Limerick's Island Theatre Comapny began its latest assault on Dublin this week and took over the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College, bringing its production of Brian Friel's Faith Healer with it.
The production opened to a packed house on Monday in the city centreand moves to Tallaght's Civic Theatre from Monday for a week, followed by a week at Dún Laoghaire's Pavilion Theatre from Tuesday, September 3rd. It's been a whirlwind tour - having started on homeground, the company stopped off in Cork, Galway, Waterford, Portlaoise, gathering rave reviews.
The Abbey production of Faith Healer opened the Belltable Arts Centre 21 years ago, so Island's current production represents a coming of full circle.
Terry Devlin, artistic director of Island Theatre Company, says being based in the mid-west "is no different from a theatre company anywhere else.
"The theatre is so small in Ireland, I don't think we can afford to fracture any more," he comments.
Alice Kennelly, general manager of the company, says: "It's important for companies like Island to come to Dublin. There's an awful lot of theatre happening in Dublin but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on regionally."
John Murphy, a Dublin-based actor from Limerick who is currently rehearsing the role of the Duke in Measure for Measure, which opens in the Civic Theatre in October, was one of the company's founding members. He recalls the time when they came together to set up the city's first professional theatre company, "It was scary and fun. We were all ridiculously young and foolish."
There was a pioneering feeling in the early days: "We felt very strong about being part of Limerick's revitalisation. It was a journey into the unknown. Terry Devlin was the dynamic behind it. We had tremendous energy and piles of naievety."
The Quiet Moment, a new play by Mike Finn - whose Pigtown was the company's biggest success to date - premières by Island Theatre Company at the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick in November. It's about a man who loses his memory, and his son who sells memory in the US, says Alice Kennelly.