It’s coming up to festival season again in Dublin, and with only a few days to go before the Theatre festival’s program is announced, I thought I’d put together a list of interesting online social media commentators – blogs and twitters and such who may or may not be interesting to follow during the festival launch and throughout both festivals themselves.
First of all, the websites for both the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival and the Absolut Dublin Fringe Festival.
Blogs
OK, in terms of blogs, there is actually a bit of a lack of good commentators on the Dublin arts scene. Some of the best I’ve come across and have added to my Google Reader are:
Irish Theatre Magazine: Technically not a blog, but it’s “addable” on the Google Reader and should be full of interesting reviews come festival time. The magazine’s coverage is always pretty tame and more an interpretation of the play so you’re not gonna get any harsh reviews here but good if you’re looking for a more academic and informative reading which will no doubt lend to the overall comprehension of the piece.
No Ordinary Fool: Winner of an Irish Blog Award; Blogger Longman Oz is amazingly active when it comes to blogging [how do you do it Longman?! - every day? you must have a team of blogging elves hidden away somewhere!!!!], and has really interesting and refreshing takes on all things arts and performance related.
Dante and the Lobster: Blogger Medbh usually has something interesting to say about the medja and the arts in general. Hopefully, she will attend some shows over the festival season and give us some thoughtful comments!!
Pursued by a Bear: Fiona McCann’s blog for the Irish Times contains often quite humorous takes on the Irish arts industry, so her coverage of the two festivals should be good.
The Dublin Community Blog: Their theatre reviews are sometimes a bit too harsh but nevertheless they do cover the smaller plays which don’t always get reviewed by the likes of Peter Crawley so this blog is one to watch to see how the fringe festival in particular fairs.
Culch.ie: Always one to watch for good reviews of all things entertainment related.
Inky Wrists: I have to say, I spotted this blog maybe over a year ago and never added it to my feed. I went back and found it while writing this post and these two ladies should be worth keeping an eye on for good comments on how the festivals are faring.
Twitter:
Lots more industry peeps are active on Twitter, so here are the ones I follow and think will be good come festival time. Some are venues, others bloggers and review websites and some are the festivals themselves and their directors. Some such as Miss Panti and thisispopbaby I hope are in someway involved in the festivals this year, but if not, then they’re worth following anyway:
Longman Oz (aka No Ordinary Fool).
If I’ve missed anyone or any website that you think is worth mentioning, please comment below – would love to have a really comprehensive list of reviewers, commentators and anythingarians involved in the festivals.
