ROUGH Magic Theatre, Scotland? Has the successful, Dublin based theatre company formed another company, in a country with which it has strong associations, and in which it has an excellent reputation? No, it has not. Rough Magic Theatre, Scotland, has absolutely nothing to do with the Irish company, it just happened to pick the same two words from The Tempest for its name.

The Scottish company, which says it was formed three years ago, presented three productions at the Edinburgh Festival including one Fringe First Winner, a devised work called The Last Supper of Dr. Faustus.

But Rough Magic Theatre Company, Ireland, is less than happy with this overlapping nomenclature, and at present the solicitors of the two companies are communicating. Rough Magic (Scotland) claims it had no knowledge of the Irish company when it picked the name. The Irish company had traded extensively in Britain, but it had not registered the name Rough Magic as an international trademark.

We await a speedy resolution of the situation, which only serves to confuse the theatre goer. But that's not all: a film company trading from the Isle of Man also goes by the name Rough Magic, though it has no link to either theatre company.

This at a time when our own Rough Magic are busy branching into film, with a production of Declan Hughes's Digging for Fire.

Meanwhile the Irish Rough Magic will he back in London from next Tuesday, at the Donmar Warehouse with their acclaimed production of Stewart Parker's Pentecost, directed by Lynn Parker. The production runs until September 28th. Expect another crop of good reviews for an Irish production in London, and some confusion in the minds of the readers of the British arts press.