ZOË’S DUBLIN DIARY: WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK: JANUARY 13, 2016 →
Wednesday, 13 January – FREEDOM (of speech) Party, 19:00, Free, the Lord Edward
Join the Dublin Jacobin Reading group for their AGM: a night of impassioned discussion and supreme nerdiness. The Dublin Jacobin meet up to talk about everything from social justice, to sexuality, self and state, to where freedom of speech sits in today’s left-wing discourse. New members are welcome, as are suggestions for directions the group should take in the coming year. Find some reading for the meeting here, here and here. Facebook event here.
Thursday, 14 January – ActionAid Quiz, 19:30, €10 (€40 per team), Doheny & Nesbitt
Each day sees about 2,000 refugees arriving in the Greek island of Lesbos. With all proceeds raised going to support ActionAid’s humanitarian response there, your money will go to supplying cultural mediators to help aid workers communicate with refugees, and the creation of support systems for women and people requiring disability care. Open to all, the quiz will comprise ten rounds of general-knowledge questions, a raffle and prizes for first and second places and best name. Details here, Facebook event here.
Friday, 15 January – Sea Pinks/Ginnels, 20:00, €10, Bello Bar
Post-punk pop-y drone merchants Sea Pinks launch their Soft Days EP in Bello Bar this Friday, presented by Skinny Wolves. Ex-Girls Names Neil Brogan, Steven Henry and Davey Agnew will relate some bittersweet real talk alongside Ginnels and surf-pop four-piece Me and My Dog. Facebook event here.
Saturday, 16 January – SEASONS, 19:00, €6.18/€9.33, MART
MART are hosting Goldmoth Media’s ‘Winter’ edition of SEASONS, a collaborative multidisciplinary exhibit of Irish talent across music, art and technology. There’ll be performances from Owensie, Bad Bones and SEASONS DJs, with artwork and installations throughout. Owensie’s Dramamine came out to not a small amount of acclaim late last year, with nine tracks of intricate guitar finger-work and falsetto, while producer Sal Stapleton AKA Bad Bones has been going strong for some time now, and has just launched her first single from her self-produced EP. Nip over to Paula Temple, Truss and John Hussey in District 8 for afters. Facebook event here, tickets here.
Sunday, 17 January – Ballad Tour for Dunkirk, 14:00, Donation, the Lord Edward
Ballad Tours Dublin (AKA Sean Fitzgerald) provide a retelling of history through ballad, poetry and story. This Sunday will see a special session in the the Lord Edward to raise money in aid of the Grande Synthe refugee camp in Dunkirk, France, where 3,000 migrants are trying to survive in deteriorating conditions. The evening will be a historical tour of Dublin through ballad, with proceeds going to buy wood-burning stoves through the Irish Benders and Burners group. Facebook event here.
Monday, 18 January – Good Games Night II, 19:00, Donation, the Black Sheep
Good Games Night is back in the Black Sheep for round two. There’ll be four screens, loads of consoles and plenty of space to relax and avail of the food and drink offers on the night. Magic Card traders welcome, and it’s a pay-by-donation policy at the door. Facebook event here.
Tuesday, 19 January – Room, 18:15, €9, Irish Film Institute
Emma Donoghue’s 2010 novel Room has been adapted by director Lenny Abrahamson, won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto, and seems geared towards winning more. Ma (played by Brie Larson) and her son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) exist within the confines of an eleven-by-eleven-foot subterranean room, at the mercy of Old Nick, who abducted Ma seven years earlier. Donoghue’s striking seventh novel may pose some difficulties to convey on screen: the narration of the story comes entirely from five-year-old Jack, whose world and understanding is composed of and structured by the room’s objects and the routines set by his mother. Tickets here.