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ABBEY THEATRE'S PRODUCTION OF MARK O'ROWE'S 'TERMINUS' RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS FRINGE FIRST AWARD

August 2008 - The Abbey Theatre's production of TERMINUS by Irish playwright Mark O'Rowe was awarded a prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award today (Friday 15 August 2008). The Fringe First Awards, selected by The Scotsman's team of veteran theatre critics, are given to outstanding new work appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and are highly coveted among the thousands of new plays produced at the festival. This UK premiere of TERMINUS has been generously supported by Culture Ireland.

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen TD, congratulated Ireland's national theatre and playwright, O'Rowe, on their award and said, "This award for the production of TERMINUS by the Abbey Theatre, following Druid Theatre's award last week, is a validation of the continuing strength of Irish theatre and an important international recognition of the talent of our young Irish playwrights".

Also commending the Abbey, the Chief Executive of Culture Ireland, Eugene Downes, claimed, "Winning two Fringe Firsts, in the intense competition of Edinburgh, affirms Irish theatre's position as a world leader. It's a marvelous achievement for Mark O'Rowe, The Abbey, and a great cast and creative team."

TERMINUS received its world premiere at the Abbey Theatre last summer and had a successful New York run at the Public Theater in January of this year. The play, which is also directed by Mark O'Rowe in his directorial debut, and boasts a wonderful cast of Andrea Irvine, Karl Shiels and Eileen Walsh (who recently picked up the Best Actress Award at New York's Tribeca Film Festival for her role in the Irish movie EDEN and won the Best Actress Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for her role in TERMINUS). TERMINUS is O'Rowe's sixth play. He is also a successful screenwriter having written Intermission, which starred Colin Farrell, and the recent BAFTA award-winning BOY A.

TERMINUS runs at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, until Saturday 23 August.

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