Welcome to the second international Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. I can hardly believe a year has gone by so quickly.

We co-produced the Euro Vision for Asia night in the Olympia in January in aid of the Tsunami victims in South East Asia. RTE will show an hour long programme in early May on the event which has raised in excess of 100,000 euros to date. A DVD of the event will be released shortly - orders to euroforasia@hotmail.com.

The Festival Committee is committed to seeing this festival develop into a mainstream event that will continue to increase the visibility, and celebrate the contribution of gay people, to theatre in Ireland and abroad.

Over this fortnight we will present eight Irish premieres, including 4 world premieres, works from Dublin, Cork, Kildare and three esteemed UK companies. The plays are presented by eight male and six female directors. We feature plays by three female authors. We have performers and directors from Ireland, England, USA and Europe. We have professional productions, new and emerging talents, accessible ticket prices, new writing, including the world premiere of Emma Donoghue's short play Don't Die Wondering, and three works from the UK including two from the Edinburgh Festival.

Venues include The Project, The Focus, Andrews Lane Studio, The Teachers Club, The Cobalt Café, Centre Stage Café and The Temple Bar Music Centre. Other activities include a lecture on Oscar Wilde, a new play reading, a writer's discussion forum, a festival club and lots more. This programme of sixteen productions covers new, innovative theatre and writing, full length plays, comedy, short plays, music, matinees, late night shows, and pieces of interest to theatre goers - men, women and young people regardless of their orientation.

This year we inaugurate three new 'rewards' for this year's Festival. The Festival is not a competition, but it will be the privilege of one individual to offer a reward to three areas of theatrical achievement this year. The first the 'Oscar Wilde Award' will be presented to reward achievement in writing, the second the 'Hilton Edwards Award' will reward achievement in an aspect of production, and the third the 'Micheal Mac Liammoir' Award will reward achievement in performance'. Your audience response forms are a vital key to maintaining standards and to planning the programme - please fill one in each time you see a production.

The Festival, which is open to all people, is not grant aided in any way. Thank you to the gay press and please support our sponsors without whom we could not stage this event. Our key resource is our production companies. Their investment is the essential ingredient in this artistic experiment. Their belief in the value of the event is a great stimulus to all involved to keep going. They deserve your support and appreciation. I am very grateful to all the artists for their generous support and contribution to this unique Irish theatrical event.

Finally I would like to pay a sincere tribute to the tireless efforts of my colleagues on the Festival Committee, John Pickering, Eddie Devoy, Danny, Chris, Declan, Stephen, Connell and Gareth - they have invigorated this event with their talent, expertise and enthusiasm - so generously given throughout the entire year. Don't forget the Third International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival will be held from May 2nd to 14th 2006. Applications are now welcome.

Thank you for your support and enjoy your evening. We look forward to chatting with you afterwards in the Festival Club!

Brian Merriman
Artistic Director