`I thought we might need John Harbison to come in and pick up the bodies, but so far there hasn't been a problem." Jerome Hynes is sitting at a large table with fellow judges, Tony O'Dalaigh and Doireann Ni Bhriain. The tabletop is aflutter with notebooks and awash with programmes. In the last 12 months they have seen "121 shows by 69 companies," estimates Tony, his glasses sliding down his nose as he makes a quick calculation with a pencil. Now they are putting the finishing touches to their nominations. They are allowed four in each of 12 categories. So far there has been no severe rancour, but it isn't over yet. By tomorrow they have to select the winners: "That will be the real test," grins Jerome.
"I've never seen so much theatre in a single 12-month period," he remarks (in real life, he is chief executive of Wexford Festival Opera). "It has been an extraordinary yearlong snapshot of Irish theatre," adds Tony (otherwise known as the director of the Dublin Theatre Festival). "We saw a lot of new talent, and it's great to be able to give that some recognition - to acknowledge talent while it's on the way up," says Jerome.
They all talk about the extent of the "geographical spread" of their year-long brief, which took them from Clifden to Donegal, from Cork to Monaghan, and on to Limerick, Galway and Belfast. "It was a great buzz to come across good theatre in inhospitable surroundings - to see peoples' inventiveness with space," notes Doireann (who is currently director of the 1998 Celtic Film and TV Festival). Tony adds quickly that in his opinion, the number and quality of theatre venues has vastly improved since he worked with a touring theatre company in the 1960s: "There are state-of-the-art, newly-built theatres in places like Longford, and adapted theatres in Kilkenny and Ballybofey." But, like Doireann, he also gets a kick out of the less likely places, such as "the International Bar in Dublin where you are squashed into a tiny space, and you realise that theatre can be created anywhere."
They were all impressed by the large number of new plays on the menu: an amazing 67 out of the 121 (of the 54 others, only two were seen in more than one production: A Midsummer Night's Dream and Juno And The Paycock). "The amount of new writing going on is enormously encouraging," says Jerome. They also note the vitality in the younger theatre companies and the fringe, which Tony associates with the growth of training opportunities at institutions such as the Gaiety School of Acting and TCD. "It's amazing what some of them can do with so little," says Doireann. "It is easy to see the talent shine through, even though the production might have been more slick with a bigger budget." Although there will be no "sympathy votes", budgetary constraints under which some companies operate are being taken into consideration during the judging process. It has been an exciting year of seeing at least two shows a week and travelling all over the country. Doireann remembers nights when, having finally organised a babysitter and gotten away from work, she would find herself at a show in a regional town: "I liked it, really. It wasn't like going to theatre in the usual way, with friends and chatting through the interval. I'd be alone, and I would listen to other peoples' conversations at the interval, to see if their reactions were the same as mine."
She has not lost her "passion" for theatre, but neither will she be applying for the job of theatre critic anytime soon: "I wouldn't like to have to stick my neck out and make a snap decision. Judging these awards meant that I could have time to reflect." Jerome Hynes agrees: "The benefit of this position was that you had time to gather your thoughts, and then you'd share them with only two other people. There was no early deadline, no having to share your thoughts with the public."
All of them have seen a fair amount of international theatre, so I ask them how the concentrated dose of Irish theatre fared in comparison. "Irish theatre is distinctive for being very text-based and very actor-based," says Doireann. "In comparison with international theatre, Irish theatre is obviously very healthy," concludes Jerome.