Dublin's Culture Night.
So, tonight was culture night in Dublin, which means that, for one night only, everything from the theatres to the cinemas are free - if you can beat the rush for tickets! A friend of mine scored some tickets for a show by the redoubtable comedienne, Maeve Higgins (not at her best in this linked clip - nerves, I think - but there are still a few giggles) at The Peacock, the smaller stage at Dublin's Abbey!
Ostensibly, she was supposed to do a bit of stand up and then have Deirdre Roycroft and Donal Dineen on the stage to talk about their inspirations and work, but Donal Dineen was a no show so she had to come up with filler - cue the documentary footage of the 'Grey Gardens' as well as excerpts from 'Two Fat Ladies' - the latter being an episode set in Ireland, in which the Paddy Oirishness bordered on the ridiculousness with it's racist overtones (we all nearly killed ourselves laughing, it was that bad). Maeve's 'voice over' was very witty and well observed, and I suspect it was a lot more entertaining than anything Donal Dineen had in mind (Roycraft wasn't that great, either. She's led an interesting life, but she doesn't seem to be able to tell it in an interesting way)!
Anyway, fun was had by all, and the rest of Maeve's crazy family (yes, she really does come from a big family) were out in the lobby, dressing people up in outlandish costumes so that they could have their picture taken and letting people paint on cardboard with glitter and pipecleaners, and serving everyone rice krispie buns, and cheese and pineapple on a stick.
And generally being awesome. Did I mention it was a fun night?
Anyways, afterwards we, trekked into Temple Bar. There was movie showing in Meeting House Square, but it turned out to be 'Once' and we both decided that we couldn't watch it. Glen Hansard is a lovely guy but, as we both know him in real life, it's hard for us to see him as a character, especially in a movie like this, because it's way too much like reality back in the day!
So, onward we went, in search of food this time. The IFI had just stopped serving, worst luck, so we ended up in Zaytoons, and ate Ye Olde Vegetable Kebabs.
And then, being the old fogey that I am, I called it a night and went home.
The End.