Sundays@ Noon & Saturday@ Dublin Castle

Coming up at the Hugh Lane Gallery, the widely-acclaimed ConTempo String Quartet celebrate Romanian National Day on Sun 4 Dec as part of the free Sundays @ Noon series. They play Mozart’s ‘Hunt’ Quartet, Bartok’s Six Romanian Dances and are joined by clarinetist Claudio Mansutti for Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. On Sun 11 Ensemble Avalon play Beethoven’s Violin Sonata no 5 in F major and Piano Trio in C minor. www.hughlane.ie

And on Sat 3 Dec you can catch Ukrainian wunderpianist Alexei Gorlatch, winner of the 2009 Dublin International Piano Competition among many other prizes, in a Music Network recital at Dublin Castle. He plays Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms and Bill Whelan’s ‘The Currach’. www.musicnetwork.ie

The Making of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore

Siren Productions have come up with a double whammy of sorts with their latest show, The Making of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore which previews at Project’s Space Upstairs from Thur 1 Dec and opens on Tue 6. In a clever contemporary take on John Ford’s darkly comic Jacobean masterpiece ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, this tumultuous tale unfolds as a film director assembles a cast and crew to film the play. It’s a seductive case of life imitating art as a parallel world of intrigue and desire, lust and obsession begins to inhabit the set, with the boundaries of these two worlds becoming increasingly blurred as reality, fantasy, life and art collide with disastrous results. Combining live theatre and pre-filmed scenes, the always fascinating Selina Cartmell directs two top notch casts: on stage Louis Lovett, Kate Stanley Brennan, Cathy Belton, Phelim Drew and Barbara Brennan; and on film Simon Delaney, Tom Hickey, John Kavanagh, Lorcan Cranitch and Paul Reid. Music is by Conor Linehan, set by Sabine Dargent and costumes by Gabby Rooney. www.projectartscentre.ie

The Government Inspector

Tis almost the season to be jolly, and amid all the glitz and glitter the Abbey has come up with a Christmas show with a difference, a new version of Gogol’s The Government Inspector by the ever-ebullient Roddy Doyle, which opens tomorrow Wed 30 Nov. This is Doyle’s second time taking on a classic, his version of Synge’s Playboy, written with Bisi Adigun, was a real treat, and this new show sees director Jimmy Fay back at the helm. Casting a satirical eye over endemic bureaucracy and corruption, Gogol’s comedy has a delicious relevance that Doyle will no doubt exploit to the hilt – brown envelopes and underhand bribes abound as a befuddled group of anxious small town dignitaries await the arrival of the eponymous inspector but, as in all the best comedies, nothing is as it seems. A terrific cast is headed up by Don Wycherley, Marion O’Dwyer, Gary Cooke, Mark Doherty, Joe Hanley and Rory Nolan, with lighting by Kevin Tracy, set by Conor Murphy, costumes by Catherine Fay, music by Denis Clohessy and choreography by Liz Roche. Just the thing to ward off those budget blues. www.abbeytheatre.ie