There will be no hole in the Project @ The Mint, just a Theatre Space @ Henry Place. Teresa O'Toole-Cahill, wife of Patrick Cahill who let the venue to the Project and runs the adjacent pool hall, took over the newly-named venue last Saturday.
The new occupants of the building don't intend to produce their own plays in the immediate future but to rent out the venue to visiting theatre companies. O'Toole-Cahill and her husband hope to establish a theatre company at a later date. Both are keen that the venue remains active as a performing space.
"We are looking for bookings from established theatre companies that have used the theatre, and new and young theatre companies from around the country," says O'Toole-Cahill. "We hope that younger companies that would not usually be able to afford the cost of a rental would use the venue for daytime performances or rehearsals."
The couple say their first priority in the short-term is to increase the comfort in the theatre, for both audiences and actors. Plans have been drawn up to increase the capacity of the venue from 120 to 204 seats in early 2001, with wheelchair access via the theatre's back stairwell. The expansion will involve raising the height of the roof.
Cahill holds a 35-year lease on the building which houses the theatre, and says he does not know why the Project did not attempt to negotiate an extension to its lease, which expires in November. In a press release issued last week the Project said it was unable to agree terms on a new contract to extend its lease in the building. The company refuses to comment any further on the matter.
The Theatre Space @ Henry Place: 018729977.
A comedy set on a pig-farm and an exploration of familial grief - such are the clashes and contrasts of Amharclann de hIde's autumn programme of new plays in Irish. The first is Alan Titley's An Ghrain agus an Ghruaim, which opens next week at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College, Dublin, and the second, Liam O Muirthile's Liodain na hAbhann, which opens on December 11th at the Crypt Arts Centre in Dublin. Both will be directed by Brid Ni Gallchoir, the company's artistic director, who spoke passionately last week in an interview in Tuarascail about drama growing, in an organic way, from the nature of the language.
01-4754901
The ESB Dublin Jazz Week returns later this month, after its stunning debut last year. Among the many highlights are a new commission from the endlessly versatile Ronan Guilfoyle, the UMO Jazz Orchestra from Finland, the jazz pianist Django Bates and the trumpeter/trombonist Michael Mossman, who will play with the Dublin-based Night in Havana orchestra. Continuing the Cuban theme, the festival has also scooped the Irish premiere of Wim Wenders's film, The Buena Vista Social Club, a spin-off from Ry Cooder's hit album of the same name, recorded with venerable veteran Cuban musicians.
The festival runs from September 20th-26th. The box office is at Tower Records, Wicklow Street, Dublin from Monday. Tel 01-6725862 for credit card bookings
A wager for charity "in the spirit of Jack Kerouak and the quiet desperation of Help the Aged" is taking place as you read this in the Wexford area. Australian actor Neil Titley has bet that he can give 20 performances of his Oscar Wilde show, Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes in 20 different pubs in 20 different towns in Ireland in 40 days (and 40 nights, no doubt - fasting in the desert is in the half-penny place and no mistake). He is heading through Wexford and Wicklow towards Dublin. Tel: 0044-771-2435305
A bridge is being built across the Irish sea to Wales. Wondering why it's not getting more coverage? Well, it's a performing arts bridge, and not surprisingly, Siobhan Bourke, late of Rough Magic and the originator of the Theatre Shop, is behind the idea. PACT @ Temple Bar and Aberystwyth Arts Centre (partly funded by the EU) will provide funding to performing art companies, venues and producers in Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Meath, South Tipperary, Wexford and Wicklow, to encourage the development of cultural links with Wales. Applications for the first round of grants close on October 31st. Tel: 016772255
The Theatre Shop during the Dublin Theatre Festival will be the first chance to network with the Welsh contingent. It will run on Friday, October 15th at the Dublin Writers' Museum, Parnell Square. Information from Maura O'Keeffe on 01-6727744
Two of the greatest Irish traditional singers, Donegal sisters Maighread and Triona Ni Dhomhnaill have recorded an album together. Idir Dha Sholas, produced by Donal Lunny, will be released on Hummingbird later in the month. The Scotsman gave them four stars for their performance at the Edinburgh Fringe at the weekend:
They plan to tour Ireland in the autumn.
The deadline is September 30th for applications for the six-month position of writer-in-residence (from November) with Leitrim County Council - write to the County Secretary, Leitrim County Council, Park Lane House, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim . . . The writer and linguist, George Steiner, will be interviewed in public at the Edmund Burke Theatre, TCD on September 24th at 8 p.m. . . . the Galway Film Centre, with RTE, is inviting applications for their short scripts awards - phone 091- 770748 for information.
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