`Whatever happened to Theatre Ireland?" has been the ritual lament among theatre-lovers over the past few years. Various vague schemes have been toyed with by writers and critics in an attempt to fill the gap and to provide a forum for reflective writing and informed critical dialogue about all aspects of theatre. Last year, Willie White, general manager of Loose Canon theatre company, M. Phil research student in drama studies and occasional TV presenter, published Irish Theatre Magazine - a brave but modest venture.

Now he has been joined as co-editor by the writer, critic and dramaturg, Karen Fricker, and they have secured the financial backing (£1,000) of Project Arts Centre, which will facilitate the magazine's publication. With an initial circulation of 1,000, and a very tight budget, the emphasis, by necessity, will be on content rather than flashy production values. "It won't be academic, or esoteric," White says. "We want to provide a space for discussion about Irish theatre, to look in more depth at what we do and how we do it, to examine, for instance, the intersection between theatre audiences and visual arts audiences." The first issue of Irish Theatre Magazine, to be launched in the opening week of the Dublin Fringe Festival (late September), will include contributions from playwrights Donal O'Kelly and Conor McPherson and director Gavin Quinn - as well as critics, of course.