The judges tell Rosita Bolandabout their year in theatre.
Every large task that involves diligent attention to a timetable usually has one person who emerges as somewhat more naturally organised than the rest of the team. In the case of the three Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards judges, the task of juggling dates and productions so that all new theatre and opera productions were seen by at least one judge fell to Tony Ó Dálaigh, former director of the Dublin Theatre Festival.
"Logistically, it's a nightmare, but Tony did police it quite carefully," says first-time judge Patrick Sutton, director of the Gaiety School of Acting.
"Tony and his lists!" says Philomena Byrne with relief. Byrne is head of public affairs at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and is also a first-time judge.
With each judge seeing some 120 productions on average, and all of them seeing every major show, the trio had to be highly organised. Ó Dálaigh saw 39 shows at the Dublin Fringe Festival alone. While he has praise for the Fringe's new-style programme, both in its clarity of layout and helpful descriptions of productions, he says, "I didn't think it was an outstanding Fringe".
"In particular, there was a lot of underestimation of the demands needed to create a really good piece of physical theatre," comments Byrne.
"This last year," says Sutton, "I've seen theatre performed in swimming-pools, in hotel rooms, churches, bars, cafes and pubs. It's been an extraordinary range of work, from the dull and dated to the breathtaking. Definitely, though, issues of standards need to be brought to bear with some companies."
"There wasn't a major production that we didn't all see, and if there was something exceptional at the Fringe, we e-mailed each other about it," says Byrne.
So what were the surprises this year for the judges? "The North didn't feature as strongly this year," notes Ó Dálaigh. "I don't mean the North as a theme, I mean Northern-based theatres and productions. Definitely not a vintage year for them. There were a large number of new plays, but surprisingly, very few new playwrights; a lot of the same names again."
"There was some excellent children's theatre, which isn't something I'd usually be going to," reports Byrne. "And children are a very critical audience."
They all report being disappointed in their expectations of Cork 2005 European Capital of Culture. Having visited the major Cork 2005 productions, they were not very impressed by what they saw.
"It didn't make the difference to the year one would expect," Byrne says.
"There were a number of reasonable productions, but I would have expected more from the Capital of Culture. You have to ask yourself, did the organisers invest enough in local theatre?" says ÓDálaigh.
For Byrne and Ó Dálaigh, the most difficult categories to shortlist were those of leading actor and actress, "especially actress. We argued lot about that shortlist".
For Sutton, the section he found both most challenging and exciting to come down to a shortlist on was the judges' special awards category.
"I was very excited by the innovative work we saw: companies who were not afraid of taking a risk.
"When you're seeing a lot of theatre, as we all did during the year, you almost resent the lows. The reverse is true of the good productions. They uplift you and challenge you. You come out rewarded and excited, rather than angry - which did sometimes happen."
Ó Dálaigh would like to see a new category, one encompassing sound and music: "Soundscape," he suggests. "To look at the creative use of sound in the way you would lighting or costume design."
In general, the judges report that they found audiences to be quite healthy in Dublin theatres, but much less so outside the capital.
"You do need excellence to develop audiences in the regions. There should be more touring from Dublin-based theatres," comments Byrne.
They all muse about the fact that, because of the a new culture of commuting, that regional theatres in theory should be doing quite well. "They should be growing their audiences," says Byrne.
"I don't think I ever saw a show in the regions that had a full house," says Sutton. During the year, he once found himself at a show where he was one of only two in the audience. Sutton gave the performers a standing ovation. The other audience member remained seated.
What did impress Byrne was the large groups of young people she saw attending Fringe festival shows in Dublin. "Where are they the rest of the year?!" she says wryly.