Latest news with #TheCave
Time Business News
6 days ago
- General
- Time Business News
Coaching for Par and Couples
Cultivating a thriving relationship requires more than just affection; it demands conscious effort, profound understanding, and the right tools. Coaching for couples offers a structured, forward-looking approach to navigate the inevitable challenges that arise in a partnership, transforming them into powerful opportunities for growth and deeper connection. Unlike traditional couples therapy, which often delves into past traumas, this coaching method is action-oriented and goal-focused, aiming to create tangible, positive results in the present and future. It's about learning a new language for your relationship, requiring knowledge, practice, and repetition before it becomes ingrained. Many couples experience friction—minor arguments, misunderstandings, or a sense of living parallel lives. These are often symptoms of a deeper, underlying lack of trust, safety, and mutual respect. Coaching for par and couples equips you with highly effective communication tools. For instance, the Acknowledging Self-Responsible Dialogue (ASD) teaches you to express yourselves honestly and self-responsibly, without criticism or blame, by speaking solely from your own perspective ('I' statements, avoiding 'you'). The goal is mutual understanding and acknowledgment, not necessarily agreement. Another powerful tool is the Three-Step Rocket, a simple yet effective method to articulate your desires clearly: first, define your positive wish; second, express it using 'feeling words' from your own standpoint; and third, ask a concise, non-manipulative question. These foundational skills minimize misunderstandings and foster empathy, which are crucial for rebuilding trust. The intimate life is a vital bond within a partnership, distinguishing it from mere cohabitation. A struggling intimate life often signals deeper relational issues affecting trust and security. Mikael Hoffmann's coaching for par and couples addresses these foundational elements by teaching you to communicate your needs and desires positively and respectfully. It's about understanding that desire isn't automatic; it's actively created and maintained. The coaching process helps uncover 'secrets' – unspoken desires or feelings your partner may not be aware of due to insufficient communication. By acknowledging and working with the inherent differences between masculine and feminine approaches to love and problem-solving, couples learn to give each other what they truly need, even if it feels counter-intuitive or illogical to their own perspective. This understanding builds genuine connection and creates a fertile ground for intimacy to flourish, rooted in openness and mutual appreciation. Conflict is an unavoidable, and even healthy, part of any relationship, but how it's handled determines its outcome. When communication breaks down, an agreed-upon 'Stop Signal' can halt destructive patterns, allowing for a calmer, later discussion. Furthermore, tools like 'The Well' and 'The Cave' (or 'The Elastic Band') address the distinct ways masculine and feminine energies in a relationship approach emotional withdrawal and processing. Often, couples must learn to do the 'opposite' of what feels natural to achieve different results. This means actively choosing new, healthier habits and practicing them consistently, even when they feel artificial or difficult at first. This structured practice, like fire drills on a ship, builds the muscle memory for constructive interaction, ensuring safety and trust even in stormy emotional seas. The shift from merely reacting to consciously choosing self-responsible actions is fundamental to long-term success. Coaching for par and couples is a powerful, results-oriented journey that helps you break free from unhelpful patterns and build a relationship that truly thrives. Through a systematic approach and practical tools, you gain a 'driver's license' for the road ahead, guiding you to bridge divides and create a future filled with joy, understanding, and deep connection. This investment in coaching for par and couples transforms your relationship from a ship drifting at sea to one confidently steered towards a safe and thriving harbor. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
The Irish Sun
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Moment ageless rocker locks eyes with woman at secret Irish gig & lovestruck fans scream ‘this is the start of a romcom'
IRISH fans have been left swooning after a clip of ageless pop star locking eyes with a fan during an intimate Dublin gig emerged. Indie rockers 2 Frontman Marcus Mumford has left fans swooning 2 Mumford locked eyes with one lucky fan during the gig The pub was immediately packed to the brim with fans singing their hearts out with the band in an unforgettable moment. One lucky In the short video, the British star was belting out the end of their hit song The Cave, when he looked straight over at Marcus gave a cheeky smile to the camera before turning around to guitarist Ben Lovett and shaking his head. READ MORE IN MUMFORD & SONS The musicians were in disbelief as the crowd boomed out the chorus of the song in a loud unison. Marcus turned back to look at the woman's camera again and gave another smirk before ending the tune and raising his guitar in the air. Kinga captioned her video: "No better crowd than an Irish crowd." But it wasn't the incredible crowd moment that caught fans' attention - it was silver-fox Marcus. Most read in Celebrity Swooning fans all flocked to the comment section to gush over the handsome rock star. Yan wrote: "If Marcus Mumford looked at me like that, I'd die on the spot!" Mumford & Sons play secret gig in Dublin Tanya said: "Holy Jesus that eye contact." Alba remarked: "This is the start of a rom com!" Molly exclaimed: "Has he always been this hot?!!" While Kate joked: "I would be asking what we are after that eye contact." HE'S TAKEN! And Lauren added: "I have nothing appropriate to say about that young gentleman." Marcus has been married to his wife and Oscar-nominated actress The lovebirds have a bond that goes back to their childhood as they first met at a Christian youth camp as pre-teens and stayed in touch as pen pals. The couple welcomed their first child, Evelyn Grace, in 2015, while their son Wilfred was born in 2017. So, sorry ladies, he is off the market!
Irish Independent
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Emer O'Kelly on The Cave: Superficial caricatures fail to gather either sympathy or curiosity as to their fate
Theatre review Today at 00:30 Kevin Barry is loaded with awards. Anyone who has read or heard his prolific output can understand why. The man has a unique voice, bringing fantasy into real life in a manner that transcends the mundane and makes his surrealistic approach a mockery of what we accept as normality. So what has happened with The Cave?
Irish Times
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Róisín Ingle: The c-word played a starring role in my Scrabble club's theatre outing
The Scrabble crew went on an outing to the Abbey Theatre the other night. This might be the most middle-class thing I've ever written except for the fact that later in this column I will be discussing how to boil quail eggs, and that obviously takes the ultimate prize. It's far from quail eggs I was reared but it's been a lifelong struggle to prove my working-class credentials having grown up in Sandymount, in the heart of the D-Fourtress as my Northsider children often remind me in mocking tones. Anyway, it was off to the Abbey in a limo for the Scrabble crew. (Only joking I cycled there on my new bike. I'm middle-class now.) We were all there for the opening night of the best play I have seen on an Irish stage in a very long time. The Cave by Kevin Barry is the bleakest of black comedies starring Aaron Monaghan , Judith Roddy and Tommy Tiernan . I say 'best play' but I see the Guardian only gave it three stars (the feckin' eejits) and Donald Clarke (who I usually trust) only gave it four . I am no critic, only a mere punter, but it's a full five stars from me and if I could give it a few extra I would. The Cave, directed superbly by Caitríona McLaughlin , is about the McRae brothers Archie and Bopper. They are two depressed, homeless, middle-aged, loquacious lads who are living in a cave on Zion Hill in Co Sligo . They are obsessed with an international soap star and her Irish boyfriend. Rural broadband being what it is, and Zion Hill being a dead zone, they don't have much by way of wifi coverage and they mainly live on stuff they've stolen from the nearest Lidl. Also, a 'ban garda' called Helen is on their case in a serious way. I want to be entertained in the theatre. Properly entertained. I want to be moved. To tears. To laughter. And it doesn't happen very often except when I am in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre , where it's mostly musicals, which have a higher hit rate for all round entertainment in my experience. But this play? Boys oh boys, this play is the thing. Barry's way with words is a source of national pride and to hear his words thrown around the stage of our national theatre, from the mouths of such extraordinary performers, is exhilarating. READ MORE The c-word is used a lot in The Cave. More times, perhaps, than it has ever been uttered on that storied Abbey stage. No need for calls to Liveline - because the oldest word for female genitals in the English language, though long mired in misogyny, has been somewhat reclaimed in recent years. For a start it's no longer just a noun but an adjective, with The Oxford English Dictionary adding c**ty and c**tish to its pages in 2014. In some quarters, especially on the drag scene, it's now the highest of compliments. Playwright Barry's use of the word is not always complimentary but is always rich in language terms. I managed to get a copy of the script and there are nine mentions of the c-word or c-word-based derivatives. Helen the garda says it first referring to the 'c**ten Butlins sign'. Later she refers to 'the c**tology' that goes on around the Sligo town below the hill. At another point Bopper is upset about a celebrity who he describes as only a 'c**t from the grass o' two cows outside Durrow in Co Offaly'. Helen then refers to the McRae brothers as 'c**tologists'. Bopper another time talks about his one-time love of yoga, revealing that he was at the cat-and-cow pose 'like a c**t on fire', by which he means he was passionate about the pose. In another scene, Helen bemoans the trajectory of her Garda career: 'The c**ts took one look at me and they said, away!' Bopper is writing a country song: 'Oh the Bopper he walked by night ... had his fill o' the Sligo c**ts'. Later he discusses his fears, one of them being that he might die inside the Roscommon border 'coz the c**ts wouldn't throw a shovel o'dirt over you'. Bopper at another point tries to quieten Archie by saying: 'Shut the f**k up you f**ken c**t ya!' And that's all nine uses of the word in the best play I've seen at the Abbey since The Train for you now. Rest assured, there is an awful lot more to it than that. It made me laugh. And think. And, when I read the script, I cried. I can't stop thinking about Archie and Bopper and Helen. [ Curse words around the world have something in common (we swear) Opens in new window ] A few days after the Abbey, the Scrabble crew cycled over to my house from the Southside, by Luke Kelly's head, along our lovely Royal Canal Greenway, for the latest session of our tournament. There's a lot of canape one-upmanship going on in these Scrabble evenings. A certain person has started serving quail eggs dipped in cumin salt so there was nothing for it but to have a go. A medium quail's egg, it turns out, only needs three minutes to boil. It turned out some other Scrabble club members, people with much stronger critic credentials, held different views on The Cave. They felt it trivialised mental health issues and lacked political edge. Someone said the audience laughed too much. At which point, as though Barry himself was giving his verdict on all that, one player revealed the C-bomb nestling innocently in his rack. It's a valid Scrabble word.
Irish Examiner
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Theatre review: Tommy Tiernan and Aaron Monaghan star in The Cave, by Kevin Barry
The Cave, Abbey Theatre, Dublin ★★★☆☆ Kevin Barry rarely writes a dull sentence. His novels are packed with startling phrases that have you reaching for the highlighter pen, or simply reading them again for the sheer pleasure of it. And, in his new play for the Abbey, he puts into the mouths of the McCrea brothers, Archie (Tommy Tiernan) and Bopper (Aaron Monaghan), a stream of Irish kitsch and colourful reverie, mixed with the alienating absurdities of online life to create some startling contrasts and vivid, clashing images. It's Flann O'Brien meets Pat McCabe meets Enda Walsh meets Sam Beckett meets Tom Murphy meets Martin McDonagh, all played out on an outcrop of rock overlooking some benighted market town in Co Sligo. It's fun to listen to, but across 13 scenes of desperation, there's little momentum, the words failing to make the leap from page to stage. Tommy Tiernan in The Cave, by Kevin Barry, at the Abbey. Picture: Ros Kavanagh The titular cave is at the centre of our hilltop setting. It's given a blasted, post-apocalyptic look in Sinead Diskin's design, stretched like a huge, crumpled piece of paper behind Archie and Bopper. But the cultural references, and complaints about rural broadband rollout from our internet-obsessed pair, make it clear this is the present day. The cave is where the McCreas, a pair of miscreant eejits, have been sheltering, in the hope they can get their wreck of a van (parked stage right in a state of disassembled disrepair) going again. The brothers are soon joined by Judith Roddy as their sister, Helen, a local garda, who gives details to explain the brothers' present dire situation. By contrast, they are content to fill the void in their lives with past obsessions, memories of rain-swept peculiarly Irish family misery, in rehearsing eulogies for each other, or obsessing about a Mexican celeb whose Instagram portrays her perfect life with Con Costello. Judith Roddy, Tommy Tiernan and Aaron Monaghan in The Cave. Picture: Ros Kavanagh He's some kind of Sligo Chris O'Dowd, it seems, who's gotten away and made good, and is thus hated. If it's impossible not to think of Waiting for Godot when confronted by a pair of verbose tramps in a barren landscape, Tiernan's Archie is like an innocent, questioning Estragon. Monaghan's Bopper, meanwhile, has the authority of Vladimir within this dynamic. But the comparison ends there in his raw, irascible, pained portrayal. Caitriona McLaughlin directs us through the verbiage, leaning into the laughs but accentuating moments of poignancy too. It ends as darkly as you'd expect, after putting off the inevitable for too long. An epilogue from Helen adds a sense of what more structure and concision might have helped achieve. Until July 18. At Town Hall, Galway, July 22-26.
