Stage set for opening of The Lime Tree

THE Lime Tree Theatre, a brand new state-of-the-art 510-seat theatre situated in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, launched its first season programme this week.

 

The new theatre will be managed by Louise Donlon, who has made Ogonnelloe her home. Louise comes to the Lime Tree Theatre from Dunamaise Arts Centre in Laois where she was director. Before that, she was the general manager at Druid Theatre Company.

Speaking about the new facility and her vision Louise said, “This venue is an amazing stage and as a person coming in from outside Limerick, it is an amazing addition to the cultural infrastructure of the region. The vision we have for it is that it will be a community resource, it’s on the campus of Mary Immaculate College but it is for the people of the whole Mid-West Region. It is going to make a significant impact in the whole cultural, social and economic life of the region,” she said.

The theatre has 510 seats and has a stage that is 12m in depth and 20m in width and she explained the big stage means the venue is capable of taking in theatre productions and performances on a scale that wasn’t possible in the past, in particular, theatre productions.

“Theatre really needs a proscenium arch to be able to disguise the workings of a theatre to create the magic that is on stage and having that here and in situ is going to make an enormous difference to the programming of arts events in the city. Scale is really important, audiences are demanding more, they don’t want to have to go to Dublin to see theatre on a large scale, they want to see the big shows with the big cast, big sets but unfortunately, they don’t fit in a large number of theatres because of the scale but we have been able to take that in with the dimensions of the stage.

“One of the implications of that scale is that we are now able to host events by companies of the calibre of The Abbey Theatre, Druid Theatre Company and all the other companies that work on this kind of a scale and we are of course thrilled to open our theatre with the very first touring production by the Abbey of main stage work in how many years. The Abbey themselves don’t know how long themselves since they came to Limerick. But they are only going to three venues in Ireland, Tralee, Limerick and Letterkenny. It was a fantastic coincidence of timing that we were able to have them here and it will have a significant impact,” Louise said.

This is the second venue, which Louise has run, having been in the Dunamaise Arts Centre.  “It’s hard enough to do it once, but it is a bit of a challenge to launch into it twice.”

Despite this she said, “It is fantastic to be on a green-field site starting off with a venue like this and I’m really looking forward to the challenge. To have the vision to say we can have an international theatre on the campus opening it up to the public of the Mid-West, it is a great credit that it has come to fruition.”

Louise said one of the visions for the theatre by the management and Mary Immaculate College is that it be utilised as a community resource and she said they are delighted to have community organisations, secondary schools, primary schools, stage schools on board and adding to their programme of events.

“We hope to reach out to other groups in the region to use the venue,” she said adding that this will be “a big new chapter in the arts in the region”.

The Lime Tree Theatre’s autumn/winter events include the Abbey Theatre’s production of Sean O’Casey’s Plough and the Stars opening in October.

This is an important cultural milestone for the region as in recent years, the Abbey have toured in the major Irish cities but it has been more than 20 years since they have performed in Limerick.
Meanwhile in October, the theatre will host Steel Magnolias which features Hollywood actress, Mischa Barton, and Anne Charleston of Neighbours fame.

Directed by Ben Barnes, the play is an enduring tale of love, loss and friendship and follows the lives of six Southern women who come together in Truvy’s exclusive beauty parlour.
Kicking off the inaugural season of events in mid-September is Tom Barry’s play Guerilla Days of Ireland.

Clare’s own Kilfenora Céilí Band will also be taking to the stage in The Lime Tree in November where they will be joined by dancer Michael Donnellan, the West Clare set dancers and Don Stiffe.
Other events making use of the new theatre include the Limerick Jazz Festival, West Side Story, Brendan Grace and Limerick Panto Society’s production of Beauty and the Beast.