The special thing about theatre is that it is live, that we are watching and listening to flesh-and-blood people walking a tightrope before our eyes in a real-time event. There can be an intensity about it that no other medium can match.
Every year, the Mountjoy Prison community stages a drama production within its own walls, and what it may lack in professional skills it often makes up for in sheer magnetism.
This year's show is Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars, whose prototypical Dubliners offer glorious opportunities for uninhibited performances. Lulu Reynolds, who has directed eight previous projects, will be there again this year to motivate and guide. It opens on Monday for six nights.