These balmy September evenings always carry a frisson of excitement on the wind. It's the heady memory of back-to-school, that last fling of summer before the nights close in. And what better way to capture the mood than a generous helping of freshly picked entertainment, served with some witty dialogue, nuggets of drama and accompanied by a glass of delightfully irreverent comedy. A careful balance of home-grown material with imported ensures those comforting notes are complemented by that brand of vaudeville the Americans do wonderfully well.

So, the first thing to do is gather your ingredients. The most important thing to remember with this dish is freshness. Flavours are at their most intense the first time they hit your palate, and all of these ingredients have been carefully chosen to give you that oomph! of the new.

You will need 21 actors

A good mix of type, sex and age is important here.

8 companies

The Fringe have sourced some top Irish produce. Ursula Rani Sarma, Tommy Tiernan, Bisi Adigun, Enda Walsh, Tom Creed, the delectable Iseult Golden and David Horan have all lent their skills.

7 venues

Old reliables include Project Cube, Samuel Beckett Theatre, Players, Bewleys, T36, Smock Alley, with a quick jaunt to the coolness of Filmbase just to keep you at the table.

A deeply savoury braise

Love, storms and darkness, simmered for months and seasoned with craft. The Magic Tree, Djinn Theatre an absurdist platter 6 plays on the one plate. Evocatively and wittily flavoured with comedy, monkeys and music. All in the Timing, Inis Theatre A dollop of cyberspace teenage cyberspace to be exact. No cyberspace is quite as fastpaced and cutting-edge as the teenage. Chatroom, Calipo A shot of the macabre It's important that you keep this chilly, as the freezer is an essential theme. They Never Froze Walt Disney, Theatre Makers 60 mins of a Dublin wise -guy Fast-paced and lippy this dish is as charming as the city. Whacker Murphy's Bad Buzz, City Theatre An intense serving of talent One man and his piano tear the country asunder. Mimic, Tobacco Factory.

Wash it down with a quirky, self-reflective little number

Surprising on the nose, with distinctive notes of comedy and a definite aftertaste of Beckett meets Seinfeld. Help! Mabinog. A dark, fruity, full-bodied experience bringing with it the heat of the Caribbean. Longer notes, engaging themes. One to linger over. Pantomime, Arambe Productions.

Preparation

By the time you set eyes on this feast of creativity, the ingredients will already have been through a rigorous selection process at the hands of diligent directors. Before your bottom hits the seat, the actors will have sweated nicely in their own juices for up to four weeks. Plays will have been chopped up and reassembled. Designs redrawn. There may have been tears, curses, and implement flinging. But rest assured that by the time you buy that ticket, the drama will be firmly on the stage, where it belongs -for your entertainment. A meal is always decided by the company. Those long, complicated evenings with old friends, those sparkling, burbling teas with new ones. Or those most delicious purely private indulgences you share only with yourself. So peruse the programme, choose your company, buy your ticket and feed your soul.

Deirdre Roycroft is a theatre maker and performer.