At the heart of the city

IN Exit Strategy, a new work created locally and performed in the Cork Arts Theatre for Cork Midsummer Festival, two semi-fictional characters riff on Cork’s cultural life.

Hungarian performer Eszter Nemethi declares that the city has a vibrant creative life, but her comment is dismissed by Cork-born performer Leah Hearne, who says the cultural scene is “parochial”.

But on the evidence of the 10-day festival which ended on Sunday, there is clearly a commitment among Cork-based artists to create imaginative work in the city, sometimes about the city.