns to Birr Theatre on November 30 and December 1 with what is widely regarded as Ray Cooney's funniest play, "Out of Order". The farce centres around a UK Junior Minister in the government of the day as he tries to lie his way out of an embarrassing situation with the secretary of the leader of the opposition. He enlists the help of loyal personal private secretary and soon they all become embroiled in an increasingly tangled tale. For a night of non-stop, laugh-out-loud action, this is a play not to be missed. Tickets €14/€12. For more information/bookings contact 057 9122911 or see www.birrtheatre.com.