Mark Lambert directs and acts, both North and South. And he'd like tosee more joint ventures between the two, he tells Jane Coyle while rehearsing The Memory of Water

Many a time and oft, during the past goodness knows how many years, Dublin-born Mark Lambert's name has loomed large in the Northern theatre world in a variety of guises - as an unforgettable Joxer in Joe Dowling's Abbey Theatre production of Juno and the Paycock; as a founder member - with Marie Jones, Shane Connaughton and Pam Brighton - of DubbelJoint Theatre Company, also appearing in its fine production of The Government Inspector.

Now he is firmly ensconced at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, as director of the Northern première of Shelagh Stephenson's award-winning play The Memory of Water. At the recent launch of the theatre's spring season, artistic director Paula McFetridge thanked Lambert for bringing the play to her attention and for agreeing to steer it onto the Lyric stage.

Lambert is no stranger to the play: he appeared alongside Alison Steadman, Samantha Bond and Julia Sawalha in its transfer from London's Hampstead Theatre into the West End, and has directed another version.

"I am very, very fond of this play," he declares. "It is a nice balance of pathos and comedy, as, of course, lots of good plays are. I have told the cast not to worry, even if people don't laugh at all on some nights.

"Structurally, it is not perfect, and Shelagh herself would admit that it isn't the best play she has ever written. But it is certainly the most popular. It has been done all over the world, in 25 countries, and can be set just about anywhere. I have chosen to set it just outside Belfast, with a largely local cast, and I would defy anyone not to think it always was a Northern Ireland play."

It tells of three sisters gathering for the funeral of their mother, bringing with them their own personal hopes, crises and obsessions. Stella McCusker - long absent from the Lyric - plays the mother; Belfast's Eileen McCloskey - making another theatrical homecoming - Orla Charlton and Lynn Cahill are her daughters, with BJ Hogg and Robert Reynolds as their respective husband and boyfriend.

"It's a great cast," declares Lambert. "But that's something I pride myself on - getting a really good mix of actors together."

Nowhere is that more evident than in another of Lambert's current directing projects, the BBC Radio 4 drama series Baldi, for which he has assembled, among others, David Threlfall, Owen Roe, Tina Kelleher, Martin Clunes, Adrian Dunbar, Geraldine James, Michael Maloney, Niall Toibin, Gerard McSorley, T.P. McKenna, Frank McCusker and Stephen Moore, "who also happens to be my father-in-law".

Lambert, his wife - stage manager Hedda Moore - and their three young children now live in Greystones, Co Dublin. But the first 17 years of his working life were spent in London. He has an interesting family history, as the son of the famous Dublin sportsman and veterinarian Ham Lambert, of whom he speaks affectionately and with evident admiration.

"My father was a triple international - he played rugby and cricket for Ireland and was an IRFU referee. He was also the vet to Dublin Zoo - unpaid, of course, and with no textbooks to refer to. He knew all about cattle and horses and often talks about looking after cattle in the Liberties. But he knew little or nothing about elephants and tigers. He must have done OK, though, because he is still a consultant to the zoo and, until fairly recently, was doing referee assessments.

"He is quite a character. In fact, a critic reviewing a production of Amadeus, in which I appeared, referred to me as 'the son of the famous ham'. The name appeared in the paper, spelt with a small 'h', which was an unfortunate mistake to make for an actor!"

Lambert's close bond with the North goes back to the happy years spent at Belfast's prestigious boys' boarding school Campbell College, where he was Head Boy. "It makes me sound like an awful creep, but I adored Campbell, mainly because it offered me the opportunity to indulge my two passions - rugby and drama. God knows why they made me Head Boy. It wasn't as though I was particularly conformist, in fact I constantly bucked the system and used to climb over the wall to visit my girlfriend, who lived nearby."

He went on to take a BA in drama at Manchester University, after which he was offered a place on both the Arts Council of Great Britain's arts administration course and at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

"I chose the latter, to get acting out of my system. I was there at the same time as Daniel Day-Lewis, Miranda Richardson, Robert Reynolds - who is in this production - and Shelagh Stevenson, whom I went out with for a while." Far from getting acting out of his system, Lambert stayed on in England and worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court, the Young Vic, as well as at many of the UK's top repertory theatres. He appeared in four West End productions, including Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa and Molly Sweeney and made his directing debut at the Tricyle Theatre in London, with Michael Harding's highly-acclaimed Una Pooka.

"I was aghast that so little by Michael Harding had been done. This was its first production since its première in Dublin eight years previously. Again, I had a cracking cast, which included Jimmy Nesbitt and Richard Dormer - who, incidentally, I thought was terrific in the Lyric's recent production of Observe the Sons of Ulster."

Many productions later, he is now an associate director with the Abbey, for whom his next directing job will be on Hilary Fannin's new play, Doldrum Bay. But he also remains in demand for stage and screen roles, contriving, somehow, to keep all the plates spinning at once.

"I used to think of myself as an actor, who directed. Now, I guess, the balance of my work has gone the other way," he reflects. "I enjoy both equally, and I want to see how long I can keep them both going. I find that one informs the other. I am a more focused actor since I started directing.

"I don't have the 'third eye' that I used to have, where I'd be looking at what other people on stage were doing, instead of getting on with my own role. When you're doing whacking great plays like The Gigli Concert or The Barbaric Comedies or Ariel, there's no choice - you have to get your head down and concentrate."

But while being fulfilled by the challenges of his own professional life, he does, nevertheless, rue the difficulties currently besetting theatre in Ireland.

"We're not winning the battle of where our theatre stands in society. I am shocked by the lack of funding and the fact that the Lyric is so strapped for cash, given that it is the main producing theatre up here. When I was on the Board of DubbelJoint, I argued for there to be a flagship company in the North and I still think that should happen.

"We should also be looking to strengthen the links between North and South, which have been shamefully slack. I blame both sides for that. There should be more co-productions between the Abbey and the Lyric. It is one of my ambitions, and I know that Paula McFetridge shares that view and is taking steps in that direction. Another encouraging development is the improvement in production standards, even though money is tight.

"I think at times like this, we all need to support each other. Young actors need to feel valued and noticed, writers need to be encouraged to try out new work, casting agents need to get out and see things, not only in mainstream theatre but on the fringe, too. We shouldn't be xenophobic and, indeed, I have strong views about mixing casts from different backgrounds.

But it's a bit like football. We have to develop and grow our own theatre and then, maybe, it can start winning its rightful place and making people sit up and take notice.

The Memory of Water opens at the Lyric, Belfast tomorrow