Do You feel a lack of, freedom, creative or otherwise, because of the structures in the Abbey, and the expectations involved?

Kathy, Any institution has structures that are in danger of calcifying, and it is up to us to be aware of them and make sure they melt, and adapt to our creative advantage.

Jimmy, There are a lot of misconceptions about the Abbey, mainly because of bad publicity. It is actually very different from what I. had imagined. Watching Brian Brady directing The Hostage, I've been realising bow much creative freedom he has to do what he likes. The play is going to be a big, shock for a lot of people, at least I hope so.

Karin, There is a perception that there are a lot of heavy structures in the Abbey, but although the working mechanisms and practices may be slow moving, the old style tenets are gone, or massively reduced, and were so before we came in. We wouldn't be here otherwise, people our age, two women like me and Kathy running departments.

Kathy, Freedom can be defined in different ways. If you are working on a fringe show with no budget, you have the freedom to fail gloriously with all guns blazing, You can inhabit a world where imagination is all and money is nothing. In an institution like the Abbey you can have the sort of freedom that what you do might create change at a national and political level.

Conall, This sort of freedom creates its own responsibility. You have to rise to it. Patrick Mason has told us to come to him with ideas, but they must be good ideas, and he wants us to be able to execute them. This is both liberating and demanding.

. The Abbey is often criticised for receiving too much Arts Council funding the 1996 allocation for its various activities is £23/4 million. But those who work in the Abbey complain that the grant is not adequate for its needs. What do you think of the funding situation?

Karin, Working in independent theatres and then working in the Abbey, you realise that the financial constraints are actually similar, relatively speaking.

Brian, The stage of the Abbey is massive, and the Productions that it requires are quite massive.

Jimmy, The overheads are enormous. In so many fringe shows, nobody gets paid. In the Abbey, people are paid properly and I would imagine that most of the budget goes on wages.

Karin, And although the Abbey has a commitment to paying people a professional wage, you don't get paid well, you get the minimum.

Brian, Nobody in theatre gets enough money, not even the Abbey. If there is a commitment to a State subsidised theatre, then the State should commit to subsidising that, theatre.

. Does the insistence of the Art's Council that the Abbey aim for a higher ratio of box office revenue to subsidy mean that the choice of plays that are put on is limited to old faithfuls like Playboy, Macbeth and Hostage?

Karin, I think putting on Shakespeare at the National Theatre is an adventurous choice.

Brian, There have been very few large scale professional productions of Shakespeare in Ireland over the last 20 years. I had never seen a large scale production of Playboy before we did it at the Abbey. A lot of my contemporaries hadn't either. It is the same with Hostage.

Jimmy, Hostage is very resonant at the moment. There is a line in our adaptation of the text which reads "the IRA is out of date". In the middle of rehearsals, that line took on a whole new meaning when we had the Canary Wharf bombing.

. What does the National Theatre mean to you?

Kathy, It should reflect the fragmented realities that constitute the identity of this country. It should contain a repository of stories that are about us as a nation, and be a place where those stories can be challenged and tested and investigated for their current meaning.

. Who owns the National Theatre?

Kathy, The Abbey will be succeeding in a lot of things when the people of this country feel they own it. This has very little to do with people paying taxes. It is about developing links with people and getting them to participate. An increased participation engenders a wider audience.

The Abbey has traditionally been seen as a writer's theatre. Is this still true?

Karin, We do seven to 10 productions of new plays every year, but in encouraging new writing, we want to change the focus to a more visual approach, involve designers more. I'm trying to engender this sort of challenging new material either devised or text based.

Kathy, New forms of theatre are evolving in this country which are not writer dependent. Youth theatre tends to be more interested in what is minimalist and symbolic. There is a recognition of a need for new theatrical form in order to communicate new life experience.

Karin, We're thinking of having a Dirt Floor season of theatre in May, incorporating opera, dance and multi media, all those different forms.

Kathy, We are also organising a series of workshops for young women playwrights in September. We want to encourage more women to write plays,

. The Abbey has been criticised (notably among those questioned for the Arts Council commissioned Views of Theatre in Ireland survey) for not making enough connections with the local community, or with other theatres around Ireland. Is it too insular?

Kathy, In May and again in the Winter, there will be an Outreach Programme in the Peacock where community groups, groups of old people, groups of young people, all sorts of organisations, will come in and put on their plays tell their stories. This is a huge step forward from the old days.

Conall, The Abbey is doing some co productions with other theatres. Those divisions are breaking down.

Brian, There is an informal grapevine.

Kathy, But ways of formalising links with other theatre companies should be explored further. We can function as a resource for smaller companies.

Karin, In my area of looking at scripts, I have formal links with three independent theatre companies also with film companies in Dublin.

Kathy, As for the way the building is perceived by the local community, it doesn't help that it looks like a concrete bunker. The front portico has partially ameliorated that. But the plans for the rebuilding of the theatre include a new facade of glass, which will make it open to the street.

I want to get more young people into the theatre to put on their own plays. This will involve a process of re-educating the Abbey staff. Fear of young people is widespread in Ireland. There is an attitude that if young people come into the theatre, they will inevitably steal props or break something they'll make too much noise.

. What is Patrick Mason like to work with?

Conall, A lot of people in the arts feel they have to guard their patch and their own status. Patrick has the generosity of spirit and the conviction to allow us in to challenge him. He is genuinely open to our input.

Karin, He's the first artistic director to spread that decision making process over a team. It may slow the process down, but it makes it a lot more vital.

Brian, There is a creative dialectic that goes on in Patrick's office. We're in there badgering him, and he's very receptive.

Conall, The attitude is very much we are happy to have you, and what can you offer us?

. Do you think of your work within theatre as a career, or a vocation? Has working in the Abbey changed your perception of what you do?

Karin, You wouldn't do this as a career, you'd have to be out of your mind, there is so much stress. But I think for most of us, this is, the first time we've ever had a regular wage. Wages mean you can concentrate on doing what you want to do you don't have to compromise yourself.

Conall, You have more energy, not worrying where the next gig is coming from. And as a staff director at the Abbey, I can still do freelance directing elsewhere, which keeps me fresh.

Jimmy, Theatre is always a vocation, whether you are in the fringe or the Abbey.