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'Culture NI Was My Lifeline'
Critic John Higgins on how writing for Culture NI provided solace following a bereavement and indirectly led to the foundation of a now thriving fledgling theatre company -
Alternate State / Alternative States
Poets Colin Dardis and Geraldine O'Kane interpret the work of artist Brian Kielt in an exciting and refreshingly challenging exhibition at the Duncairn Centre -
Voicebox
New comedy club in Belfast's Loft – artist's studio by day, platform for new comedy talent by night – is much more than a cheap and cheerful night out -
Stitched Up
When an NHS surgeon leaves a pair of scissors inside a patient, his moral compass spins out of control in Rosemary Jenkinson's excellent play at the Lyric Theatre -
Death of a Comedian
Owen McCafferty's Faustian play comments on the commercial corruption of art by focussing on one man's journey from gags to riches -
Martina Devlin
Out To Lunch festival goers come out in force to hear the story of Ireland's final conviction for witchcraft -
Agloe
Sara Morrison creates a visual history of a dead town at the new Framewerk gallery -
Piaf
Christine Bovill's emotional tribute to the famous French chanteuse leaves the Black Box in tears -
An Evening with CS Lewis
David Payne's play is heavy on anecdote but light on the good stuff – the books -
Unhome
Jim McAleavey's house of horrors bulges with invention and endless witty subversions at The MAC -
Jacques Brel is Alive...
Blunt Fringe reanimate the husky Belgian songwriter and 'matador of emotion' -
Outburst Queer Arts Festival
Ruth McCarthy revels in the transgressive nature of this year's diverse programme -
New Book Tours Weird Belfast
Reggie Chamberlain-King's new book, published by Blackstaff Press, is chock-a-block with odd adverts, sensational songs and all manner of ghosts -
Female Gothic
Rebecca Vaughan's medley of classic ghoulish tales is a tricky treat at The MAC -
An Enemy of the People
Schaubühne Berlin get Belfast fired up for change -
Doppelgänger
Peter Liversidge's Symbolist exhibition at The MAC is a psychosexual Where's Wally? -
Pentecost
Lyric Theatre's latest production is beautifully written, directed with brio and perfectly performed -
Cabaret
Bruiser's confident, sassy and perfectly judged musical is a must see show at The MAC -
Beckett Trilogy
Lisa Dwan is ghostly and ghastly in this extraordinary production at The MAC -
A Fiend in the Furrows Folk Horror Conference
Queen's University hosts three-day event exploring perspectives on folk horror in literature, film and music -
Punk Rock
A series of brilliant stage debuts transport Lyric Theatre audiences into the teenage heart of darkness -
Reverend Billy
American comedy preacher brings his anti-consumerist campaign to Belfast's Corn Market with choir in tow -
Hidden Agenda
Subversion and irony abound in works from the Crafts Council collection by Grayson Perry and others -
Comedy Day Festival
Colin Geddis is ringmaster as the Crescent Arts Centre hosts a smorgasbord of Northern Irish comics -
Rhinos
Hard-rocking duo Paul Currie and Laura Totten keep smiling despite a disappointing turnout at the Oh Yeah Music Centre -
Little Jokes
Chatterbox Productions enter the weird world of Victorian renaissance man Edward Lear at The MAC -
Jonathan Meades
The inimitable architecture and food critic revels in language and sardonic wit at the Crescent Arts Centre -
NI Night
Former fabric designer Kevin Collins paints a 'delicate and luminous' version of Northern Ireland under the stars -
Jimmy's Hall
What was supposed to be Ken Loach's final film – an overly theatrical adaptation of the play by Donal O'Kelly – is no great legacy -
Curious Beasts
John Higgins visits the Ulster Museum as an unusual collection from the British Museum packs up for Hull -
Demented
Gary Mitchell serves up a new crime comedy at the Lyric Theatre -
Ponies Don't Play Football
Pony Dance twerk The MAC audience into hysterics with their latest comedy production -
VerseChorusVerse
Singer-songwriter Tony Wright shows promise on debut solo album -
The Sea
John Banville's Booker Prize-winning novel is beautifully shot in Stephen Brown's stunted adaptation -
Shamus
Belfast Film Festival screen Eric Marquis' rarely-seen and decidedly quaint film shot in Belfast and beyond in 1958 -
Under the Skin
Scarlett Johansson becomes human under a Scottish sky in Jonathan Glazer's compelling adaptation -
Alan Irwin
Winner of the 2014 Chortle Student Comedy Award at Queen's brings his Party Hard show to the Black Box -
Dola
An 'astonishingly assured and ambitious' debut concept album by experimental duo Allez Bartoli -
About a Goth
Staged Assault bring Tom Well's pithy play to the Black Box, chipped black nail varnish and all -
Handwritten
Old skool all-round entertainer Ryan Hand headlines a bizarre evening at the Black Box