Profile for Dubliner

She's very good. I liked her in Oklahoma!. She was a very fine Anna in a touring production of The King and I a few years ago and she was sensational as Gussie in Merrily We Roll Along.

Original Abbey Theatre cast of Dancing at LughnasaMarie Mullen and Anna Manahan in The Beauty Queen of LeenaneDonal McCann in The Steward of ChristendomSinead Cusack in Our Lady of Sligo and Our Few and Evil DaysJudi Dench in A Little Night MusicHugh Jackman in Oklahoma!The History BoysMichael Ball in Hairspray Fiona Shaw in MedeaCillian Murphy and Eileen Walsh in Disco PigsDaniel Evans and Jenna Russell in Sunday in the Park with GeorgeElena Roger in Piaf and PassionRuth Negga in DuckAnita R...

It's such a pity no-one uses the original Sean Kenny set - it was one of the great wonders of the theatrical world.

I think she'd be a great Nancy in Oliver!

Not to mention Translations where he convinced us that the Irish characters were speaking Irish and the English, English with everyone speaking in English. Creating both Gar Public and Gar Private must have been hugely innovative when Philadelphia, Here I Come! was new.

So many wonderful memories. My favourite was back in 1990 when I was a new theatregoer and saw the very first production of Dancing at Lughnasa at the Abbey. The set with its beautiful cornfield wreathed in golden light created magic from the moment you entered the theatre. By the time Frances Tomelty's Aunt Kate took Barry McGovern's Father Jack by the elbow and gently steered him through the cornfield at the interval everyone knew they were seeing the birth of a masterpiece. I have never fo...

Isn't Shall We Dance a polka?

The Sean Kenny set is still one of the wonders of the theatrical world. I wish they would start using it again.

Its quite simple - just bare flats at the side and the stage is left mostly free for the dance. Its very low tech and much the better for it. There are various cut out pieces that are flown in like perspectives of the Hausmann boulevards that are cleverly arranged in different ways to create different locales. These are then projected on, sometimes in a very vague way and sometimes with more more detail. They are subtly animated so they come to life as sketches or watercolours. The whole effe...

I saw this in Paris last night and its ravishing - the French audience adored it. Its really in terrific shape for six performances into an out-ot-town tryout. The choreography is out of this world. Some of the ballets - the main one and an exquisite one set in Galleries Lafayette are nearly complete shows in their own right. The book (which is lovely and simple and perfectly in tune with the era it is set in - no irony or knowingness) may be tightened a little before Broadway. All the princi...

There was a West End run in the eighties starring Danny La Rue at the Prince of Wales.

August Rush - not a great movie but such great potential for a musical based around the derelict theatre.

Passion

We in Dublin have been blessed this summer by a glorious production of A Streetcar Named Desire directed by Ethan McSweeny at The Gate Theatre. A play that everyone thought they knew well has come across as a visceral and deeply moving experience with an unforgettable Blanche from Lia Williams. I would be grateful if American theatergoers might share their views on some of his other productions as this is the first time we have seen his work in Ireland.

There have been two major attempts in London. Both failed so I think its unlikely.

Did anyone get to see Caroline O'Connor in Paris?

I abosolutely loved Anita Reeves at the Dublin Gate. Scary and hilarious in a lilac wig. I liked Imelda Staunton too.

Oh dear the production sounds rather gimmicky. In Dublin Garry Hynes set it in a simple hut with a tented roof that extended over the audience. Mary just had a table and chairs. There was no vulture and no bathing. I wonder is the script very different? In Dublin it was called just Testament and she was just called Woman. The book had not been published at the time.

No the play is based on the Virgin Mary's life in Ephesus after the Gospels. I've seen the original Garry Hynes/Marie Mullen production in Dublin. It is challenging and presents Mary as a complex and real human being. It asserts that she is being controlled by the apostles and that her views on Jesus life are being distorted by them for their own purposes. I would not however consider it blasphemous or controversial. The reaction in Dublin was mature and considered and there were no protests.

Thats hilarious - I've been looking at that artwork for years and I still wouldn't have seen them except for your post!