PACKED ST PATRICK’S FESTIVAL AT THE MARKET PLACE

The Market Place Theatre in Armagh is set to host a superb line-up of events to celebrate St Patrick’s Day 2015 with music, comedy, drama and kids performances topping the bill.

‘Kíla’ are bringing their hip-shaking, smile-making, funky, groovy brand of trad to one of Ireland’s favourite venues. Never having played in Armagh before this is a unique opportunity to see one of Ireland’s finest and most innovative music groups. Kila will perform on Thursday 12th March at 8pm. Tickets are priced £10 each.

Star of ‘Next Week’s News’, ‘Meet Your Neighbours’ and ‘Naked Camera’, PJ Gallagher makes his highly anticipated return to The Market Place with a brand new show ‘Concussion’. PJ has played sold out shows throughout Ireland and at the biggest and best comedy festivals that the country has to offer including Kilkenny Cat Laughs and The Vodafone Comedy Carnival. His TV appearances also include The Late Late Show, Tubridy Tonight, The Miriam O Callaghan Show and The Saturday Night Show, among others. PJ Gallagher will perform on Friday 13th March at 8pm. Tickets are priced £18 and £16 (concession). This event is strictly for age 18+.

On Friday 13th March at 8pm, come along and hear one of Ireland’s most distinctive voices in a lovely intimate setting. Mary Coughlan will sing songs of joy, sadness, mischief and melancholy, songs by Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith and Peggy Lee, her voice effortlessly straddling jazz, blues, chanson and pop. Accompanied on piano by James Delaney. Tickets are priced £13.

Families are invited along to the haphazard world of comedy, circus and theatre – an absurd trip into the world of Ireland’s best loved circus performers – Tumble Circus. Disobedient clowns, suffering acrobats and confused jugglers clash in this colourful kaleidoscope of mayhem. This is no ordinary circus cabaret however, it is a nonstop car-crash of exciting circus. The ticket price to Family Super Saturday includes one hour of fun after the performance, with activities including a craft workshop where kids will make and decorate their own mini circus tent, face painting, balloon modelling and a fancy dress competition with prizes for Best Dressed Boy & Girl. It’s great value for money. Super Saturdays are recommended for age 4+. The Tumble Circus Family Super Saturday will take place on Saturday 14th March at 11am or 2pm. Admission costs just £6.00.

St Patrick’s Big Night Out promises a festival in one night! The Market Place will be hosting performances in the auditorium, studio and on a specially built stage in the foyer. Music, comedy, dance – there’ll be something for everyone on Saturday 14th March from 8pm until late. It’s entirely up to you what you want to see on the night – feel free to go from one performance to another. Acts on the evening include Scotland’s Clanadonia; The Whistlin’ Donkeys who have recently supported Shane Filan & Kian Egan; All Folk’d Up; Comedians Mickey Bartlett (18+),  Al Porter (18+) and Foil, Arms & Hog (16+); Magnificent Irish Dance Troupe Celtic Storm; Local bands Castlestreet; How; The Ray Dunne Band; Hatchjaw; Armagh Pipers Club Fiddle Band; St Columba’s Pipe Band & before they play their headline gig at Vicar Street, come and witness the utterly amazing Booka Brass Band. All this for only £15.

For something a little more sedate, why not come along to ‘The Third Policeman’ on Sunday 15th March at 8pm. Experience a beautiful music and spoken word presentation of Flann O’Brien’s dark comic masterpiece with live piano and string ensemble. A murder thriller; a hilarious comic satire about an archetypal village police force; a surreal vision of eternity; the story of a tender brief unrequited love affair between a man and his bicycle, and a chilling fable of unending guilt. A gem of Irish literature is brought to life in this highly acclaimed presentation. Tickets are £10 each.

‘Awhile With Seamus Heaney’ is a personal journey by Irish actor-director, Larry McCluskey through the late Nobel Poet’s best and most popular work, a dramatic reading, with linking commentary and music. The journey moves from Heaney’s childhood, through his emergence as Ireland’s foremost poet, international eminence and awards, to the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature. This event will take place on Monday 16th March at 6pm, with tickets available at £7.50.

Who is ready for a ‘Stockton’s Wing’ Reunion? The legendary Tommy Hayes, Maurice Lennon, Mike Hanrahan, Steve Cooney and Paul Roche are back together for the ‘Light In The Western Sky’ tour playing all the famous tacks including ‘Walk Away’, ‘The Belltable’, ‘Beneath The Shade’, ‘Dirt Track To The Sky’, ‘The Chicago Set’, ‘Beautiful Affair’, ‘Trip To London’, ‘Promenade Love’ and many more. Stockton’s Wing will perform on Monday 16th May at 8pm. Tickets are priced £12.50 each.

Tickets for all events can be booked through the Box Office on [028] 3752 1821, or online at www.marketplacearmagh.com

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