Stages of progress: three leading lights of Irish theatre

To mark the changing of the guard, Nadine O’Regan speaks to Selina Cartmell, Graham McLaren and Garry Hynes to hear their artistic visions for the future

Selina Cartmell, director of the Gate Theatre on the set of The Great Gatsby, currently showing at the theatre Pic: Marc O’Sullivan

Irish theatre is experiencing a remarkable moment of transformation. After decades in which two of the most powerful, heavily funded and important theatres in the country – the Abbey and the Gate – were led by the same figures, there has been a changing of the guard, with new directors at the helm and a bristling new energy in the atmosphere.

The moment coincides with the development of a powerful Irish feminist movement, ...