Currently Ireland has an extraordinary reputation for new writing, but my feeling is that the concerns are small. I would like to see the canvas become broader and the influences more varied. . . . At the moment I feel writers and actors in Ireland are straddling a middle range. It would be marvellous if a new writer or actor emerged of such distinction that widespread attention was captured." This is Gary Hynes, in an interview published in a new book, On Directing, in which she joins an impressive group of theatre directors, including Declan Donnellan, Deborah Warner, Katie Mitchell, and Jonathan Miller. Peter Brook's introduction reminds us that the position of director in theatre is only 100 years old: before the late 19th century, the overall artistic concept and responsibility for staging of a play were dispersed among various members of a company. "Those who first plunged into an exploration of this new world of directing did so with the joy and enthusiasm of pioneers discovering new lands," writes Brook.

In the meantime, while Druid Theatre Company waits until June 6th to hear whether it can repeat last year's Tony award successes (this time for The Lonesome West), Hynes is temporarily abandoning new writing in favour of a play that was a staple of the Abbey's repertoire in the 1960s: John Murphy's drama of an emigrant's return, The Country Boy. Currently in rehearsal, it opens at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway on June 1st.

On Directing: Interviews with Directors, edited by Gabriella Gianachi and Mary Luckhurst is published by Faber (£9.99 in UK).