A DEFINITE aroma of plaster and wet paint accompanied the opening of CoisCeim's new dance work, Hit and Run, last night. It was the first production at the Project Arts Centre's temporary new home at The Mint on Henry Place.
The audience, which included Gay Byrne, Kathleen Watkins, Patrick Murray, Agnes Bernelle, Rough Magic's Lynn Parker and Gina Moxley, and Barabbas's Mikel Murfi, seemed unconcerned and settled back to enjoy CoisCeim's compelling show.
Afterwards, many expressed themselves delighted with the new location, created from scratch within an empty warehouse above a 24 hour snooker hall. The stage is larger than East Essex Street's, the Project's home since 1974, though the audience capacity is smaller.
"We're very anxious to attract smaller and younger companies to us here in The Mint, and the theatre space very much reflects that," said Fiach MacConghail, director of the Project.
Ciaran Benson declared himself delighted with the development. "With this venue they've returned to their original milieu, having originally begun in one room on Talbot Street. And after a couple of a years they'll be back in Temple Bar in a multi million pound building."
David Bolger, director of Hit and Run, said it was "a great stage for dance, and theatre too, with a real feeling of space and depth, and the new north side location adds a certain energy."