I’m happy to post this guest article written by my friend, Melanie. Melanie has many years of experience in the arts and particularly in acting and she offers unique insight into the Dublin theatre scene.

Tom Creed, originally from Cork, has been living and working as a freelance theatre director in Dublin since 2006. Well known in the theatre community as a young and prodigious talent, his work is at once prolific and varied. Beginning his theatre work in Cork, he then trained with Rough Magic’s SEEDS programme, which seeks to identify and develop young theatrical talent. He got what he calls the ‘golden ticket’; he was made an Associate Director of the company, which allows him to work under their well established banner as well as pursuing some of his own work.

His latest departure is Una Santa Oscura, a theatrical staging of the music of Ian Wilson, inspired by the life of 12th century Christian visionary Hildegard of Bingen. Presented at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin’s Temple Bar, Tom is adamant that there’ll be no nuns on stage! Rather it’s an interpretation of a cloistered day interrupted by ecstatic visions, brought to life in a contemporary apartment setting and performed by a single musician, violinist Ioana Pectu-Colan. Although he wouldn’t call himself religious, Tom is intrigued by the collision of the sacred and profane and found himself fascinated by the life of this extraordinary proto-feminist, fundamentalist Christian nun who was famed in her own lifetime as a composer of hymns, expositor of theology and receiver of visions.

While many young creatives veer straight towards the apparent glitz and glam of film and TV, Tom Creed was drawn to the theatre for the pure ‘liveness’ of it. ‘It’s useful,’ he says, ‘it’s good to be made to imagine things. It helps us to think.’ His influences are wide and far reaching, including the visual arts and ‘dead Russian people’ but he is interested in psychology and substance. His great passion is creating theatre for the 21st century and while this show will be heavy on the use of the digital arts, he doesn’t feel that multimedia is always necessary to be cutting edge or contemporary.

Life in Dublin for the director revolves around the Project Arts Centre, which despite a radical cut in funding from the Arts Council recently (‘disproportionate’ according to Tom), continues to be a hub of a lively, creative community. Certainly, the day I popped in to interview Tom, there was at least five notable theatre makers at laptops using the foyer as a makeshift office. ‘It’s a home for emerging and established practitioners and [the work it does] is invaluable.’

The Project Arts Centre, as well as many other established arts practitioners and venues, has felt the cold, hard reality of recession lately. I asked Tom whether he was personally affected by the rough winds of change. ‘I feel quite alive at the moment,’ he responded, shrugging his shoulders ‘and it doesn’t feel like people are stopping and it feels like people are having to be resourceful.’ And to the perennial question of whether theatre can survive at all, Tom gives a snort of derision. ‘Audiences are coming to see work. There’s a need for it among people and it’s an opportunity to bring people together. And it’s not very expensive. Times like this give artists an opportunity to reaffirm what they’re there for.’

(Una Santa Oscura by Ian Wilson, directed by Tom Creed, design by Ciaran O’Melia runs at Project Arts Centre, Theatre Upstairs from the 4th to the 6th of March 2010.)

Melanie Clark Pullen is an actor and writer living in Ireland. She lives by the sea with her husband and daughter and ekes out a living from the arts. She’s passionate about theatre, film, literature, creativity, spirituality and long evenings spent with good friends over food and a nice Chilean Merlot.

Big thanks to Declan for letting us know about a gig happening in The Button Factory this Friday night to benefit relief efforts in Haiti. Attention Bebe and Mob Fandango headline the show and The Button Factory have offered their venue for free so that all proceeds can go to Partners in Health in their efforts to bring relief and humanitarian aid to the people of Haiti. CLICK HERE to see the Facebook event page. Tickets are €10 at the door.

It seems the cold weather came quite suddenly earlier in the week. So why not embrace the chill in the air and celebrate winter with a little ice skating? You wouldn’t know it from the online promotional buzz (or complete lack thereof), but an ice rink is now open in Sandyford’s Beacon South Quarter (PDF). Last year’s Dublin on Ice site has yet to be updated (as of this post anyway) and I can’t confirm that the rink is opened in Smithfield. (If YOU can, please let us know in the comments.)

The lack of information on the rink(s) is a bit odd, begging the question, why spend money and other resources on something like an ice rink without getting the word out? Where are the models in Santa outfits? (Maybe we’ll see the advertising ramp up a bit the closer we get to Christmas.)

For now, here’s last year’s promo video from City Channel.

The annual Open House Dublin is on again this year, in fact it’s on next weekend October 8th to 11th. It’s a wonderful opportunity to visit some of the iconic buildings in Dublin. For photographers there is the opportunity to go up onto the viewing deck of Liberty Hall to take photos of the city skyline. For political fans there is the chance to visit Leinster House and Government Buildings. It’s well worth having a look at the schedule, some buildings require an advance booking others are on a first come first served basis.

The free Mind the Gap Operetta will be running again next Friday night, as will a few other public art exhibitions in conjunction with Fringe Fest. And yes, there will also be plenty of buskers and stag do/hen party folks around next weekend. Can’t guarantee that we’ll see another group of Austin Powers look-a-likes running around (anybody else see Elvis suddenly appear in that video?), but in Temple Bar, you just never know.

As Dec mentioned yesterday, the Google Streetview cars are in Dublin at the moment, taking advantage of the good weather whilst it lasts!

Now that I live on the other side of the world, I for one can’t wait to see when the Dublin imagery is uploaded!

But, I thought we could have a little fun with this here on the blog. Whilst the streetview cars are out and about taking pictures of Dublin, why don’t we grab some pictures of them doing their thing. If you do happen to spot some cars around the place, grab a picture and then post it to our flickr group. We will post a selection of the best / funniest / strangest images here to the blog over the coming days and weeks.

This sounds like a fantastic opportunity to grab you camera and get some rare action shots! This Sunday 28th June 2009 at 3PM a Sea Search and Rescue demonstration will take place in Howth, Co Dublin. The operation will involve Coast Guard Rescue Helicopters, Irish Coast Guard Patrol Boats, RNLI Rescue Boats and the local Civil Defence Boats.

The demonstration will take place between the East Pier and Ireland’s Eye. It will consist of a number of scenarios including rescuing casualties from over turned boats in the water. A Coast Guard Helicopter Winch man will then descend to an R.N.L.I. All Weather lifeboat and winch some of the casualties aboard the helicopter.

With the number of rescue boats, helicopters and scenarios the demonstration should prove to be a speculator sight and is best viewed from the middle of the East Pier in Howth. It also shows the continued co-operation between the different agencies including volunteers and professionals that help save lives on a daily basis around the coast and inland waterways of Ireland.

The demonstration is being held as part of the Howth Festival which is running over the weekend. The Coast Guard station on Howth’s West Pier will be open to the public on the Sunday from 10am. Howth Coast Guard would like to use this opportunity to ask members of the public if they see anyone who they think may be in trouble on the Cliffs, Beaches or at Sea to please dial 999/112 and ask for the Coast Guard. Don’t’ assume someone else has made the call!

The weather has been perfect for the Docklands Maritime Festival this bank holiday weekend. I took my family in to the festival on Saturday and came away with a sunburn and a full stomach. In fact, we’re going back in today so I can get my hands on some of those garlic potatoes and jumbo prawns (which I had to pass up on Saturday due to already having stuffed myself with bratwurst.)

Here’s a little video clip of just a few of the things on offer at the festival. And I’m looking forward to seeing what RedMum and the Flickr group captured from the meet up yesterday!

All this good weather seems to have given the city an extra spring in its step – the streets seem even busier in the evenings with people taking advantage of the last of the sun. With the skies staying bright until 8:30 at least, it’s the perfect time of year for enjoying a few drinks outdoors. These are some of my favourite beer gardens in town:

Porterhouse North, Phibsboro
Located beside the Cross Guns bridge on the north side of Phibsboro, the Porterhouse North stocks the same vast range of beers as its sister pub in the city centre (and serves an even bigger range of food). It has a large beer garden at the back of the pub, which is sheltered but still gets the sun.

Dicey Reillys, Harcourt Street
A Dublin staple! Right in the city centre too – which means it’s usually buzzing with people.

Fitzsimons, Temple Bar
Yes, it may be in the centre of thronged Temple Bar, but Fitzsimons’ beer garden has the unique advantage of being on its roof, which means lovely city views. Worth it for a short stop.

The Hole In The Wall, Blackhorse Avenue
Arguably the biggest beer garden in Europe! The Hole In The Wall still carries on a century-old tradition of serving great pints and passing them through – yep, a hole in the wall – to the Phoenix Park. Genius.

What have I missed? Suggestions welcome in the comments…

The Dublin Improv group are at it again tomorrow on Henry Street. They’ll be hosting an ‘egg and spoon race’ and anyone is welcome to join in for 2pm. The starting line will be Butler’s Chocolates near O’Connell Street. Go to the Dublin Improv Ning site for more details (LINK).