Advent Calendar

According to my spies in the world of electronica, The Advent aka Cisco Ferreira is back in town tomorrow night (Fri 27) for a much anticipated gig at Kennedys on Westland Row, courtesy of the Test crew. Expect some killer electro and hard-edged techno from one of electronic music's most inspired producers and 'nicest geezers'. Doors 11pm

Music on the Move

The Hugh Lane Gallery's free Sundays at Noon series is decamping to the lofty environs of City Hall for the next couple of months - a beautiful if underused building with elegant proportions, a soaring dome and an echoing acoustic that may not suit every chamber ensemble. Judge for yourself next Sun 1 March when Sextets in the City features Brahms' String Sextet No 2 in G and Tchaikovsky's Adagio from 'Souvenir de Florence'. On Sun 15 you can hear Purcell, Handel and Couperin performed by soprano Lenneke Ruiten with Sarah Groser on bass viol and Malcolm Proud on harpsichord, and on Sun 29 the Vienna Mozart Trio play piano trios by Mozart and Dvorak.

Free Opera

Free Opera? It sounds like an oxymoron, but that's what's on offer from Opera Ireland and Temple Bar Cultural Trust on Sat 28 Feb, the opening night of Opera Ireland's Spring Season. Mind you, you'll have to brave the great outdoors and whatever inclement weather is thrown at you, but hey, it'll be worth it. While the great and the good are enjoying the comforts of the Gaiety Theatre and the delights of Mozart's Don Giovanni, you can hang out knacker-drinking with your mates before heading up to Meeting House Square for a simultaneous live broadcast @8pm - get there early to get a seat. 

This co-production with Opera Monte Carlo features the charismatic Austrian brothers Paul Armin and Peter Edelmann as the Don and his servant, with Irish soprano Cara O'Sullivan as Donna Anna. If outdoor opera isn't your thing, tickets for the Gaiety start at €25 (€10 for students). And if you book before 5.30 on Fri 27 Feb you can get 2 tickets for the price of one for Tuesday's (3 March) performance of Tchaikovsky's bloodthirsty Mazeppa, based on the Pushkin poem Poltava.

Shepard at the Abbey

The Abbey have scored another coup with another world premiere from the great Sam Shepard. Following the huge success of Kicking A Dead Horse, written for Stephen Rea and directed by the author, Shepard is back again at the Peacock with his latest play Ages of the Moon, currently in previews and opening on Wed 4 March. Tapping once again into the complexities of the American zeitgeist, it looks back over 50 years of love, friendship and rivalry as two old friends are reunited by mutual desperation and a bottle of bourbon. This time around Jimmy Fay, who previously directed a powerful True West at the Peacock, takes on the director's mantle, and Stephen Rea takes to the stage in the company of Sean McGinley. Check out www.abbeytheatre.ie for a Youtube link to see Fay, Rea, McGinley and the Abbey's Fiach Mac Conghail talking about the production.

Price of a Pint!

Any impoverished students out there? How about skipping lectures next Fri (27 Feb) and heading into the NCH instead to see the RTE National Symphony Orchestra's final rehearsal (11-1pm) with conductor/composer James MacMillan and percussionist Colin Curie; a pre-performance discussion @6.45 with MacMillan and Curie; plus the full evening concert, featuring American composer Jennifer Higdon's exuberant Percussion Concerto - and all this for a mere fiver! And for another fiver, Curie gives a Percussion Masterclass on Thur 26 @5pm. Booking @ nch.ie

Positive Dead People

Bewleys lunchtime, til 14 March

This is a hoot! Two very different brides meet in the  most unlikely of circumstances. Mo is cool and contained, Millie is flouncy and a bit hyper, but they have one thing in common - they're both dead. The best day of their lives has also turned out to be the last day of their lives, and they now find themselves, still clad in their wedding finery - 'mind the dress' is a constant refrain - in a sort of waiting room for whatever happens next, debating the merits of the afterlife: on the positive side, there is a sofa, a novel (Great Expectations), and chocolate eclairs.

Mo has got there first, so there's a bit of a tussle for the pecking order, but they're both in the same boat so a bit of sisterly camaraderie develops as they view, from a distance, first their weddings and then their funerals. But consternation sets in when mystery missives from an unseen presence begin to arrive. Deliciously performed by Clodagh O'Donoghue and Pauline Shanahan (the author), who capture all those little bridal nuances.

Marina Carr: Marble

Abbey Theatre, til 14 March

Marina Carr's plays to date have been firmly rooted in the treacherous bogs and dark rivers of her native midlands, but in Marble she cuts loose from her past, and any real sense of place, to create a knowing, witty and at times quite powerful meditation on, essentially, the meaning of life (or lack thereof) that could well have been written by one of those clever British playwrights - apart, that is, from the savagery of some of the language, and the odd quirkiness of some of the accents.

In spite of the wry humour, there is a shadow of doom from the start, like echoes of a Greek tragedy, as Art announces to his best friend Ben that he has been having erotic dreams about Ben's wife - and she, it turns out, is having parallel dreams about him. Dangerous territory, and although theirs is only a virtual relationship, the turmoil of this dream world seeps into a destructive reality, as Catherine becomes more and more obsessed by her other life, passionate and fulfilled, in unknown marble rooms.

Not as absorbing as some of Carr's other work, but a fine piece of theatre nonetheless, with a strong cast and an interesting set, its curved wall reminiscent (under certain lighting) of an Escher print, heading towards infinity.

Habib Koite

The hypnotic rippling sounds of world-renowned Malian guitar maestro and singer Habib Koite take over the NCH on Wed 18 Feb as part of the Waltons World Masters series. Hailing from a long line of griots or traditional troubadours, Koite takes his pentatonic-tuned open-string guitar style from the African kamale n'goni, which you can experience at close quarters during his masterclass @4pm. Later he takes to the stage with his band Bamada, something of a super-group of West African musicians, who between them conjure up an exotic blend of traditional Malian rhythms with tinges of blues, jazz and flamenco - sunny, subtle and sublime. 

Famous Blue Raincoat

Putting Flann O'Brien (aka Myles na Gopaleen, novelist, satirist, linguist and newspaper columnist) on stage? It might seem impossible, but it has been done before to quite brilliant effect, when Alex Johnston and Jimmy Fay staged At Swim-Two-Birds at the Peacock back in 1998. Now it's the turn of Sligo's Blue Raincoat, who bring their acclaimed adaptation of The Third Policeman to Project from 16 to 28 Feb. Blue Raincoat's ensemble excels in strongly visual and movement-oriented theatre, and their surreal interpretations are the perfect match for Flann O'Brien's fantastically surreal vision of Irish life. Adapted by Jocelyn Clarke, who also adapted Alice in Wonderland for the company, its typically bizarre characters include a nameless man whose soul is called Joe, three village policemen with a machine for storing light, a murderous rake called Finnucane, a one-legged gallows maker and, behind it all, the eccentric philosopher De Selby with his theories of molecule exchange and dark air.

Music at the Movies

Movie buffs will know all about the Dublin International Film Festival which opens today and runs at various cinemas until 22 Feb. Jam-packed with over 130 films, there's lots of mini-seasons to help you negotiate your way, including Turkish, Irish and French cinema; the Real to Reel documentary season which includes the Spinal Tapesque Anvil! The Story of Anvil! followed by a live performance from the eponymous band, as well as docs about uber-folkie Liam Clancy and jazz musician Jim McKay; and Out of the Past, showcasing a series of archive treasures including the ubiquitous but nonetheless fascinating Mise Eire, with its rousing O Riada orchestral score; and a true hidden gem, The Seasons, an amateur filmmaker's meticulous chronicle of a year in the life of a small Co Mayo village, filmed in 1935. Screening at the IFI on Feb 21, this unique silent movie will be accompanied by live music from harpist Cormac de Barra and Colm and Rossa O Snodaigh of Kila.