Since the beginning on the year, The Performance Corporation‘s performances were seen by approximately 1,650 audience members, our videos were viewed 6,200 times online and we have cooperated with 172 artists across various disciplines. The company’s work was shown on national television four times. I am very proud and happy to have been a part of this.

It is hard to believe that it has been five months since I joined The Performance Corporation. Today is my last day in the office before Christmas hiatus, the list in my diary is all ticked off and my desk is cleared, so I thought I might indulge in a little nostalgia and look back at the past 22 weeks I have spent with Jo, Tom and Irene.

When I started, the production of Power Point was in nappies, with the cast and venue just coming on board. The first four weeks were all about contracts, initial design meetings and planning for the show. Then came four weeks of rehearsals where Jo Mangan and the stellar cast of Clare Barrett, Alan Howley, Lisa Lambe and Hilary O’Shaughnessy brought Tom Swift’s script to fulll bloom.The opening night on Sept 7 was a blast. Two wonderful weeks followed of great reviews and full houses, blown away and intrigued audiences and lots of hard work from all the crew.

Three weeks after Power Point was put to sleep, a collaborative piece Cool Fresh Milk received its national premiere. After music and theatre lovers in Berlin, Irish audiences had a chance to see the piece as part of Darklight Festival in early October.

The weeks after that saw us pursuing national and international touring opportunities, Paper Balling, workshopping, planning for next year’s SPACE Programme, Athy Project X and two Theatrical Espressos in coproduction with Solas Nua in Washington DC. We have also had a development of Slattery’s Sago Saga, Arthur Riordan’s new play, which culminated in a staged reading in Castletown House just last weekend. The audiences seemed to love it and so did we – I can’t wait to see it as a full-fat, large-scale production.

Theatre producing is a long distance run and not all the projects mentioned above have a clear future at this point in time. We know for certain that February will see the company surprising the unsuspecting Washingtonians with two Theatrical Espressos, there will be a brand new production sometime during the year and Power Point will have a stab at catching Finnish hearts, minds and imaginations in August. Many other things are still up in the air so I feel I should not talk about them just yet – wait and see what the new year brings.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy 2010 (I refuse to give into the bleak economic prognosis!). See you in January… after I come back from this: