Tailor made theatre

Two Irish actors have set up a theatre company to offer other actors a newtype of work. Their first project? Electra, written - and directed - by Frank McGuinness

It's not every day you get a brand-new Irish theatre company setting out its stall. Even then, not many brand-new Irish theatre companies kick off their working lives with the Irish première of a play by Frank McGuinness, directed by McGuinness himself.

Something of a triumph for the fledgling b*spoke theatre company? Er, not yet, say the actors Alison McKenna and Jane Brennan. "Talk to us on the first of September when the run of Electra is finished and then we'll see where we are," says McKenna. "You mean," puts in Brennan, "we'll see if there's ever going to be another one; b*spoke, part two." McKenna chortles. "It has been something of a learning curve," she admits. "A learning vertical," supplies Brennan. "Yes. A learning vertical. You wake up and you just don't know what the day is going to bring . . ."

It all started soberly enough. When the pair met for a cup of tea in January, the conversation turned to the sort of theatrical work which was on offer to actors in Ireland and, more to the point, the sort of work which wasn't. "Alison turned to me and said, 'Well, what would you like to do?' I said I had always wanted to do Frank McGuinness's version of Electra. So Alison said, 'OK, let's do it'. It was as simple as that. Next day she was on to Frank McGuinness, and she got the rights." And here they are, up to their elbows in rehearsals for b*spoke theatre company's first production, which opens at the Project Arts Centre's Space Upstairs on Friday.

But why did they feel the need for a spot of theatrical DIY? "I knew a number of people who were keen to do bigger roles than they were getting an opportunity to do," says Brennan, "because there has been a tendency, when the big plays are being done, to bring big names in from abroad. And that's fine, and healthy, and everything - but there has to be a balance, to give actors here a chance to develop. And also for Irish audiences to develop the idea of going to the theatre for the experience of going to the theatre, rather than just - well, the chance to be in the same room as a celebrity, basically."

Brennan has just finished a run of Bailegangaire at the Peacock, and her extensive CV spans roles from Elizabeth in The Crucible through Agnes in Dancing at Lughnasa to Mouth in Not I; no shortage of meaty stuff in there, surely? "When you get to my age - when you hit 40 - you're looking around and you realise there's not that much in the way of roles available, so a lot of actors start to do other things. The 30s is a great time for an actor because you have experience and people will trust you with the big roles; but in their 40s people can fall away - and to develop as an actor, you need to keep working. You need to keep those muscles flexed and fit. People are slipping through the net because there isn't the work to keep them going. There are a number of great actors who, through no fault of their own, aren't getting the opportunity to stretch their abilities."

As if to underline the point about doing other things, the cast of Electra features Catherine Byrne, who has just taken a year out to study sculpture; Fionnuala Murphy, who is halfway through a degree in Classics at Trinity College, Dublin; Lise-Ann McLaughlin, who has written a feature film, and Pat Kinevane, recently returned from Romania, where an anthology of his plays has been published in English and Romanian. Alison McKenna, for her part, has gained valuable experience in the world of business - and sees b*spoke theatre company as a way to put that experience to good use in the theatre. "When I'm not acting, I work for my uncle in Nash's Mineral Waters in London, so I wanted to look at reconciling that side of myself with the creative aspect."

Deciding she wanted to produce plays was one thing, of course - actually doing it was another. "We have been very, very lucky in that we've been getting advice from the very top. One of the advantages of being actors who work in Dublin is being able to go to the relevant person in whatever theatre and just go: 'Help! What do I do now?' The first day of rehearsals was when it really hit home. We all sat down around the table, looked at each other and said, 'Oh my God - we're here!' Because up until that moment of reality, there was no reality."

The presence of Frank McGuinness has helped hugely, they say - as has the fact that he has brought the production team of Robert Ballagh and Joan Bergin on board with him. It's a rare venture into directing for the playwright, whose previous outings in this role number just two: his own Carthaginians for Druid, and Brian Friel's The Gentle Island at the Abbey. "He hasn't directed for about 10 years," says Brennan, "but he has wanted to - and he's very good." "It's incredibly intriguing to have the opportunity to work with Frank on a piece that he has written himself - especially since it hasn't been staged here before," says McKenna.

The b*spoke Electra will have a Mediterranean feel, with Ballagh designing a floor cloth which represents a map of post-war Europe and Bergin's fluid costumes carrying hints of Greece in their jewellery and embroidery. "In Frank's version of Sophocles's play the language is quite contemporary without being too vernacular," says Brennan. "It's quite poetic, and very accessible.

"As far as contemporary relevance goes, we're not as far removed from the ancient Greeks as we would like to think we are. We still talk to God; we still talk to the dead; we still have superstitions. There's actually a wonderful feeling, when you're doing a play like this, of connection with the past. You're thinking: 'How many thousands of actresses have held that urn with the ashes of Orestes and made that speech?' These plays are entrusted to us and we'll pass them on to future generations. I hope that doesn't sound grandiose. Does it?"

The future in general, and the future of b*spoke theatre company in particular, is a far more unpredictable business - but McKenna and Brennan say they have plenty of ideas about the kind of pieces they'd like to produce. Initially they'll aim for one show a year, and are prepared to consider everything from Shakespeare to a musical to modern American writing. "We don't see ourselves as tied to one style," says McKenna.

"We'd like to tailor-make our productions to the talent of the people who are available at the time, and to the strengths of the people involved. New writing is fantastic and new writing is where it's at - but being a new company, we have to entice writers to give us pieces of work. As soon as we can get people to do commissions for us, that will be fantastic. It's also important that there should be new blood so that every production can stand on its own."

How does this square with carving out an identity for the company? "In a funny kind of way," says Brennan, "I hope we don't have an identity. I'd like every production we do to be different."

Electra opens at the Project Space Upstairs on Friday, with previews on Wednesday and Thursday, and runs until August 31st