Notes to the director

Abbey 100 Part 2: Critical views: How well is the Abbey fulfilling its role as the national theatre? Belinda McKeon asks prominent figures in the arts world for an assessment.

Willie White, artistic director, Project Arts Centre, Dublin

"The role of the national theatre has certainly changed since the Abbey project was initiated. The nation has been made, yet, with the identity available to us now in Ireland, we need a theatre generous enough to accept diversity. We cannot understand the word identity or national identity the way we understood it before. I'm not saying that we can somehow will writers of these experiences into being; the last thing I want is some sort of preachy aesthetic. That for me is an issue, and not one of political correctness. Because if the national theatre is meant to be a representation of what's on its doorstep, then this is something it has to address. Look at it as a theatre for Ireland - the State, the Republic, the island. And I suppose that must be difficult to reflect in a programme."

Eamonn Jordan, author and assistant programme director, Institute of International Education of Students

"Partly due to ongoing dramaturgical problems with new writing, seldom in most new work is there much at stake. When it comes to revivals, there are so few risks that the only significant beneficiaries are tradition and nostalgia. Theatres must be as much guardians of the repertoire, as pillagers and despoilers of it. We must see the Abbey centenary celebrations partly within that context. The centenary programme provides it with a chance to attract new audiences and it is "evented" in a way that holds out optimism. But the minuscule number of women involved as writers, directors and designers is a serious omission. The Abbey's remit needs not only to be national but passionately international. Why not get major international directors to work with some of the Irish classic plays? Marina Carr's Portia Coughlan should be on the main stage, directed by someone like Deborah Warner and not in the Peacock. The idea of a National Theatre is as much about the physical spaces as it is about imaginative spaces, and the Abbey needs to imagine anew and differently."

Redmond O'Hanlon, author and lecturer in drama studies, UCD

"I think the centenary programme was a chance to give us a look at productions of some of the big forgotten names in the Abbey tradition, some of the neglected greats like W.J. Molloy, T.C. Murray and Walter Macken. But they are relegated to readings, and Teresa Deevy is nowhere to be seen. Women do badly overall in the programme. There is a sense of déjà-vu about it. One thing that I would expect of a national theatre would be that, given that it has more security than other theatre companies, it can take more interesting risks. Risks not based too much on respect for the elder statesmen of drama. Still, I found in a quick survey that almost half the major new Irish plays of the last 20 years were Abbey and Peacock productions, which came as a surprise. Lastly, Gerard Stembridge would be the kind of person I'd like to see as the next artistic director."

Louise Donlon, manager, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, Co Laois

"As a programmer, when you bring the Abbey to town, you're pulling up the standards. It's a top-class brand and it always sells out. People are proud of it. But why aren't people in Portlaoise and Kilkenny able, even for one night every year, to see the work of high quality which is seen in the Abbey? I don't blame the Abbey for this situation, I would like to add. But there is not enough outrage on their part. I understand they don't have enough money, but they should cut back elsewhere. I worry that next year's touring is just a special arrangement for the centenary. Touring has to be an integral part. They have to tour, and not just as an add-on - the theatre in Dublin should go dark if necessary.

That would cause outrage, and enable the Abbey to stand its ground with the funders."

Vinny McCabe, president, Irish Actors Equity

"As the gong is rung for the second century, the Abbey seems still based on a few crowning, big international names. But I think that the Abbey should be a much more interactive organisation, particularly with regard to the different theatre companies coming through, and the energy and vitality of the overall scene. Look at what the Irish Playography Project has just produced - a hidden history of late 20th-century theatre. I think that for 2004, the Abbey should have encompassed a response to this, with a wider stream of production companies, and due recognition for the Peacock, which actually embraces the initial spirit of the national theatre almost more than does the Abbey. Recognition of all this would lead to a much bigger canvas of work - a less literary, more dynamic sense of event."

Christopher Murray, author and associate professor of drama and theatre history, UCD

"The huge challenge for the national theatre is at once to incorporate Yeats's whole vision and to modernise along European and American lines. And the tension there is backbreaking, but I think that Ben Barnes has managed to keep the balance. However, I would like to see more international work and there is a sense in which the Peacock is too much the annexe to the Abbey. The major casualty of the past 20 years has been drama in the Irish language. I see nothing in the 2004 programme, and I just refuse to believe that it isn't being written. Ultimately, I would like to see the Abbey set up a repertory theatre and have a subscription theatre attached. But the challenge now for it is to escape the notion that, while rebuilding and making plans for the new theatre, it has to hold the line by repeating the past. That brings the risk of complacency."

Johnny Hanrahan, artistic director, Meridian Theatre, Cork

"There is probably a fundamental schizophrenia in the way the Abbey views itself. I think that the sense of the Abbey as belonging to a particular building doesn't sit comfortably with the idea, in the abstract at least, of a national theatre. And I think the Abbey's obsession with physical space . . . is potentially limiting its fulfilment of its overall remit. I think it should break out of its physical shell to address as many different kinds of audiences as possible, in as many ways as possible. Not with ancillary outreach programmes, but with a real commitment to diversity in terms of production and touring models. Also, although the Abbey is putting on a creditable number of new plays, I think the process by which those plays evolve, the model of production, is too writer-led, and must take into account the collaborative and ensemble work going on elsewhere."

Joe Dowling, artistic director, Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis

"I see the national theatre as a kind of a sponge that absorbs whatever is around it rather than something that leads the way. You will get more avant-garde theatres that will break new ground - I don't think that is necessarily the role of a national theatre, which reflects people's values back to themselves. However, the changing demographic of the nation is something that, as time goes on, the Abbey will have to take account of. It's from the days, 30 or 40 years ago, of 'will the lady from Mount Merrion like it?' That can't be your sole demographic any longer, or the theatre will die. It's time, too, for the Government to put its money where its mouth is and give the Abbey a proper facility. Fundraising is another option for the future, though - there's a huge interest in the Abbey among Irish-Americans."

Christopher Morash, author and lecturer in English, NUI Maynooth

"It was only by a sleight of hand that the Abbey created the idea of a national theatre culture to begin with - in its form theatre is regional, not national. But the sense of a national tradition is the backbone of the Abbey. In contemporary terms, it's the brand. I don't see that as a burden. You can surprise the audience by going back to the tradition and finding something overlooked and new. And for other companies, it's good to have a sense of a mainstream to respond against."

Ursula Rani Sarma, playwright

"I would like to see companies throughout the country have access to, say, an independent body, maybe set up through the national theatre, to help with new work. It would be great if, because it is our national theatre, it could maybe set forth or suggest or help other companies that may not be able to afford a full-time development person."

Karen Fricker, theatre critic and editor

"Ideally a national theatre would be a place where both of those terms 'national' and 'theatre' are continually interrogated. What is the state of the nation, how best can theatre communicate contemporary reality, and how can those two inquiries inform each other? Or at least, one would hope that the national theatre would serve as a mirror for the nation, where its best artists reflect the nation's concerns and complexities back to the people. If we were to evaluate the Abbey centenary programme by this standard, one would be excused for deducing that contemporary Ireland is populated almost exclusively by 50-year-old white men. A walk down any Irish main street reveals patently otherwise. Many artists will have the opportunity to practise their craft in the centenary programme, and there will doubtless be individual highlights. Overall, however, the programme feels straight out of 'official Ireland' - ticking the 'Europe' box, but ignoring the challenges and excitements of diversity that are around us every day."

Mike Diskin, artistic director, Town Hall Theatre, Galway

"I wish the Abbey well but in relation to Galway audiences, its role as a national theatre has never been fulfilled. One has to be realistic. A venue in Dublin, no matter how great or wonderful, is a venue in Dublin and you cannot expect people in Galway to be attending it. The centenary celebrations, therefore, mean little to us. It is great to see the Abbey coming on tour, but we would like to see it commit to an annual visit. Also, the Abbey should be the theatre to bring new writing through to the classic repertoire, but it's difficult to put a finger on the last Abbey play since Dancing at Lughnasa to do that. It's not clear enough that that is an objective for the Abbey."

Kevin Rockett, author and lecturer in film studies, Trinity College Dublin

"The development of Irish cinema was retarded in the early 20th century by an over-reliance on Abbey plays, playwrights and personnel as the primary reference point. That, even now, too many Irish writers for film bring a stage ethos, an ethos of the word, rather than a visual language to the screen, is not entirely the fault of the Abbey, of course. But such a dominant cultural institution as the Abbey, and drama in general, should recognise that cinema has its own needs. And that it is too easy or lazy for those associated with the Abbey to readily adapt something for the screen, as a source of real employment rather than a focus of real commitment."

Michael D. Higgins, Labour spokesperson on Foreign Affairs

"When we talk about the national theatre, we are too often talking about a building in the capital city. But one also has to talk about the national theatre on tour. I think the network of theatres around the country is very important. I would have used the existing venue as the headquarters of the national theatre on tour, and built a new theatre perhaps on the dockside site. Other companies, too, are part of the national theatre and must be able to intersect with it in different ways, because there are now so many different versions of theatre. What the national theatre was in the past is part of the national psyche, yes, but that has changed, and while people should go to the theatre to be entertained, it's more important that they can also go to encounter their lives and their consciousness."

Declan McGonagle, artistic director, City Arts Centre, Dublin

"My sense is that the Abbey is caught in a real bind. On the one hand, it's expected to preserve and conserve the tradition, the canon, and at the same time to renew the tradition, as well as to promote new and international writing. Those are contradictory expectations, but could actually produce positive energy. But this is only achievable if the Abbey is better resourced to do this - and I don't mean just money, I mean a climate of cultural discourse. Because this is not the case, it leads to a sort of confusion of identities for the Abbey rather than a dynamic process. The Abbey was treated shamefully by the Government in the way politics was played with the issue of the building; that exacerbated the bind it is in. The Abbey itself must develop a language, and a set of arguments for its future. As a national institution concerned with a particular discipline, one of its functions is leadership, advocacy - to argue for the discipline and for the value of the arts in general. I would argue there is a responsibility, almost, to do that."

Fergus Linehan, director, Dublin Theatre Festival

"When the Abbey is not doing well, when it is going into one of its dips, you can sense it within the industry, and people will get very upset and angry about it. It touches on them. The future just comes down to the work being very good. Good work makes its own argument, and anything more abstract than that is just a spin-off. One danger is that the audience for theatre, not just the Abbey audience, is in danger of going the way of American audiences, which is subscription driven. This is not necessarily a bad experience, but can become very ghettoised, in that you end up servicing just one particular kind of community."

Annie Ryan, artistic director, the Corn Exchange Theatre Company, Dublin

"I would say that the national theatre is for everyone, and given the diversity of the theatre artists and the public taste, that is a tall order to fill, especially with such tight finances. I feel that the balance the Abbey endeavours to strike in the coming year - that between honing the traditional repertoire and introducing ground-breaking international work - is a very exciting one, and I hope that balance will continue, and continue to challenge theatre artists."

Thomas Kilroy, playwright

"I think centenaries are about the future as much as the past. And good theatre always has a whiff of the future about it. I'd love to see the Abbey throw its doors open to young theatre artists. Give them freedom to fall flat on their faces. Give them back a sense of the wonder of the living human body on stage, as opposed to mechanical images on a screen. Maybe throw both things together on stage? Theatre is always about vision. They say the young are not going to theatre any more. They will if they make it themselves. Besides, the other thing we should always remember is that our theatre is quite young, compared with other European theatres. Before Yeats there was no indigenous Irish theatre as such. Given that, the Abbey's achievement has been remarkable, but we shouldn't exaggerate it, either. First, you have to assume first-rate professionalism in all departments. And you don't always get that. After that, you go for broke, a theatre of high risk, rejecting the fake and the trendy, cutting to the heart of things."

Ciarán Benson, author and former chairman of the Arts Council

"Historically there was no role pre-ordained for the national theatre, so the roles that it has played have been an organic function of where it is in the society we've had over the last century. The perspectives governing an understanding of that role have now changed. It now has a number of new roles, one of which is to bring back into Ireland ways of doing theatre which have been successful and interesting elsewhere. So it's not merely, in my view, a way of articulating exclusively Irish concerns. I think the way in which it's going to have to develop in the future is to marry a vision of theatre or theatrical worlds with the internationalisation of these common concerns. On the building, I don't think that simply forcing an allegiance to a geographical footprint is the best homage to the way forward. If the Abbey is fundamentally a state of mind and of ideas, I don't see any serious dislocation of tradition by moving a few hundred metres to a prime site. The Carlton opportunity must be taken."

Ursula Hough-Gormley, frequent letter-writer to The Irish Times on the Abbey

"I love the Abbey. If I did not get to all the productions at the Abbey and Peacock, there would be a huge void in my life. However, every time I visit the Abbey Theatre I regret that so many mistakes were made in its design. Please, no mistakes with the new building. O'Connell Street, our first 'boulevard street', is having a facelift. I would love to see our national theatre rebuilt on the Carlton site, where the 18th-century Gate Theatre is up the road, the Gresham Hotel is opposite, and one of our finest Georgian buildings, the Rotunda, is around the corner. The Abbey company would not have to move out during refurbishment, and they would have a property to sell. Remember that the last time they moved out, in 1951, they were out for 16 years!"

Friday: Abbey Theatre artistic director, Ben Barnes tells Belinda McKeon about his vision for the future