Dublin theatre proves best as scarcity of new plays lamented

The big guns of Irish theatre dominated The Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Awards for 2001, with the National Theatre and the Gate claiming nine of the 13 prizes between them.

The awards ceremony, which took place in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin, on Sunday evening, was attended by 450 guests, underlining its reputation as "the year's biggest night out" for people working in the theatre.

Lamenting the dominance of the Abbey, Peacock and Gate on the prize list, the judging panel spokesman, Mr Fergus Linehan, wondered what had happened to the many fine theatres outside Dublin during 2001.

Mr Linehan, a writer and retired Arts Editor of The Irish Times, said he looked forward to them making a fighting comeback next year.

The chief executive of the ESB, Mr Ken O'Hara, particularly welcomed the growth of opera, admitting surprise to learn that there had been 17 shows in the past year, including Mark-Anthony Turnage's The Silver Tassie, which won the inaugural best opera production award for Opera Ireland.

Mr O'Hara also praised the "magnificent" arts centre under construction at Dublin City University, which meant that the city's "much-maligned north side" would soon have "something equivalent to London's South Bank."

He hailed the continued success of Irish productions abroad, noting that two winners from the 1999 Irish Times/ESB awards - Alone it Stands and Stones in his Pockets - were still running in London. But it was to the National Theatre he returned to award the laurels for 2001, "a year crowned by the daring and very successful six-play tribute to Tom Murphy".

Mr Murphy was among the guests who attended the ceremony in the Burlington Hotel.

They heard lavish praise from Mr Linehan, on behalf of the judges, for the standard of Irish acting, and for the quality of the productions that vied for the main prizes.

However, Mr Linehan, who was joined on the panel by critic Karen Fricker and producer Fiach Mac Conghail, was less complimentary about certain aspects of their task. "I would like to say this was a good year for Irish theatre," he told the audience, "but I can't."

He lamented the scarcity of new plays, but praised the one which had claimed the award for that category: Eden, by Eugene O'Brien, at the Peacock.

In most of the award categories, he told the guests, the hardest task for the judges was eliminating candidates.

Mr Linehan said that all four excellent plays had competed for the "blue riband" of Best Production and he called the winner - the Gate's staging of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming - "particularly outstanding.

He also paid special tribute to the continuing "marvel" of Irish acting. "It's a deep well of talent and there's no sign of it running dry," he said.

The managing editor of The Irish Times, Mr Gerry Smyth, said that despite "the fragile relationship between media and the theatre", the awards had now established themselves in a way no one had expected when they were inaugurated in 1997.

Five years on, he told the gathering, it was gratifying to look back on the number of productions honoured at the event which had then gone on to international success. "But the important thing is that the first recognition came here."

Mr Smyth thanked the judges for "serving" their 12 months - "a longer sentence that most judges are handing out these days" - with such conviction.

He also gave special thanks to Mr O'Hara for his involvement in the awards and wished him well on his forthcoming retirement.

Highlights of the awards ceremony will be shown on TV3 at 8 p.m. tonight.