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IRISH SET TO STORM EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE


MOST SIGNIFICANT IRISH REPRESENTATION EVER AT EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 2008 - CULTURE IRELAND INVESTS OVER € 300,000 IN CONTINGENT OF LEADING THEATRE AND DANCE COMPANIES

24th July 08: Culture Ireland, the government agency for promoting Irish arts worldwide, today announced its contingent for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2008, the largest arts festival in the world. Culture Ireland has invested over € 300,000 in the largest Irish representation to date, supporting eight theatre companies and five dance companies to take part.

Plays by two of Ireland’s leading writers of the younger generation will be staged at the Traverse Theatre. The Abbey Theatre is presenting Mark O’Rowe’s “Terminus”, which has already had an acclaimed run at the Public Theatre in New York. Druid will perform Enda Walsh’s new play “The New Electric Ballroom”, following the Fringe First for his “Walworth Farce” at Traverse last year, which subsequently won rave reviews in New York and is due to play in repertory at the National Theatre in London this autumn.

Dancebase, the premiere dance venue in Edinburgh, is presenting “Irish Cream”, a curated triple bill of new contemporary dance, from 6th to 16th August, including Catapult Dance Company’s "Beat Box Bingo", "Hanging in There" by Nick Bryson and Damian Punch, and Fearghus Ó Conchúir and Matthew Morris in "Match". Two further Irish companies, Rex Levitates with “Untitled” and Pony Dance Theatre with “Put Your Left Leg In”, have been invited to take part in Dance Base’s showcase platform during the Festival.

Fishamble Theatre Company’s production of Pat Kinevane’s ‘Forgotten’ will also be presented at Dancebase following very successful Irish and international tours.

Three companies are presenting new plays by female Irish writers at the Assembly Rooms. Djinn Theatre Company’s production ‘The Magic Tree’, a new work from Ursula Rani Sarma, is a story of love born in a very dark place between a man who wants to belong and a woman who wants to be forgotten. Dragonfly Theatre’s ‘Married to the Sea’ by Shona McCarthy, has won awards for best new play and best actress in the New York and Dublin Fringe Festivals, while ‘Greenstick Boy’, written and performed by Maggie Cronin, is a bittersweet treatment of the age-old problem of falling in love with someone you should never have fallen in love with.

Mad Capp Theatre Company’s ‘Living with Johnny Depp’ and Sole Purpose Production’s ‘Don’t Say a Word’ completes the Irish theatre line-up at Edinburgh.

Culture Ireland, in partnership with the Irish Theatre Institute and the Irish Consul-General to Scotland, is also hosting a networking event for international presenters during the festival. Eugene Downes, Chief Executive of Culture Ireland, said: “The range of theatre and dance companies being presented at Edinburgh this year, from world names like the Abbey and Gate through to dynamic young ensembles, promises to give an eclectic snapshot of the new work being made in Ireland. Edinburgh is a unique global showcase and also as tough and competitive a performing environment as you will find. It’s a high-stakes venture for each of these companies and artists. We wish them every success.”

More information will be available on the Culture Ireland website www.cultureireland.gov.ie

Media Contact:
Q4 Public Relations 01 475 1444
Ruth O’Byrnes 086 055 8331

TIMINGS AND VENUES:

Theatre:

  • Abbey Theatre presents TERMINUS in Traverse, Theatre 1 from 1st – 24th August.
  • Druid presents THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM Written and Directed by Enda Walsh from July 30th - Aug 24th 2008 at Traverse, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • Djinn Theatre Company’s THE MAGIC TREE a new play written and directed by Ursula Rani Sarma: 1-25 August, The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
  • Dragonfly Theatre presents MARRIED TO THE SEA, in Edinburgh Suite, Assembly Rooms from 1 – 25th August
  • Fishamble presents FORGOTTEN in Dancebase on August 21 – 23
  • GREENSTICK BOY is a new one woman show written and performed by Maggie Cronin and directed by Sarah Tipple at the Assembly Rooms 31st July – 25th August.
  • MadCap Theatre Company’s LIVING WITH JOHNNY DEPP in Zoo Southside (117 Nicolson Street) 1st – 25th August
  • Sole Purpose Productions presents DON’T SAY A WORD by Patricia Byrne in Quaker Meeting House, Venue 40, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, August 18 – 23, 2008

Dance:
Triple Bill: 6th – 16th August including;

  • Catapult Dance Company’s BEATBOX BINGO
  • Legitimate Bodies Dance Company’s HANGING IN THERE
  • Fearghus Ó Conchuir’s MATCH
  • Ponydance Theatre Company’s PUT YOUR LEFT LEG IN, Thursday 21st August 2008 @ 4pm
  • Rex Levitates Dance Company’s UNTITLED, Friday 22nd August 2008 @ 4pm
  • All in Dance Base, Scotland's National Centre for Dance, 14-16 Grassmarket


    Ruth O'Byrnes
    Q4 Public Relations
    88 St. Stephen's Green
    Dublin 2

    Mobile: + 353 86 055 8331
    Direct: + 353 1 479 0350
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    Email: ruth@q4pr.ie
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