What better way to distract yourself from the daily grind than to spend an evening at the theatre? The Olympia theatre is located on Dame Street which is less than a five minute walk from Temple Bar Hotel and it is a bonus that so many restaurants in the area offer pre-theatre menus.
There is a feeling of stepping back in time when entering the Victorian style Olympia theatre which is one of Dublin’s most iconic venues and I find it the perfect place to indulge my escapism. Having grown up just three miles from Michael Collins’ birthplace near Clonakilty in West Cork and I also attended the same primary school (albeit 100 years later!) I have always felt a natural affection towards this national hero.
The musical vividly and excellently dramatises the life of Michael Collins. It took about quarter of an hour to get used to presentation of his life in a musical format and after that it is complete absorption. There were stages of it where I felt the desperate need to run home and rummage through my dusty old school history books as the feeling of vague familiarity with certain names left me a tad ashamed!
The standing ovation and the tears streaming down the faces of the actors and audience at the end of the show was enough to make me realise that it wasn’t just because I am from West Cork that I found the show so moving! The theatre was charged with emotion at the re-enactment of The Big Fella’s death. As the fatal gunshot sounded around the ornate theatre I jumped in my seat as if I somehow didn’t know what was about to happen – such was the intensity of the final acts. My hands stung and tingled after a lengthy applaud and my heart was full of pride as I was reminded and remembered the brave men that died for our country.
There is a feeling of stepping back in time when entering the Victorian style Olympia theatre which is one of Dublin’s most iconic venues and I find it the perfect place to indulge my escapism. Having grown up just three miles from Michael Collins’ birthplace near Clonakilty in West Cork and I also attended the same primary school (albeit 100 years later!) I have always felt a natural affection towards this national hero.
The musical vividly and excellently dramatises the life of Michael Collins. It took about quarter of an hour to get used to presentation of his life in a musical format and after that it is complete absorption. There were stages of it where I felt the desperate need to run home and rummage through my dusty old school history books as the feeling of vague familiarity with certain names left me a tad ashamed!
The standing ovation and the tears streaming down the faces of the actors and audience at the end of the show was enough to make me realise that it wasn’t just because I am from West Cork that I found the show so moving! The theatre was charged with emotion at the re-enactment of The Big Fella’s death. As the fatal gunshot sounded around the ornate theatre I jumped in my seat as if I somehow didn’t know what was about to happen – such was the intensity of the final acts. My hands stung and tingled after a lengthy applaud and my heart was full of pride as I was reminded and remembered the brave men that died for our country.
Distance from Temple Bar Hotel to the Olympia - a 5 minute stroll.
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