Rough Magic

Hard to believe that Rough Magic, the company founded by Lynne Parker, has been around for 25 years. Always at the vanguard of independent theatre, they have largely resisted the temptation to become a comfortable part of the establishment, and in recent years have been heavily involved in the nurturing of young talent through their SEEDS programme. One relative newcomer to the RM stable is director Tom Creed, who showed his worth in last year's adventurous production of Life is a Dream. Creed is back at the directing helm for the Irish premiere of Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer by leading Quebecois playwright Michel Tremblay, which previews at Project from 5 March and opens on Mon 9. Shaped by the traditional rituals of a choral mass, this provocative and emotional play draws on themes of love, sex, faith and forgiveness as 11 people tell their stories on a moonlit summer's night in Montreal. The fine cast includes many RM veterans along with high calibre actors such as Cathy Belton, Jane Brennan and Barry McGovern. You can eavesdrop on the rehearsal room @ www.solemnmass.ie

Celebrating their quarter century at the start of next month, Rough Magic will stage a series of rehearsed readings at Project from 3-5 April. A cross between a 'best of' and a 'what's next', it includes new versions of Racine's Phedre featuring traditional Irish instruments, Ibsen's Peer Gynt with a live band, and Tom Murphy's The Informer, as well as Arthur Riordan's Dev spoof The Emergency Session, Gina Moxley's Danti Dan, and the show that made their name across the water, Declan Hughes' Digging for Fire.