I had a great conversation with Jose Miguel Jimenez, a director and actor living in Dublin. He is from Chile and has been living here for six years. I wanted to get a sense of what he feels the pros and cons of living in Dublin as an immigrant, and an artist, are.

Jimenez studied drama in Chile, where there is a strong tradition of theatre companies. Unlike Dublin where theatres hire actors through agents or on an individual basis, in Chile companies of performers are formed and actors tend to work, direct, and design within the same group for years.

Jimenez’ most recent work reflects his desire to bring that kind of system to Ireland. The Company, a company Jimenez formed with four friends from Trinity, has produced two fabulous shows in the past two years: Who is Fergus Kilpatrick? And As You Are Now So Once Were We.

Jimenez pointed out that what performing artists need the most is space. Once space is available, theatre can be made anywhere. He admits he as been lucky so far in managing to get great space for his work, but he is sure that finding good space is the main obstacle facing younger actors/directors/producers. He believes that there are many young theatre practitioners in Dublin who will begin to change the landscape of theatre in Ireland in the coming years; it could be a very exciting time to be in Ireland.

We spoke about the current economic climate of Ireland and I wondered if he felt at all nervous about the possibilities that may or may not be available to him now. Like Breda Walsh, Jimenez expressed the optimistic opinion that when a country is having a hard time economically, it begins to focus on what it is good at, its natural resources. In the case of the Irish, most people agree that art and culture is a good place to focus the energy to move forward. However, he is quick to point out that though there is an opportunity for a great rise in the status of the arts, we should not have to experience an economic crisis to bring that on. The arts should always be celebrated and held aloft as one of the strongest aspect of this country.

Jimenez enjoys living and working in Dublin, a city he feels lends itself to many creative pursuits because of its size and accessibility. He is glad he didn’t end up in London or Paris, which may have proved too big to fully embrace, and does feel like he’s found a comfortable home here both for living and working.