Linehan in the pink for last DTFDublin Theatre Festival (DTF) director Fergus Linehan was in good form, in a pink Hawaiian-style shirt, and in a canoe (the things you have to do for photographers), at this week's announcement of the festival line-up for his last year as director.
Chairman Peter Crowley said he'd been warned by Linehan not to rattle on about this being his last DTF, but promised "we're all going" to Sydney for Linehan's first festival there, insisting part of the "transfer fee" was an expenses-paid trip.
The incoming DTF director, Canadian Don Shipley, and his wife, Deborah Gibson, were at the launch to meet a selection of faces from Irish theatre. Shipley has been to the DTF, and to Galway Arts Festival, before, and says he keeps in touch with what's going on through ireland.com. Shipley, among other things in a vast and impressive CV, has been director of the du Maurier World Stage Festival in Toronto, and Linehan talked about the extraordinary integrity of that festival, which he had come to love, and about how Shipley would bring a "depth of knowledge and integrity" to Dublin.
This year's DTF focus is on a strong programme of Irish work. Aside from the already-announced extensive Abbeyonehundred programme (seven plays in rep, as well as readings, discussions and lectures), there's an original Irish musical comedy by Arthur Riordan and Bell Helicopter, directed by Lynne Parker, marking Rough Magic's 20th anniversary. Described as a joyous musical satire, it is set in Dublin in 1941.
Conor McPherson's new play, Shining City, has been earning great praise in London and the Gate Theatre/Royal Court production is at the Gate. Trad, Mark Doherty's first play, which was a wow at the Galway Arts Festival,, is a late addition to the programme at Andrews Lane. This may involve a bit of bilocation for actor David Pearse, who is splendid in Trad (and makes a lovely woman) but who is also in rep in Observe the Sons at the Abbey. Both plays also have a life after the festival (see below), so ponder that for a conundrum.
The original Druid triumvirate of Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally - working together again for the first time since 1997 - are rehearsing for the next DruidSynge instalment, a double-bill of The Well of the Saints and The Tinker's Wedding, which tours as well as visiting the Tivoli for the DTF. And Mannix Flynn, whose work charting the cruelty of institutional abuse has taken many forms, including performance (James X was best new play at this year's Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards), documentation and public signage, brings it all together in Safe Houses, Safe Place.
The international imports have a Shakespearean bias, with two works directed by Ireland-born Declan Donnellan: Cheek by Jowl's Othello and Chekhov International Theatre's Twelfth Night. There's also the first visit here by the Guthrie Theatre, with Joe Dowling's production of Death of a Salesman. The Steppenwolf company, almost a fixture at Galway Arts Festival, has a second DTF visit with Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.
The Samuel Beckett Theatre will feature Jan Lauwers, one of the most talked-about directors in European theatre, with his production of No Comment; and the visually stunning and disturbing work of Romeo Castellucci's Societas Raffaello Sanzio (here in 1998 and 2000), whose Tragedia Endogonidia, is described as shocking yet stunningly beautiful. And probably a million miles away, the Ark has perhaps its most ambitious DTF programme yet, featuring Buffo, Howard Buten's clown show from France, as well as a British production of Tom Thumb and a Swiss show, Portofino Ballade.
Magic Murphy
The Rough Magic production of Take Me Away, Gerald Murphy's first play, which is at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre, has just won a Fringe First award (Rough Magic's second, following Midden in 2001). The Scotsman award was announced yesterday, following terrific reviews for the production. And director Lynne Parker is doubly celebrating, as her production for the Traverse, Shimmer, was awarded a Herald Angel award.
Reviewing Take Me Away, Charles Spenser, in the Daily Telegraph, writes: "I suppose what one is always looking for on the Fringe is the distinctive new voice, the writer with his own individual take on the world, and a talent that looks as though it might develop and endure. They crop up infrequently, and when you hit on one, the excitement is palpable. Gerald Murphy strikes me as being just such a dramatist. Take Me Away, presented by the excellent Irish company, Rough Magic, is only his second full-length play and it is a cracker, at once wildly funny and desperately bleak.
"Lynne Parker directs a sparky, superbly acted production. Aidan Kelly plays Andy like a modern-day Joxer from O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, giving a brilliant performance as a malign rat of a man who somehow also succeeds in making you feel sorry for him. Joe Hanley is deeply unsettling as the unwholesome Bren, and there's terrific support from Barry Ward as lovable Kev, and Vincent McCabe as the heavy-handed father. I await Murphy's next play with considerable impatience."
Meantime, Sam Marlowe in the Times gives it four stars and writes that "beneath the humour there's a sharp suggestion that the men's sense of futility, resentment and dislocation may have consequences that are deadly serious . . . Go and see it, and laugh till it hurts".
Abbey in the box
Really, we don't mean to harp on, but what on earth is happening at the Abbey? Its scheduling seems to be all over the place. It has already changed its start dates for the Abbeyonehundred shows in rep at the Dublin Theatre Festival after a seeming mix-up over festival dates. Now, ringing the box office this week to inquire about the dates of the shows running on in rep after the Theatre Festival, we are told by a most helpful, professional, and apologetic box-office person that its dates go no further than October 9th. The Abbey is not sure what will go on stage on a given night less than two months away.
So anyone planning a visit to Dublin to coincide with, say, seeing Observe the Sons of Ulster in October, can't be told when it's on, because the theatre - or at least the box office - doesn't know.
The nice person in the box office was clearly embarrassed, speculated that the decision hadn't been made yet as it might depend on which play was most popular at the festival, and commented that the scheduling this year was cruel. It was suggested that I ring up the artistic office, as that might put some pressure on to confirm dates. What way is this to treat the public? What way is this to treat actors and crew?
This is the National Theatre in its centenary year.
Fast-moving Crash
The appointment of Fergus Sheil, former director of the Crash Ensemble, as music specialist at the Arts Council, left an administrative vacuum which has been filled quickly, writes Michael Dervan. Crash has entered into a new partnership which will see the ensemble based in and managed by the O'Reilly Theatre. The theatre's manager, Mary Hickson, described the move as "a huge endorsement of our programme" and said it was "a great honour to be associated with such an adventurous and technically brilliant group of musicians".
The move has also been enthusiastically welcomed by Crash's artistic director, Donnacha Dennehy. A date for Crash's first appearance in its new home has yet to be finalised. But the theatre will be flying the flag for new music on September 14th and 15th, with two appearances by the Kronos Quartet, the group's first independent concerts in Dublin.
Dear, oh dear. Outdoors isn't a great place for Kilkenny this year. Last weekend's Woodstock event was marred by poor acoustics and organisation on Saturday, not to mention poor weather on Sunday. Then the massive plaques that comprise Shane Cullen's The Agreement, mounted in the grounds of Kilkenny Castle, facing the sweeping lawns - and unfortunately the prevailing winds too - were blown over and smashed to bits. Then a Jim Collins silhouette sculpture, decked out in Tipperary's blue and gold, was reportedly stolen this week. As the piece weighed more than 28 stone, Sgt Pat Murray was reported in the Sun to observe that "the theft took at least two men because of the weight of the three-inch thick piece of sheet metal used in the work".
The Association of Professional Dancers in Ireland (APDI) will hold its agm tomorrow between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. in The Paramount Hotel, Parliament Street, Dublin 2. Attend to make your voice heard or make suggestions on how the APDI can serve the professional dance community. Email: prodance@iol.ie; tel: 01-8730288.