Drama goes east

Meanwhile, the Royal Shakespeare Company is planning to stage a trilogy of Irish classics on February under the title An Irish…

Meanwhile, the Royal Shakespeare Company is planning to stage a trilogy of Irish classics on February under the title An Irish Trilogy. Synge's Riders To The Sea and In The Shadow Of The Glen and Yeats's Purgatory are the plays in question and they will be directed by the young Irish director, John Crowley. Astonishingly, these are the first productions of Synge and Yeats by the RSC. If only the traffic in drama across the water didn't so often seem to be one-way. And when we do get English exports, they tend to be Irish - welcome though these are. There are rumours that Dublin theatres may stage the Royal Court's production of Conor McPherson's The Weir as well as Sebastian Barry's new play for the English National Theatre. The play is about an Abbey actress - which makes it all the more sad that it is starting life in London.