On his 42nd birthday, Gavin Friday returned to the Dublin stage, pony-tailed and clad in hip hugging black slacks, black shirt and vest, playing an array of known and lesser known Kurt Weill material.

Highlights of this first night of six were the venue itself (decorated a la Friday), the return of the Julia Palmer scream, the irrepressible ‘Pirate Jenny’, ‘Speak Low’ – a tender whisper of a lost love song, and the off kilter, eerie ‘The Drowned Girl’.

Singing right into your face, Gavin defies the fourth wall, while Maurice Seezer’s arrangements always seek the road less travelled. Come and experience it: tickets for the rest of the shows can still be bought at the Theatre Festival Box Office (Dublin, Powerscourt Centre, top floor)