On the Town:Fun was on everyone's mind at the launch of the Dublin Fringe Festival 2007 programme in the Tivoli this week. "We would like to tap into everybody reclaiming their right to play and have fun," said programme manager Jennifer Jennings.
"With the growth in popularity of outdoor music and arts festivals there seems to be a resurgence of people just grabbing life and making the most of it.
"Our 'come play' theme is an invitation to everyone to come and engage with us. Come see our shows, come talk about them with us afterwards, come let us know what you think and feed into the fringe."
Grabbing the fun baton and running with it was artist Will St Leger, who unveiled one of the works in his show, Art Raid, where viewers are presented with the opportunity to steal the art on display - in this case, 500 punt notes emblazoned with Bertie Ahern's face. The presence of cameras, alarms and a security guard (St Leger himself) made some think twice about nabbing a free artwork, however. Explaining the idea behind the show, St Leger said that "art has lost its excitement, people don't have strong reactions to it any more. I want people's hearts to be racing when they leave the venue".
Also well-versed in the art of play is Rory O'Neill, whose alter ego, Panti, will perform show called All Dolled Upduring the Fringe.
"My whole living is about encouraging people to have a good time, so it's my specialist subject, play," he said. "My show is a poorly disguised excuse to tell a lot of stories about a life in drag, in the form of a comic lecture."
Festival director Wolfgang Hoffmannsaid his third year in his current role has been the most rewarding yet, particularly organising the line-up at the Spiegeltent, an intimate continental-style mirrored venue.
"I think the Spiegeltent music events are really strong and will hopefully impress people," he said.
Among those at the packed venue were Project Arts Centre artistic director Willie Whiteand playwright Philip McMahon, whose new play, All Over Town, premieres during the festival.
• The Dublin Fringe Festival runs from Sept 8to 23; www.fringefest.com