THE first in the Arts Council's series of regional meetings in the Theatre Review process took place at Garter Lane in Waterford on Saturday. The meeting was organised into a series of plenary sessions, rather than workshops, but the workshop model will be used again for the second meeting in Cork on Saturday (Firkin Crane Centre, 11.30 am to 4.30 pm; the meeting's theme will be the level of interaction there is - and isn't - between different areas of the theatre sector.)

The practical suggestions of Ben Barnes of Groundwork as to criteria for the assessment of theatre companies for funding were heard with particular interest. Questions worth asking included, he said, what is a company's artistic remit, what are its administrative and legal structures, who is its audience, how will it attract and retain this audience, and what are its resources? He also asked whether funding shouldn't be allocated to young theatre professionals on the basis of projects, lessening the emphasis on company formation.

The quite radical suggestion came from the floor that relevant Arts Council steering committees should work with groups of theatre professionals to formulate policy.

Vic Merriman, chairperson of the Theatre Review's Steering Committee, and of the Arts Council's drama sub committee, put it on the record that the Theatre Review's consultative process will supersede the theatre chapter in the Arts Plan 1995-1997 - and perhaps it is significant that there was no formal discussion of the controversial proposal in the three year plan to make Waterford a "centre of excellence" for theatre.