12 metrolife Monday, February 1, 2010 D About Town THE HOTTEST TICKETS IN TOWN We have two pairs of tickets to see ROMO ET JULIETTE Mar 1 at the Gaiety, 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 your answer, please 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+. Q. Which character in Shakespeares Romeo & Juliet has the Queen Mab speech? A Tybalt B Mercutio The winners of Fridays tickets to see Mr Scruff are: Stephanie Warner & Mira Molt Jo Bangles Mary McEvoy (pictured) stars as single mother Jo Bangles who decorates herself with cheap jewellery much to the mockery of her neighbours. Then one day she and her mute daughter decide a change is as good as a rest... Tonight until Sat, Mill Theatre, Dundrum Town Centre D14, 8pm, 12 to 15. Tel: (01) 296 9340. www.milltheatre.com The Mines, Dublin 6 City Of Women Opera Irelands production of Gounods five-act Shakespearian opera has been given the Victorian treatment, the eras voracious obsession with sex, death and lunacy played out by the star- crossed lovers on a stage set inspired by 19th century collectors cabinets, or wunderkammer. American tenor Michael Spyres plays Romo, who just cant break the feuding families cycle of violence, while French soprano Nathalie Manfrinos Juliette is caught in the crossfire. Jerome Pillmann conducts the RTE Orchestra and Opera Ireland Chorus Feb 27, Mar 1, 3, 5 & 7, Gaiety Theatre, South King Street D2, 8pm, 25 to 120. Tel: (01) 677 1717. www.operaireland.ie Book Now Romo Et Juliette metrometro lifeStaying In & Going Out The Big Interview Clint Eastwood Ahead of the pack Best Director? I dont know. I guess its better than being called Worst Director They were really urging civil war and if Mandela had come out and decided to wage it he probably could have done so very easily, says the 79-year-old, four- time Oscar-winner. He went against his advisers and we try to portray that. Every adviser was saying, Why are you wasting your time with rugby? We have things to do. And there was this other faction that said, Lets dismantle the Springboks and get rid of anything to do with apartheid. The Afrikaans? To hell with them. And you could understand it going that way. But Mandela saw a bigger picture that no one else saw. He must have had a guardian angel on his shoulder, whispering in his ear that this team could win the World Cup. I ndeed, while the Springboks had been a powerful team, the apartheid regime had prompted an international sporting boycott. They didnt have the experience of playing at this level, especially against a team like New Zealand, who were powerful at the time. It really is a wonderful story. The story is drawn from the book Playing The Enemy by journalist John Carlin, which charts the real-life events, and the movie has already caused a stir during awards season, the US National Board of Review naming Eastwood as Best Director while bestowing Best Actor upon Freeman (whom Eastwood directed to Oscar glory in 2004s Million Dollar Baby). The film also earned three nominations at the Golden Globes. To be honest I dont think too much about awards, counters Eastwood when discussing his films potential at this years Oscars, the nominations for which are announced this week. Best Director? I dont know. I guess its better than being called Worst Director. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Eastwood continues to hit high standards despite a prodigious output (nine films as director and four as actor in this decade alone), and hes already at work on a second project with Damon, directing the Bourne star in the sci-fi thriller Hereafter, which starts shooting this month. People are always asking whether this or that might be my last film but really, and while it sounds predictable, I just like a good story, and I enjoy my work, so why not keep on doing it? Invictus (PG) is in cinemas from Friday lint Eastwood has always spoken fondly of his father, a man who always put his family first, constantly seeking work during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years as he tried to provide for his wife and two kids. He was a gregarious man always the life and soul of the party, recalls Eastwood junior and his diligence and moral standards left a marked impression on his son. When it came to sport, however, the two didnt always see eye-to-eye. I had an uncle that played rugby, and my dad played [American] football, and they used to argue all the time about which game was the roughest of the two, says Eastwood, remembering his father, who passed away before his son had reached superstar status. He laughs: And everybody bar my dad agreed that rugby was. Rugby plays an important role in Eastwoods latest movie, Invictus, in which he remains behind the camera while casting old friend Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and new friend Matt Damon as Franois Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby team that scored an unlikely triumph at the 1995 World Cup. The film tackles Mandelas efforts to unite his fractured country once he took office; the nation teetered on the brink of civil war and Mandela looked to sport as a galvanising force in his bid to bind the country together. It was inspired thinking, continues Eastwood, who speaks slowly and deliberately, his voice as gruff as it is on screen, because the majority of South Africans had nothing but contempt for the rugby team. Indeed, most regarded the Springboks as synonymous with the recently toppled apartheid regime and rejoiced whenever the team lost a match. Mandela, however, realised that the forthcoming World Cup in his country could provide a focus for the nation, offering a common goal behind which they could unite. C The director talks to Lauren Williams about his new film, which explores the story behind the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa EASTWOOD AS DIRECTOR: HIS TOP FIVE FILMS Written and performed by Tony ONeill, this darkly comic double monologue explores the friendship between two middle- aged men sharing an apartment block in Rathmines during the 1980s Tonight until Sat, The New Theatre, 43 Essex Street East D2, 8pm, 12 to 15. Tel: (01) 670 3361. www.thenewtheatre.com Jaki Irvines video piece shot on Foley Street, inspired by William Hogarths 1732 print series A Harlots Progress, six originals of which are on display having been loaned by IMMA Until Feb 27, The LAB, Foley Street D1, Mon to Sat 10am to 5pm, free. Tel: (01) 222 5455. www.dublincity.ie Play Misty For Me (1971) Eastwoods directorial debut came seven years after his breakthrough acting role in A Fistful Of Dollars, and this tale in which he plays a DJ with whom a fan becomes dangerously obsessed still stands as a stirring suspense thriller that unfolds with pitiless efficiency. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Considered by many to be his finest directorial offering, Eastwood also stars in a film defined by a host of memorable scenes and his titular characters own sweet revenge on the red-leg soldiers who have ripped his life apart. Honkytonk Man (1982) Eastwood bids to shed his tough-guy image with this low-key drama that unfolds during the Great Depression and sees him star as a country singer on the verge of his big break. Unforgiven (1992) Eastwood had to wait until he was 62 years old before snagging his first Oscar but it is fitting that he scooped Best Director and Best Picture for a western, with Unforgiven (pictured) standing as his elegy to the genre with which hes most closely associated. Featuring powerhouse performances from Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and a mean Gene Hackman. Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) Along with Flags Of Our Fathers, Letters... is one of two films, shot back to back, about the World War II conflict in the Pacific. The fact that its in Japanese makes the directors accomplishment even more impressive. Lauren Williams index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html