A yen for passion

WHEN Japanese pharmaceutical giant Yamanouchi promised its continued financial support for Dublin's Passion Machine, it was a welcome injection of funds for the 11 year old theatre company. It duly celebrated the grant and the continued success of its current production - Paul Mercier's Kitchensink - with a reception at Mitchell's Wine Cellar in Kildare Street.

The Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Michael D. Higgins, delivered a suitably inclusive speech, and the Japanese ambassador, Takanori Kazuhara, returned the compliment by including Dubliners, Galwegians and Corkonians in his praise of Irish culture. Other politicos present included the French cultural attache Andre Raynouard and his wife Anne, and Polish consul Janusz Dawidowicz and his wife Urszula Passion Machine's Polish connection dates back to last year when the company performed at a theatre festival in the city of Torun. Now that they have generous Yamanouchi backing, it shouldn't be too long before the company acquires a yen to perform in Tokyo.

The sponsorship enabled the company to extend the run of Kitchensink during the Dublin Theatre Festival before touring with it around the country. The play opens next month in the Tricycle Theatre in London, but Paul Mercier has his sights set these days on celluloid; right now he's putting the finishing touches to his first short film, Before I Sleep, starring Brendan Gleeson, and he hopes to have it ready for the Dublin Film Festival in the spring. He won't be abandoning the stage, however, as he is about to start work on his ninth play for Passion Machine.

Actors Cathy Belton and Deirdre Molloy were there to cheer him on, along with Liam Carney, better known as the wayward Kevin in Glen roe, and who will return to our screens soon in a new Irish detective drama series called McCadderi. One of his co stars will be David Corry, who played Dalton in Michael Collins.

Several theatre tycoons were there including Gerry Sinnott of the Olympia, Tony Byrne of the Tivoli and Pat Moylan of Andrew's Lane Theatre. Dancing for joy was publicist Gerry Lundberg, who had just returned from a party in London's Planet Hollywood restaurant in honour of Riverdance producer Moya Doherty.