Little Dublin theatre turns up the heat

The New Theatre's managers, Ronan Wilmot and Anthony Fox, are very proud of their new heating system. "Look," Wilmot says straightaway, pointing to the newly-installed radiators flanking the seats, "central heating!" Before this, the audience in the East Essex Street premises had to provide their own heating system by leaving their coats on while watching performances.

The New Theatre has just undergone a major revamp. It's not just the heating which got attention; the place was also damp-proofed and insulated. This little theatre is one of Dublin's smallest and definitely the most esoteric. To enter the 71seater theatre, you must first walk through the Connolly Bookshop. This is described by Eugene McCartin as "Ireland's only politically radical bookshop".

McCartin is chairman of the Communist Party and the organisation owns the entire premises. He runs the bookshop and there has been a separate theatre space at the back since the shop opened in the 1970s. Wilmot and Fox have just taken out a 10-year lease on the theatre, which they manage jointly.

The heating is not the only new addition to the theatre. The stage is now twice the size, and the dressingroom three times larger. The premises have been extended at the back, and although the number of seats remains the same, there is now much more space for the actors, both on-stage and off-stage.

The Communist Party, which also has branches in Galway, Cork, Belfast, Enniskillen and Derry, bought 43 East Essex Street in 1975. "At that time, we all thought Temple Bar was going to become a bus station," McCartin says. The premises is one of the few places in the area to retain its original function. To think of a shop lasting a quarter of a century in Temple Bar these days is to ask too much of the imagination.

"Oh, we have," McCartin says, when asked if the Communist Party has been approached by developers in the distant and recent past, wanting to buy the property. "But we are determined to stay here. Where we would find another place so central?"

The space at the back of the bookshop was always designated as a cultural space. The New Theatre has been in existence for three years now. In between staging their own productions, the theatre is rented out. One of the recent highlights was Plush Theatre Productions' staging of Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party. On the opening night, the audience was served G&Ts and cheesy pineapple things in the beautifully unlikely setting of the communist bookshop, which had been transformed for the night.

Muslin was draped over the bookshelves, and lava lamps installed, creating a 1970s livingroom interior for the night, to get everyone in the right mood for the play. Modest the surroundings might have been, but in terms of originality and inventiveness, it was the best first night this reporter has attended.

The bookshop and theatre are separate entities, but since the audience has to enter through the bookshop, they need to have a good working relationship with each other. "If somebody wants to buy a book, we'll do the till for Eugene at night," Fox says.

Bedbound was staged in the theatre during this year's Dublin Theatre Festival, and the two-hander play by Enda Walsh picked up both the Best Actor and Best Actress awards for performers Peter Gowen and Norma Sheehan. "We had a lot of inquiries about renting the venue after Bedbound," Wilmot confirms. "It has helped put the theatre's name on the map."

Wilmot and Fox had separate theatre companies, the Dublin Theatre Company and Sionnach Theatre Company, before joining together as the New Theatre. This is now their full-time project. They have applied for Arts Council funding, but at the moment are operating on two overdrafts.

For their inaugural production of the revamped New Theatre, they are putting on Chekhov's Cherry Orchard. "It's a big opening statement," says Wilmont. "We'll probably never do such a big production with 12 people again."

They also point out the happy coincidence that it is a Russian play. "You know, because of the bookshop connection." The theatre fit-out is a model of resourcefulness. "The red drapes came from a skip in Galway. The carpet we're putting down in the dressingroom came from a skip at the Royal Hospital. Brand new! Can you believe it! Most of the audience's seats came from Odessa restaurant, and the rest came from the Gresham. They gave them to us when they got new chairs in."

When the theatre establishes its audience, they hope to put on a new play once a year. Meanwhile, they can't stop admiring those new radiators.

The Cherry Orchard opened on Thursday at the New Theatre, 43 East Essex Street, and runs at 8 p.m. until December 20th, reopening on January 3rd until February 10th. Tickets £10 and £5. Booking at 01-6703361