LAST night the Ambassador of Poland hosted a reception for The Passion Machine Theatre Company, who are taking their successful show, Buddleia, by Paul Mercier, to the Kontakt 96 Festival in Poland this month. This is the first visit ever by an Irish company to a theatre festival which claims to be the largest in the world. The visit is all the more remarkable, given the size of the cast - the whole contingent, including crew, will number 45, so no one will be able to ignore the Irish presence.

Down To Earth Theatre Company is heading east with a different mission, bringing circus and clowning workshops to the children of Mostar, in conjunction with Cradle's Rainbow Truck. Next week they hold workshops with Bosnian children here to get an idea what the cultural background of Mostar's children might be.