Crean chronicle takes Fringe First

ArtScape: Aidan Dooley's terrific show Tom Crean, Antarctic Explorer has just won a Fringe First award in Edinburgh. The show, written and performed by Dooley, which he toured "all over Ireland in the back of my Ford Mondeo", won the prestigious award yesterday, and is now destined to be seen by an even wider audience.

The Fringe First primarily means that "Mr Crean's story will have a a platform in British theatres", Dooley said this week. He was thrilled that "Tom's story and my telling of it has been acknowledged at that sort of level".

The show at Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms has been getting a great reaction from audiences, and was reviewed very well: Lyn Gardner of the Guardian, in a three-star review, wrote: "This one-man show is a genuine small pleasure, the kind of piece that the Fringe often throws up that gives you an insight into unseen and unsung lives." The Scotsman gave it four stars and said: "If you're looking for untold stories, there can be few to beat that of Irishman Tom Crean. [The] show is a charming, funny, perfectly pitched account of an ordinary man who helped to turn the wheels of history."

It tells the story of the titular, intrepid Irish explorer (1877-1938), the only man to serve with Scott and Shackleton on three expeditions. It has previously won Dooley the best solo performance award at the New York International Fringe Festival 2003 and a best actor nomination at the Dublin Fringe Festival 2003.

Producer Pat Moylan was "blown away" by the show when she first saw it, and along with the show's producer, Gerald Armin, took the risk to bring it to Edinburgh. Moylan's faith in the show was justified this week: "You never hope to make money on Edinburgh, but this means we won't lose our shirt."

The show will have a small Irish tour in September, and is in Andrew's Lane Theatre in Dublin for November.

[ www.tomcrean.co.uk ]

Lady of the dance to step down

Catherine Nunes, who could be described as the midwife of Dublin's International Dance Festival, has announced her decision to step down from her place at the helm towards the end of the year. She has been involved in the festival from the very earliest period of research back in 1997, right through to three festivals as artistic director, the most recent in April and May this year.

"From the very beginning, it was my intention to do three festivals and then evaluate my position," says Nunes. "As it stands, the festival is now well established, so much so that we recently attained annual status, and I feel that I have now achieved all that I set out to do.

The festival is currently on the crest of a wave and it seems an appropriate time to hand it over. It is a fabulous job for someone who has ambition and vision for dance in Ireland, and I wish the festival continuing success."

Nunes's vision has been very much behind the development and success of the festival, which has gone from scratch to annual international festival in a very short time. She is currently programming an interim year event for 2007 as she paves the way for her successor to programme the first annual festival in 2008.

Chairman of the festival, Dermot McLaughlin, says, "Catherine has put Dublin and Ireland on the map as a great location for a world-class international dance festival. The first phase in the festival's evolution is coming to an end, and under Catherine's passionate and visionary direction we have achieved everything that we set out to do. Her departure creates a tremendously exciting opportunity for our next artistic director and we will begin the recruitment process later this month. On behalf of the board, I wish Catherine continued success in her career."

Fate mocks Kilkenny

Most festivals will have to wrestle with circumstances beyond their control, but few have faced as many mishaps as the Kilkenny Arts Festival this year, writes Peter Crawley.

The festival schedule was first buffeted by the cancellation of Welsh children's storyteller Catherine Aran's appearance due to "unforeseen circumstances".

Aran's three appointments were filled at short notice by Niall de Burca, Danielle Allison and Jack Lynch.

No such replacement was possible for Femi Kuti, the Nigerian Afrobeat star, whose heavily promoted concert was cancelled at the 11th hour due to illness (his Dublin appearance had also been cancelled, three days earlier).

Any disappointed Afrobeat fans who traded in their tickets for the opening show of Strike, by French physical theatre company Fiat Lux, must have felt they were being singled out by fate's mocking finger. That performance was also cancelled, again just hours before curtain, when one performer, Melanie Del Din, was unable to board an aircraft in Paris due to insufficient identification.

Her problems were exacerbated by security measures imposed following last week's terror alert, and Del Din was unable to travel until the following day, arriving so late that the sold-out second performance of Strike came nail-bitingly close to cancellation once again.

Thankfully, sensitive to the twin obstacles of viral infection and global terror, Kilkenny audiences have been sympathetic to the sudden schedule changes. Strike was extended for one more performance yesterday, while festival organisers are in discussion with Femi Kuti's handlers to reschedule his appearance.

Fans of small ironies may appreciate the names of the companies involved. Fiat Lux - the Latin for "Let there be light" - and Kuti's band, the Positive Force, have both suffered dark misfortunes. The festival's visual arts programme on the other hand, entitled Failure, has reported no problems. Coincidence?

Lorient proves bitter-sweet

The 36th Festival Interceltique de Lorient - the Year of Australia - is over, and for the new chief of the Irish delegation, Reuben Ó Conluain, it has been something of a baptism of fire, writes Jane Coyle.

After being centre-stage at the 2005 Year of Ireland, the 170-strong delegation may have been rather smaller than usual, but its 10-day stay was no less eventful.

On the plus side, Robert Watt from Maghera in Co Derry, lifted the MacCrimmon Cup for solo bagpiping for an impressive fourth time.

"This is virtually the world championship for solo piping and we were all absolutely delighted with Robert's achievement," says Ó Conluain. "It shows a mastery of Irish, Scottish and Breton styles of piping."

But the final weekend of the festival saw reports of unruly conduct at the accommodation where Dord Fhiann was staying, which resulted in Dord Fhiann being excluded from the final of the Tremplin competition for up-and-coming musicians and making headlines in Ouest-France newspaper. The Irish Times spoke to a member of the group, who did not wish to publicly comment on the matter.

"It was a pity," says Ó Conluain. "The Tremplin is a prestigious competition, which takes place over a week and involves 15 bands performing in front of a panel of judges. Five were called back to the final, including two from Ireland. But after several warnings and complaints from fellow residents of the school, where a small number of our delegation were staying, I was not prepared to allow this group [Dord Fhiann] to represent our country."

The second band, Spleadar! from Dublin, took its place in the final line-up and carried off third prize, behind bands from Brittany and Scotland. However, Ó Conluain, who for a number of years was deputy to Tomás Mac Ruairí, the former head of delegation, says that the incident did not tarnish the positive experience of the majority of the group.

"I can't recall a year when the spirit was as good, particularly between the pipe bands from the North and the South," he says. "The Matt Boyd Memorial Pipe Band from Pomeroy in Co Tyrone and the Colman Dancers and New Ross Pipe Band from Co Wexford got on particularly well and helped each other out in the parades and public performances.

"If you are serious about making a career in music, Lorient is the place to go.We are disappointed that one of the groups did not maximise the potential opportunities that were offered to them."

• The Association of Drama Adjudicators has extended the deadline for applications to its entry conference for membership of the association. The closing date is now Tuesday, August 29th. The phone number we carried last Saturday was incorrect; the correct number is 053-9425124.