The latest arrival on the theatrical scene in Cork is Poor Mouth Theatre Company, dedicated to promoting new writers and new work. As its name implies, the company is not cash rich but what it lacks in resources it replaces with enthusiasm.
The Granary Theatre at Cork's Mardyke is now headquarters to the company which will be launched officially there next Tuesday with a production of
Urban Angels, the latest play by one of its founders, Ms Oonagh Kearney.
Ms Kearney made her debut as a playwright with Calling Hilary, winner of the Irish Student Drama Award for best new writing in 1997. After student drama at UCC, Ms Kearney trained at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College Dublin, and has been successful as a director, most recently with a comedy, Ding Dong, at the Cork Opera House.
"We are the first new theatre company in Cork for the year 2001 and the first professional theatre company to come out of Cork in many years," says Ms Kearney, adding that Poor Mouth's mission statement, having been weaned on the fringes of mainstream theatre, is to be inclusive.
Auditions will be open "allowing fair access to the stage for potential talented candidates . . . the company will encourage, nurture and appreciate creative exchange from all its members which will help us to innovate, experiment and entertain."
Co-founder of the company is freelance producer Pat Byrne, who has been involved in initiatives such as adapting Christmas shows for children with special needs, professional lunchtime theatre and the New Children's Summer Theatre Festival. He is also producing Urban Angels, the story of how an accident changes the lives of seven people.
"We must prove ourselves first but, hopefully, down the line we will be eligible for funding from the powers that be," Ms Kearney said.