On The Town: A bride a gun-wielding detective and a Victorian couple sauntered across Dublin's Sean O'Casey Bridge at midday earlier this week.
For some, it was a surreal sight. Soon these costumed actors will be leaving to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, helped by funding and support from Culture Ireland, the body set up to provide backing for Irish arts in an international context.
Emma O'Kane, dressed as a bride, is one of the dancers in CoisCéim's production of Knots. Simon Toal, wearing a fedora, a blue trenchcoat and a suit, will be performing in a one-man show, from Flipside Productions with the Focus Theatre, called The Friends of Jack Kairo. Meanwhile, the Victorian couple, Niamh Daly and Damien Devaney, were representing the Performance Corporation show, Dr Ledbetter's Experiment.
, dressed as a bride, is one of the dancers in CoisCéim's production of
Knots
.
Simon Toal
, wearing a fedora, a blue trenchcoat and a suit, will be performing in a one-man show, from Flipside Productions with the Focus Theatre, called
The Friends of Jack Kairo
. Meanwhile, the Victorian couple,
Niamh Daly
and
Damien Devaney
, were representing the Performance Corporation show,
Dr Ledbetter's Experiment
.
Other actors who gathered for the drinks reception in the Dublin Docklands area included Lisa Lambe, Karen Egan, Iseult Golden, Carmel Stephens, Matthew Darcy and Gary Murphy.
Culture Ireland board members came to wish them well for the festival, which runs from Aug 6th to 28th.
Board member Doireann Ní Bhriain, who spoke on behalf of Culture Ireland, thanked the companies "for being so good at what you do - because that, after all, is why we're supporting you to be there. We don't expect miracles, but it would be nice if you brought home a few awards".
Culture Ireland, she said, "is delighted to be able to support you and to help create attention for the Irish companies who will be taking part". She also thanked the Dublinbased Irish Theatre Institute, which is partnering Culture Ireland in the organisation of "Ireland's presence" at Edinburgh this year.
Other Culture Ireland board members who arrived to wish bon voyage to the travelling troupe of theatre companies included Mark Mulqueen, director of the Irish Film Institute; Mary McCarthy, arts manager of the Dublin Docklands Authority, and Patrick Sutton, director of the Gaiety School of Acting.