The undisputed hit of last year's Eircom Dublin Theatre Festival was an epic play called Cloudstreet, a four-hour saga of two contrasting families produced by Australia's Company B. Its reception was so tumultuous that a return visit was mandatory, and Company B is indeed back with a different kind of family show, of a mere two hours duration. This one, The Small Poppies, is about the first day at school, and six actors play some 20 archetypal roles; children and adults, teachers and bullies.
Geoffrey Rush (right), Oscar-winning star of the film Shine, downsizes to a five-year-old, and several faces from last year's triumph will reappear. These performances, the only ones outside Australia as yet, open in the Tivoli Theatre next Wednesday.