Roll up, roll up, the oldest English-speaking theatre festival is coming to town and planning to celebrate its 50th anniversary in suitable style with quite possibly its most impressive programme to date.

Over the decades, huge international stars have trod our boards and there have been dizzying highs and some devastating lows. But many extraordinary memories have been made.

ACTRESS ANNA MANAHAN & THE ORIGINAL RIOT

It was a tattoo, a condom, a riot and the very first Dublin Theatre Festival that first brought Waterford actress Anna Manahan to the public's attention.

Back in 1957, her entrance into the true glare of the Irish spotlight was playing Seraphina in the European premiere of the Tennessee Williams play The Rose Tattoo at the Pike Theatre in Dublin. Sadly, it wasn't the calibre of the performances or the writing that attracted such attention. Due to the fact that a soon-to-be notorious scene in the play concerned a condom and contraceptives were illegal at the time, police raided the theatre and arrested its producer, Alan Simpson.

"Of course, there wasn't actually a condom in our production or even an envelope containing a condom, there was just the art of acting. But I shall never forget that harrowing night, the absolute shock we all felt when the police arrived and took away Alan Simpson.

"Contrary to popular memory, The Rose Tattoo had already been a considerable success on the New York stage and on film when it opened in the theatre festival in 1957. Critics had actually flown in from England and America especially and our production received rave reviews from them. We were basking in a critical glow until that one awful night when the police arrived. Apparently someone in government wanted to bring in censorship and had chosen our small show to invoke it."

That evening, Simpson was charged with 'producing for gain an indecent and profane performance'. The case lasted almost a year and he was even imprisoned at one point.

"I was described in the case as wearing an improper slip, although in reality I was fully covered down to my feet. However, the reality didn't stop people asking my landlady to get rid of me, saying that I was an immoral woman. I had only been widowed a year at that point and don't know what I would have done if she had.

"Pat Nolan [Anna's co-star in The Rose Tattoo] almost lost his job in the Corporation because of it and the young girl in the play pulled out of it entirely because of the negative attention.

"We still had another week to run of our performance and we still went ahead and performed every night, with a police guard mounted at the door to ensure we didn't produce anything illegal. They could have stopped the performance, but they made sure to warn every single one of us every night that we could end up in prison, so we would come prepared with a nightdress in our bags, just in case.

"On the final night, Brendan Behan appeared with a case of Guinness, but he had no intention of seeing the show and stayed out in the lane in front of the Pike drinking booze during the show. My final speech was utterly drowned out by him singing The Auld Triangle to a growing crowd.

"The court case was absolutely ludicrous from start to finish and it all finally came to an end with the judge slamming the book shut and saying 'this is a compassionate play' before dismissing the case. The damage had been done, though, as it totally destroyed the Pike Theatre forever."

GATE THEATRE DIRECTOR MICHAEL COLGAN & HIS ROYAL CONNECTIONS

The Dublin Theatre Festival brought a young Michael Colgan into contact with royalty.

At 27, Michael became involved in the theatre festival in 1978. He was brought on board as festival manager by the then artistic director and original founder of the festival Brendan Smith. Colgan soon became involved in the programming itself and in April 1979, he wrote a letter to Princess Grace regarding a one-woman show she was starring in on London's West End.

"Amazingly, she wrote back to say she'd be very interesting in bringing the show to our festival and invited me over to London to see her perform it in the Royal Academy.

"After the performance, I was invited to a most glamorous party in Albany, where I earned less than the waiters and the only person I didn't recognise was myself. At one point in the night, I found myself sitting on a couch with Princess Grace on one side and Princess Michael of Kent on the other. Realising this was a moment I would never have again, I couldn't miss the chance to put my arms around the pair of them.

"Princess Grace agreed to bring the show over to Dublin, but she did have two conditions: she wanted Evian water and to stay in the Shelbourne Hotel. With promises of financial help from Bord Failte, I booked a suite in the Shelbourne (now the Princess Grace suite) and ordered Evian water from Paris, with a little help from our diplomats in France. It all sounded straightforward enough, but everything kept going wrong.

"The bag carrying the water burst not once but twice, destroying lots of diplomatic papers along the way. Eventually, I had to persuade a young Aer Lingus stewardess to carry it over for me.

"Then I decided to visit the suite in the Shelbourne; however, when I arrived, I discovered the booking had been cancelled. Bord Failte had apparently decided she should stay in the Berkeley Court Hotel instead. But a promise is a promise and I knew I had to get that suite in the Shelbourne. So I asked a friend to book the room in his name and I gave him the deposit. I think it was about this point that I started wondering if I was really cut out for this job.

"When she finally arrived, I went down to meet her on the tarmac. The controversial French politician Simone Veil -- she was responsible for the legalisation of abortion when she was the Minister for Health in 1975 -- was also on her flight and a large number of Irish politicians had arrived to greet her only to discover Her Serene Highness was on the same plane.

"Suddenly there was a swarm of about 140 people crowding around the airplane stairs and I was lost in the middle of it all, although she did manage to spot me and gave me a big wave. I had arranged a press conference just afterwards and I'll never forget the pair of us, her with a burgundy turban and me with mad hair that resembled a tea cosy.

"Princess Grace could be rather cold, but she was also in possession of a great sense of humour. I remember the opening night of the show and she saw me passing the dressing room and called me in. 'Which dress do you think I should wear? Is this one better than the one I'm wearing,' she asked holding up an orange dress. Being rather smitten and never one to miss an opportunity, I instantly responded that I wasn't sure, but she should try the other one on so I could compare them properly. I'll never forget that moment when she angled her long neck and slightly turned, to indicate I should unzip her. I knew that none of my friends would ever believe me," said Michael

FORMER FESTIVAL DIRECTOR TONY O'DALAIGH AND THE DISINTEGRATING TENT

"We had as many outstanding shows as we had outstanding disasters, it was all just the nature of the job. But I think my biggest calamity was Archaos and its unforgettable tent. Memories of that haunt me to this day."

Archaos was this famously anarchic French circus company who arrived in town for the 1991 Theatre Festival, to stage their typically madcap show in a very big top erected in Tallaght. "They were famously hard to handle and certainly lived up to their reputation and then some. They provided me with the type of memories that are best forgotten.

"At the time, I innocently thought that the biggest logistical challenge I faced was trying to co-ordinate 106 actors and a technical crew of 24 to stage their show in their big tent at the Tallaght Basketball Arena. Finding them accommodation and transport and trying not to lose any of them was quite the adventure. It was worse than a primary school outing. But that was only the start of things.

"It all really kicked off on a Sunday afternoon when I was halfway out the office door on my way to meet someone for lunch and the phone rang. When I answered, the man on the other end asked me if I was sitting down and proceeded to tell me that a wind had built up when they were halfway through the erection of the tent and it was disintegrating in front of their eyes. I jumped in my car.

"When I was approaching the site, I was actually reasonably reassured to see what appeared to be most of the tent intact. But when I parked around the corner, I found myself in the middle of a cotton blizzard, with handkerchief size scraps of the tent swirling everywhere. This was two days before the official opening and the company themselves weren't helping to make things easier. I have a very clear memory of lots of those famous Gallic shrugs of indifference.

"The disaster of this production then took on a truly tragic edge, when a lady from the company was found dead in the dressing room showers one morning and the police were called in. There was a large suspicion that it might be drug related, however it was eventually proved she died from natural causes.

"It was just one of those fated shows that you learn a lot from but hope never to have to experience the like again."