Irish America
Irish America
It's safe to say that Oscar Wilde would have loved the attention. After all, this is the man who once memorably wrote: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." The current surge in popularity of all things Wildean -- be it books, movies or stage plays -- is two years ahead of the centenary of his death, but then … [Read more...] about Wild About Oscar
Two years ago, Garry Hynes took a chance on a young, unknown playwright called Martin McDonagh, staging his play The Beauty Queen of Leenane at Galway's Druid Theater, which she had co-founded over 20 years earlier. This June, her gamble on Beauty Queen paid off handsomely when she became the first woman director to win a Tony Award -- Broadway's answer to the Oscars. For the … [Read more...] about Garry Glitters on Broadway
As a young boy growing up in Dublin, Paul Costelloe, Ireland's most famous and successful fashion designer, was hungry. But not for food, "I was hungry for excitement," says Costelloe. "I painted. It was a way of getting my fantasies out." His fantasies, not surprisingly, were the antithesis of the romantic traditional images his clothes evoke today. "I painted crucifixes and … [Read more...] about Man of the Cloth
The Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote of how strange it was to see trams running and everyday life proceeding normally although the Bolsheviks had taken over the government and begun a fundamental transformation of society. The Northern Ireland referendum on the Belfast Agreement had that "Mayakovsky vibe" too. We were in the King's Hall, on the fringe of Belfast, which … [Read more...] about Ulster Says Yes
Aimee Mullins has already packed more into her 22 years than many people twice or even three times her age have achieved. Olympic athlete, model, dean's list student, public speaker...she'll try anything at least once, and the fact that she is a double below-the-knee amputee is almost incidental. Born without fibulas, the long bones connecting the knees to the ankles, Mullins … [Read more...] about Chasing Aimee
