A century later, in Austerity Ireland, the image of the surrender has been adopted as a symbol of the struggle against a new type of national oppression – corporate imperialism. At some point over the past week a piece of Banksy-'esque' street art tagged to suggest it was the work of Banksy (which the real Banksy has denied), featuring Pearse surrendering to property developers, appeared on Moore Street.
Another Hollywood Whitewash
As ever, Twitter was all lights, camera, action from the start. Very quickly the tag #OscarsSoWhite morphed to encapsulate the wider frame of American society with the harder hitting tag #BlackOscarsMatter, echoing the entire drama playing out on the streets and highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Robert Burns: His Scandal, Genius, and Humanism
To me 'Sleekit' and 'Cow'rin' were terms of contempt, describing the very worst qualities in people. Sly and cowardly in a single person falls short of anything approximating a compliment. It struck me as odd that the ploughman would describe the wee mouse he had just made homeless before winter as Sleekit and Cow'rin, but he does.
More of a Rebottling than a Rebellion
Rebellion is a symptom of something else that’s going on. As spectacle it is working hard to replicate the icon of Irish revolutionary memory, and the poor dialogue is not without its genius. Few of the conversations in the programme are geared towards deepening the viewer's understanding of the persons involved, but it is retelling (or revising) the history.
As Auld as Hogmanay
In all likelihood the Ho’din’ O’ Hogmanay predates the celebration of Christmas in Scotland. Believe it or not, Christmas is quite a new holiday in Scotland. It was only made a public holiday in 1958 and many places of work in the industrial south were still operational on the day well into the late 60s.
Going Native for Christmas
Looking over the window Nativities of Dublin it was interesting to see what was variable within these acceptable norms and what was not. One of the most beautiful – in my opinion – was a gorgeous little pottery Nativity of caricatured Native North Americans. Indeed the birth of God in humanity was and is for all humanity, but it was amusing to see that this infant retained his northern European hair colour.
Night-time of Beautiful Words on Words Smith
As Ireland turns once more out of summer and into autumn the nights are creeping forward, and so tonight it is only fitting that my pick of the week should be on the theme of night.
‘Pals – The Irish at Gallipoli’ | Theatre Review
The scene ends with the woman wailing on the ground as she clutches a single telegram. We are left in no doubt her man died roaring. As a whole Pals is touching, tearful, and terrifying. It is an outstanding performance.
Random Public Journal 