Operating Theatre

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MusicTown presents the first performance in many years of Operating Theatre featuring the godfather of Irish electronic music Roger Doyle and acclaimed actor Olwen Fouéré. Operating Theatre is the influential avant garde musical and theatre group formed in the 1980s, whose Spring is Coming with a Strawberry in the Mouth was recently covered by Caroline Polachek.

This concert celebrates the founding, by composer Roger Doyle and performer Olwen Fouéré, of the music-theatre company Operating Theatre.

Operating Theatre was active in two phases: the first from 1981 to 1988 and the second from 1998 to 2008. The company operated as both a theatre company, integrating music as an equal partner in the theatrical environment, and as a band releasing records. Roles were flexible in that Fouéré also sang and Doyle also acted and as a duo they collaborated with numerous other artists including writers, musicians, directors, actors and designers.

In the 1980s, Operating Theatre released records with CBS Ireland, Kabuki Records in London and on the Mother label set up by U2. In 2006 an Operating Theatre double CD was released tucked inside the printed programme of the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival. As a theatre company Operating Theatre presented many productions in the Project Arts Centre, Dublin, a tour of Holland, London’s Bush Theatre, Glasgow Mayfest, the Caracas Festival in Venezuela, the Avignon festival in France, the Galway International Arts Festival and the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris. These included site-specific productions in an abandoned warehouse in Dublin’s Digital Hub, a glass room in the Imperial Hotel in Galway, a shop front in Temple Bar and an Art Gallery in Paris.

In 2008, the company produced a 114 page hardback book called Operating Theatre 1980-2008 with many photographs, essays and 2 CDs, one in each cover. ‘Spring is Coming with a Strawberry in the Mouth’ – performed by singer/lyricist Elena Lòpez who worked with the company in the mid 80s – was a track on the Mother record release of ‘Spring is Coming…’ in 1986 and Operating Theatre has experienced a resurgence with the recent success of US singer Caroline Polachek’s version of ‘Spring is Coming with a Strawberry in the Mouth’. Fashion brand Gucci also used the track and Chloé featured the original version on their worldwide online fashion collection.

Roger Doyle, dubbed the Godfather of Irish Electronic music has released many more albums under his belt to worldwide acclaim. Including two electronic operas. June 18th 2025 marks the 50th anniversary since the release of his first LP Oizzo No in 1975. Olwen Fouéré has a flourishing international career as an actor, writer and director in theatre and film, recently starring in The President in the Gate Theatre/Sydney Theatre Company co-production. Films include Mandy, The Watchers, The Survivalist, Sea Fever, All You Need is Death, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) amongst many others.

We would like thank everyone who worked with Operating Theatre over the years including John Comiskey, Paul Keogan, Aidan Mathews, Alex Anderson, Selina Cartmell, Leon Ingulsrud, Ali Curran, Catherine Fay, David Heap, Johnny Hanrahan and Brendan Ellis amongst many others.