ARTSCAPE:THE ECONOMIC MELTDOWN and cutbacks have hit the arts as much as any other area, but this week there was evidence of some, um, spirit of the blitz, in the theatre world at least. Some 120 theatre people from throughout Ireland got together for a huge Theatre Forum (TF) meeting on Wednesday, in a sort of can-do way; "In adversity there is community," commented TF's Tania Banotti afterwards.
Anger and apprehension about the future might have been expected, but the meeting was positive, with many suggestions about how companies can think smart with scarce resources, and pool what each has to assist others. While most theatre companies (barring the bigger ones) have had cuts of 10 to 30 per cent, there was almost a sense, apparently, that they’ve been around the block before, are used to dealing with lean resources and want to get on with positively dealing with the situation.
To cope with reduced finances, the theatre world could opt for longer runs for shows and setting up more touring circuits. Abbey director Fiach Mac Conghail talked about making the Peacock available to independent companies during the weeks when it is dark (and it will be dark more frequently, presumably, given reduced circumstances) and said the national theatre could offer other things, such as payroll services and the free use of rehearsal rooms when they are not occupied. It also plans to tour its own work more, and the Abbey might bring actors on a roadshow around Ireland. The Project suggested it could act as a hub for emerging artists, centralising payroll and marketing activities. Dublin Dance Festival suggested that Dublin festivals share production offices, media-space purchasing and design costs.
Meanwhile, Irish theatre had a brilliant week internationally, with both Pan Pan and Gare St Lazare getting great reviews in the New York Times for their shows in the Under the Radar festival. Ben Brantley devoted a half-page to Pan Pan, praising The Crumb Trail, while on Wednesday Conor Lovett also got a terrific review for First Love. Pat Kinevane’s NY showcase performance of Fishamble’s Forgotten also went down well. All of which, said Culture Ireland’s Eugene Downes, is great international exposure and recognition and puts Irish theatre in pole position for bringing more work to the US.
Enter Friel, stage left
Oddly, Brian Friel’s 80th birthday this year doesn’t appear to be celebrated by any major productions in the Republic. But Belfast’s Lyric Theatre is presenting The Home Place next month at the city’s Grand Opera House (Lyric is temporarily away from home as the builders are in) featuring Ian McElhinney (in the lead role of Christopher Gore) and double Olivier Award winner Conleth Hill. Directed by Mick Gordon and designed by Ferdia Murphy (the team who did Dancing at Lughnasa on the old Lyric stage in 2007), the production has the full backing and involvement of Friel.
Farther afield, the Gate Theatre’s Faith Healer started previews on Thursday as part of the Gate’s celebration of Friel’s work during the Sydney Festival, which is a week into its three-week run. As well as Faith Healer (directed by Robin Lefèvre and with Owen Roe, Ingrid Craigie and British actor Kim Durham), it is presenting The Yalta Game (Francesca Annis and Niall Buggy, directed by Lefèvre) and Afterplay (Rebecca O’Mara and Risteárd Cooper, directed by Patrick Mason). Other Irish interest in the large international line-up includes Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (backed by The Frames) as well as Martin Hayes with other Irish musicians. Both acts are at the Sydney Opera House, where Hansard’s was one of the fastest-selling shows of the festival.
This is Fergus Linehan’s fourth and last year as Sydney Festival director, and the Sydney Morning Herald wrote: “Aside from respecting rather than uprooting tradition, the director and his team have introduced topical and seductive variations to the festival’s DNA.” Linehan told the paper he’ll “miss the egalitarian Australian thing; it’s a straight-shooting place and, at its best, I love that sense of decency, honesty and people getting a fair go. I know that’s a cliché but it’s a profound and beautiful thing.”
