Photo: Fran Marshall Photography
LIME Tree Theatre at Mary Immaculate College doubled its events from September into Christmas last year, compared to 2013. Looking ahead, “We did think that things would be a lot quieter for us this year [post City of Culture] but no way, that’s not happening,” observes marketing manager for the 500-seater, Gill Fenton.
She speaks of an autumn-winter driven by two festivals, the smash hit Bualadh Bos for children over an October week, largely at No. 69 O’Connell Street – which is managed by Lime Tree – and Richard Harris International Film Festival.
“We had additional funding last year for Bualadh Bos so although it’s smaller now we still have four theatre shows, one workshop in which smallies will learn how to make a book and there are three musical events.
“There was none last year so now we are really focusing on music with Saint-Saens ‘Carnival of the Animals’ being the big number. An Irish Chamber Orchestra ensemble will play with Finghin and Dearbhla Collins on two grand pianos at Lime Tree, and actor Louis Lovett is narrator”.
It’s an exciting prospect with the season being met properly on September 8 by the ICO collaborating with Irish Youth Opera and Opera Northern Ireland to stage ‘Agrippina’. This will premier in Limerick before a national tour. “‘Agrippina’ is going to be huge for us,” predicts Fenton. “In each of our last two programmes we featured opera, ‘The Oldest Woman in Limerick’ and this year, ‘Rigoletto’ and feel we are drawing out the opera audience here from their comfort zone”.
Bill Whelan’s new concept is ‘The Train’, a musical theatre piece set on the famous contraceptive train from Dublin to Belfast. The mighty Lynn Parker will direct for Rough Magic on October 1 so expect a robust staging. Same company is over in Edinburgh Fringe Festival at time of this interview, August 7, with ‘How to Keep an Alien’, about which there is much buzz. This is will lodge at Lime Tree in October, as with Blue Raincoat Theatre Co’s ‘The Playboy of the Western World’.
Into November with the return of high-end Junk Ensemble for contemporary dance and ‘Dusk Ahead’.
“‘Paddy’ will be here in November, selling so fast already with Tommy Fleming in the lead of this new show by Brainchild. That’s Tommy Marron’s company who packed the house for laughs over three nights with ‘It’s the Real McCoy’.
“We have ‘Coppelia’ from Ballet Ireland, always a December date and finally, Limerick Panto Society’s ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’.
Mention too of other faithfuls of achievement: College Players with ‘Noises Off’, Cecilians with ‘The Addams Family’. Lime Tree’s variety will interest various ages and arenas so refer to www.limetreetheatre.ie for details per each production.
