12 metrolife Monday, January 25, 2010 D About Town THE HOTTEST TICKETS IN TOWN We have two pairs of tickets to see LITTLE GEM Thu at The Peacock, 8pm For a chance to win, e-mail your answer to the question below to life@metroireland.ie by noon today with Hot Tickets in the subject line. With the answer include your name, address and a number where you can be contacted between 1pm and 3pm. Strictly one entry per person; entrants must be age 18 or over. Q. At which Dublin festival did Little Gem premiere in 2008? A Fringe B Carlsberg Comedy Carnival The winner of Fridays tickets to see The Girl Who Forgot To Sing Badly is: Maksim Vinkarklins 40 Years Of The Telescope lecture Oxford professor Allan Chapman breezes through four centuries of telescopic astronomy, from Thomas Harriots Moon drawings (rendered more than four months before Galileos) through to the Hubble and beyond Tonight, Schrodinger Theatre, Fitzgerald building, Trinity College D2, 8pm, 5 to 7. Tel: (01) 847 0777. www.astronomy.ie Gaels Of Laughter tribute Little Gem Foggy Notions presents two more Haiti fundraiser gigs in aid of Concern. Headlining the first event on February 14 is trad veteran Andy Irvine, bolstered by experimental ensemble The Spook Of The 13th Lock, folk poet Mumblin Deaf Row, young pups The Hounds and one-man band Big Monster Love. Next up on February 17 is headliner David Kitt (pictured), a solo electronic set from Jape, electro-acoustic act Patrick Kelleher and art-rocker Goodtime John Feb 14 & 17, Whelans, 25 Wexford Street D2, 8pm, 15 per gig. Tel: 1890 200 078. www.whelanslive.com Book Now Haiti fundraiser double bill metrometro lifeStaying In & Going Out The Big Interview Brenda Blethyn Certain stage in he My whole life literally changed when I went to drama school where I was living, my prospects, my bank balance, my circle of friends Secrets & Lies: Mike Leighs wonderfully observed kitchen sink tragicomedy (pictured left) sees Blethyn play a dowdy, chain-smoking single mother whose life is turned upside down when shes tracked down by the daughter (played by Marianne Baptiste) she gave up for adoption. Blethyn won a Best Actress Golden Globe and also an Oscar nomination for the role. Pride & Prejudice: A Cilla Black for the Regency era, Blethyns dippy match-making matriarch Mrs Bennet is hell-bent on marrying off the first of five daughters to the highest bidder when her family falls on bad times. At once vulgar and sympathetic, Blethyn gives flesh and blood to Jane Austens caricature. Little Voice: Mark Hermans film adaptation is little more than a glorified panto but Blethyns performance as potty-mouthed hussy opposite Michael Caines washed-up talent scout and Jane Horrocks bedroom-Bassey is nonetheless a triumph. Throw in Disco Inferno and a bottle of gin, and youve a dance scene made in heavenly hell. Lovely & Amazing: Blethyn swaps British blue- collar squalor for LA glamour as a vain Californian mother of three very different daughters (Emily Mortimer, Catherine Keener and Raven Goodwin), she turns to cosmetic surgery for self-esteem. Nicole Holofceners overlooked, low-key indie flick is worth a revisit. London River: Blethyn plays a very English widow who, post 2005s London bombings, travels from her nice house in Guernsey to Finsbury Park to look for her missing daughter and befriends a Muslim man (Sotigui Kouyat) looking for his son. Bleak but compelling film from Rachid Bouchareb. LW Brenda Blethyns finest film moments Gay Byrne hosts a tribute to one of the countrys finest theatre producers, Fred ODonovan (pictured), who spent more than 30 years with his finger on Irelands cultural pulse. Johnny Logan and Patricia Cahill perform Tonight, Gaiety Theatre, King St Sth D2, 7.30pm, 15 to 55 (returns only). Tel: (01) 677 1717. www.gaietytheatre.ie From humble beginnings at the 2008 Dublin Fringe festival to performing off-Broadway just weeks ago, Elaine Murphys crowd-pleasing comedy about three generations of women continues to entertain Until Feb 27, Peacock Theatre, 26 Lower Abbey Street D1, 8pm (Sat mat 2.30pm), 18 to 25. Tel: (01) 878 7222. www.abbeytheatre.ie her ears Theres nothing wrong with failure so long as youve tried your best she applied to drama school. Looking back, it was a really brave thing to do. My marriage broke up between being accepted on the course and by the time I actually went, which was upsetting. My whole life utterly changed when I went to drama school where I was living, my prospects, my bank balance, my circle of friends. Blethyn can be seen next month in Dublin when she reprises her role as Eileen Cudahy in Edna OBriens hit play Haunted, which premiered in Manchester last summer. Described in The Stage as a combination of Whos Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, American Beauty and Keeping Up Appearances, the Braham Murray directed drama focuses on Mr Berry, Eileens Shakespeare-spouting husband (played by Niall Buggy, pictured) whose life is turned upside down by a young elocution teacher (Beth Cook). OBrien began drafting the play in the 1960s but rejigged the script with Blethyn in mind. A feast of language, Haunted is ostensibly a memory play that flits back and forth in time, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. It has this beautiful eloquence, enthuses Blethyn. And yet theyre just ordinary people with a love of language. Mr Berry uses poetry in his everyday vernacular but the play isnt arty-farty, for want of a better word. Even people who have never read a play or a poem in their life love Haunted. In fact, it provokes more debate in the after-show bar than any play Ive ever done. People have rowed! ould Brenda Blethyn be any more normal? Despite having worked with the greatest talent of her generation Mike Leigh for Secrets & Lies; David Mamet for The Shawl; Robert Redford for A River Runs Through It the multi-award winning stage and screen actress isnt above doling out throat sweets to stuffed-up journalists. Herself dosed up with a cold, she spreads out her lozenges on a paper napkin and insists that I take a handful, only after making sure Im okay for a drink. But then Blethyn has never been one for demanding blue M&Ms in her rider. And she even gets starstruck, just like us. Take the Emmys, where she was nominated for her appearance in an episode of Law & Order: [veteran US actress] Elaine Stritch was in front of me on the red carpet. When we all got to the other end, I heard this voice go: I wanna meet that Blethyn girl. She came up and said, Hi, Im Elaine Stritch and I like your work. I went, Oooh, Im terribly flattered, thank you! Actually, I was walking behind you all the way up the red carpet! And she said, yeah... and lets keep it that way. Isnt that funny? Oh yes, I still get starstruck. This humble attitude probably stems from a late start in acting. A secretary for British Rail, Blethyn was coerced into a local amateur dramatics group when one of its members got sick. I loved the whole camaraderie of it someone painting the set, someone making the costumes. And the more plays I did, the more I enjoyed it. People started saying I should act professionally but my reaction for a long time was, What, give up my good job? Dont be daft. But with her fathers words ringing in C The award-winning actress shares her cough sweets with Lucy White and discusses her role in Edna OBriens play Haunted index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html