Madam, - It was illuminating to read Ben Barnes's account of his role in the controversies of recent years at the Abbey and a welcome gesture for you to afford him the space to do so at length.
I have no intimate knowledge of the relationship between the theatre's board and its executive and can't comment on this aspect of Mr Barnes' apologia. However, I must challenge his portrayal of a subsidised theatre which is financially viable only when it plays to the lowest common denominator. In my experience there is a substantial and discriminating audience for theatre in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland, despite the many other calls on people's leisure time.
This audience does not attend theatre as a matter of course nor is it likely to attend a production that it does not believe will measure up to its high standards. It is therefore the role of an artistic executive to adjudicate between different types and scales of production and to reconcile these with the financial environment in which it operates. It does not follow that a play that is half as expensive as another is half as good.
Even when the art is right and can be paid for, live theatre is still an unpredictable undertaking and subject to many factors. It can suffer in good weather and bad weather or during an extended run by Ireland in the World Cup. You can't phone ahead and ask someone to set the video if you're stuck in traffic or the babysitter's late. Despite all this, companies presenting work at the Project Arts Centre, for example, were in recent months able to repeatedly sell out performances of Dublin by Lamplight, Galileo and The Goat, none of which could be counted lowbrow.
I don't believe that the attitude of the media to our national theatre is based on Schadenfreude, finding them in general as willing to celebrate as to criticise. The Abbey is covered extensively because it is a touchstone for theatre, nationally and internationally. I am sure considerable pressure comes with that level of attention, especially if you feel you are not being given the benefit of the doubt. However, regardless of the amount of space given to reporting boardroom intrigue, this can be of little interest to most people. They probably just want to see good and inspiring plays in our theatres where what is portrayed on the stage touches them in some way. - Yours, etc,
WILLIE WHITE,
Artistic Director,
Project Arts Centre,
East Essex Street,
Dublin 2.