THE DIRECTOR of the country’s national theatre company has welcomed the opening of the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick, where audiences last night got to see the first main stage Abbey production in the city in more than 30 years.
Fiach Mac Conghail was speaking at the official opening of the new 510-seat venue at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
For many years, mid- and large-scale touring theatre has bypassed Limerick because of a lack of a large enough venue.
To mark the important cultural milestone for the city, Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars was performed by the Abbey company in front of an invited audience that included Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for the Arts, and the president of Mary Immaculate College, Michael Hayes.
Last night’s was the 93rd performance of The Plough and the Stars by the Abbey since it went on tour last July and it will run for four more nights at the Lime Tree Theatre. “Irish audiences deserve to see large-scale theatre and there is only so many venues around Ireland that can take large-scale theatre, and finally Limerick has that,” Mr Mac Conghail said.
“There’s no doubt that these are tough times for the arts and tough times for theatre and we couldn’t have toured nationally without the funding from the Arts Council . . . Of course, it’s a challenge for audiences to come to the theatre at the moment. People are looking for good value and good productions and The Plough and the Stars fits that bill perfectly in Limerick.”
Mac Conghail described the recent purchase of a site next door to the Abbey at Eden Quay in Dublin for €1.5 million as an “act of imagination and courage”, by the national theatre company.
While there are no plans to immediately develop the site – which will house three theatres of 600, 300 and 100 seats – he is confident work will start on the redevelopment on Easter Monday 2016.
“The Abbey needs a new building but it can’t afford it and the State can’t afford it,” he said. “But what we did in my view was a kind of act of imagination and an act of courage, which my predecessors couldn’t afford.
“We bought the property but we have no immediate plans to develop it. We would like to be able to turn the sod in 2016 and build a national theatre in the heart of the city.”
Meanwhile Louise Donlon, manager of the Lime Tree Theatre, has said its arrival in Limerick means the city would now be able to enjoy the best of what touring theatre and the performing arts had to offer.
Ms Donlon said the board and management were committed to placing the new theatre at the centre of the cultural, social and economic life of Limerick and the midwest.
Speaking at last night’s official opening, Mr Deenihan said art infrastructure had improved greatly recently, bringing theatre and arts centres to every county.
“Universities have also played their part, developing multi-purpose facilities that can be used both educationally and also within the cultural and community context.
“The Lime Tree Theatre at Mary Immaculate College is one of the finest examples of this,” he said.