Gougane Barra is proving a popular venue with theatre fans this summer writes Brian O'Connell
"Will you have a bite to eat? Why not stay the night? Does your son want someone to play football with?" asks Gougane Barra Hotel owner Neil Lucey.
Carlsberg don't do nights at the theatre, but if they did, you figure Lucey and his wife Katy would get the nod as hosts.
Even allowing for peak season, the hotel is buzzing, with a mixture of tourists, locals and wanderers, stopping to have a drink or a bite to eat, while watching the sun set on St Finbarr's Oratory.
The calm lake water contrasts with the ruggedness of the cliff face behind, making for one of west Cork's most dramatic backdrops.
But it's not the only drama here.
A few years ago, actor Ronan Wilmot had an idea to bring theatre to the countryside.
He has been involved for years with a touring version of Eric Cross's The Tailor and Ansty, (adapted by PJ Connor), and wanted to take it to the people.
There was a time, when going to see a play was as much a part of the rural experience as harvest time and begrudgery. Not so in recent years.
So where better for Wilmot and The New Theatre in Dublin to set up shop than Gougane Barra, a few hundred yards from where Tim Buckley, (aka the tailor), and his wife Anastasia, (aka Ansty), are buried. As theatrical homecomings go, they don't get much more authentic than this one.
The stage is set up in a marquee to the side of the hotel, adjacent to the graveyard.
For €50, the audience can get a three course meal and a ticket to the show. For €120, bed and breakfast is thrown in.
While the Lucey family have been involved in the running of the hotel since the late 19th century, current owners Neil and Katy Lucey took over the premises in 2005 and began introducing changes.
"Tourism is changing," says Neil Lucey, "and you need these extra bits and pieces to make the business work. Gougane Barra is not a place for health spas and swimming pools. It's for walking, cycling, fishing and adventure. And now, perhaps, for theatre."
The summer theatre season began with Aidan Dooley's Tom Crean: Antarctic Explorer, which was "95 per cent full for its three week run," says Neil Lucey. Good work, he says, in an area with a "tradition of characters but little theatre!"
The Tailor and Ansty is also proving popular. Ann Cullnane and her friend Ann Dorgan travelled up from Clonakilty to see the show.
"I remember when I was young my father had the Tailor and Ansty book at home," says Ann Dorgan, "So I grew up knowing about it so much you could almost visualise the whole story without even being here.
" It's great to be able to come here now and combine my love of the area with my fondness for the story."
For German couple Martin and Heiderose Keil, it's their first time in Ireland, and while certain cultural references escape them, overall the play is adding to the atmosphere of their trip.
"It's a little bit difficult for us coming from Germany, and it's not so easy for us to understand it. But anyway I guess we got most of it," Martin says.
And of course, given it's nature, indoor theatre means the hotel owners are not anxiously scanning daily weather forecasts, like many of their colleagues in the tourist industry.
"Good theatre is not weather dependent," says Neil Lucey, "and thank God for that!"
For more information see www.gouganebarrahotel.com