Observations: Scott sets W B Yeats' works to music

These days, the Eighties stomper "The Whole of the Moon" is something of a wedding-disco staple, though there has always been more to its creators, The Waterboys, and their founder, Mike Scott. The Scottish musician has long brought a literary sensibility to his full-on sound – the aforementioned number is partly a tribute to C S Lewis.

This month, that side of Scott's writing will be celebrated at Dublin's Abbey Theatre, where An Appointment with Mr Yeats sees him set the poet's works to music. Scott is fascinated by W B Yeats, and fans of The Waterboys will recognise some of the show's numbers as album tracks – "The Stolen Child" comes from Fisherman's Blues and "Love and Death" from Dream Harder. Scott explains: "Over the years, I've returned again and again to my book of the complete poems and have slowly built up a repertoire. I should stress these are songs – rock'n'roll, psychedelic and roots – not recitations. Apart from "The Stolen Child", there's no spoken word."

'An Appointment with Mr Yeats', Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 15-20 March (00 353 1 87 87 222; Abbeytheatre.ie)