The stage of The Curious Incident could be one of the highlights of the Dublin Theatre Festival, writes Padraic Killeen

Irish actress Jessica Regan has been nominated for two British Soap Awards for her role in the BBC series, Doctors, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

Rachel Joyce

A factory in Kinsale has proved to be the perfect location to put on the Irish premiere of a typically energetic play by Enda Walsh, writes Alan O’Riordan

Cork actor Cillian Murphy made a triumphant return to his hometown last night when he led a stellar cast at the opening of Enda Walsh’s Ballyturk at Cork Opera House. It was Murphy’s first appearance on a Leeside stage since he first broke through in 1996 in another of Walsh’s plays, Disco Pigs.

Actress Billie Piper is under investigation after a teenage cyclist crashed into her car in London last week.

Actress Billie Piper is believed to have been involved in a car accident with a 16-year-old cyclist.

Here’s our spoiler-free guide to what you should watch on the box tonight.

Stars including Judi Dench, Tom Hiddleston and Gemma Arterton gathered in central London for theatreland’s biggest bash — the Olivier Awards.

Mary Leland on some recent book releases

Surveyors have said the ceiling of the Apollo Theatre in London is “sound” after 80 people were injured, seven of them seriously, when sections of it collapsed on the audience during a packed show.

MUSIC NEWS: Back in April, Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro told Rolling Stone magazine that his band Crazy Horse were too old to tour with Neil Young.

A powerful blast, believed to be a gas explosion, has wrecked an office building in the centre of Prague, injuring at least 35 people and sending shock waves through the Old Town tourist district.

For 70-year-old Toshiko Murakami, memories of the terrifying earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of her seaside town and swept away her sister brought fresh tears, exactly a year after the disaster.

The blinding of a horse in Peter Shaffer’s psychodrama Equus still horrifies 40 years after its premiere, says Colette Sheridan

British actors Mark Rylance and Vanessa Redgrave have been nominated for prestigious Tony awards.

JOHN Galliano transcended his humble roots to become one of the most powerful men in fashion.

Sam Mendes is returning to the theatre.

DEPRESSING news has reached me this week. The BBC are to hire comedian James Corden to provide an alternative – and no doubt ‘edgy’ – analysis after every England game in this summer’s World Cup.

Michael Gambon today pulled out of a new high-profile Alan Bennett play after being ordered to rest, but joked: “I’m temporarily not firing on all cylinders.”

Hugh Jackman once missed the chance to meet former British prime minister Tony Blair - because he was too busy vomiting.

Belfast actor Ciaran Hinds is returning to the stage for the first time in 12 years.

Ralph Fiennes tonight branded film-making a risky business, not a glamorous one.

Anthony Hopkins has been confirmed as the latest actor to play King Lear in a big screen adaptation of Shakespeare's great tragedy.

ENTRANCE fees for plays, exhibitions and other cultural events at publicly funded facilities will be cut for one day every year under a €245 million package to boost interest in the arts.

Atonement, the Arctic Monkeys, and Turner Prize-winner Mark Wallinger have been nominated for the 12th annual South Bank Show awards.

IF it’s August in Malmo, Sweden, or Copenhagen, Denmark, then it must be party time.

Top playwright Frank McGuinness will today enter the Hennessy Literary Awards Hall of Fame.

The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism has outlined details of how he plans to spend the €1.3bn allocated to his department under the National Development Plan.

Two explosions hit Shiite targets in northern Baghdad after sundown today, killing at least 15 people and wounding 72, police said. The attacks raised the death toll for the day to at least 56.

Five explosions – including three car bombs, a suicide attacker wearing an explosives belt and a blast near the National Theatre – rocked Baghdad today, killing 41 people and wounding scores.

Two British soldiers were killed in Amarah, 180 miles south-east of Baghdad, the Ministry of Defence reported, but gave no other details.

The facade of a dilapidated hotel collapsed today in Algeria’s capital, killing six people and injuring eight others, officials said.

Mel Brooks’ hit show The Producers has been voted Best Musical at the Critics Circle Theatre Awards.

THE greatness of the Abbey Theatre is a matter of record.

MICHEÁL MARTIN vowed to maintain the country's economic competitiveness and be a consumer champion in his new post as enterprise, trade and employment minister.

He is a veteran of the stand-up wars, a comic whose cheeky grin and penchant for dressing up in women’s clothing have given him cult status in certain circles.

Renowned film director Mike Leigh is returning to the theatre with his first play in 10 years.

Hollywood stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Emily Watson will go head-to-head with former EastEnder Anita Dobson for the best actress title on the West End stage.

Czechs snaked along police barriers and crowded on to riverfront lookout points to watch the waters of the muddy Vltava River recede after some of Europe's most deadly flooding in decades.

Firefighters and volunteers fought back river waters today as unprecedented flooding threatened Prague's historic Old Town and killed at least 95 people across Europe.