TONIGHT, VISITORS to the Samuel Beckett Theatre at Trinity College Dublin will be travelling back in time to December 27th, 1904, the night the Abbey Theatre opened its doors for the first time, with the aid of a detailed digital reconstruction.

Historical research carried out by Dr Hugh Denard of Kings College London includes the original plans and drawings by architect Joseph Holloway and eyewitness accounts from surviving actors and theatre-goers of the time. This data has been used to build up a picture that Dublin tech company Noho has transformed into a virtual 3D building where the wooden floors, electric lamps and elaborate metalwork come alive.

Using software called Softimage, Noho is creating an historically accurate artist’s impression within a 3D space, but interestingly this debut will be in nostalgic sepia tones because surviving photographs of the stomping ground of JM Synge and Seán O'Casey are naturally in black and white.

Dr Denard has been working in virtual reconstruction as part of historical analysis for 14 years and has worked on Greek and Roman houses and villas, and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

He has drafted de facto international standards for this kind of work in the form of the London Charter for the Computer-based Visualisation of Cultural Heritage.

He says of the Abbey Theatre reconstruction: “We are capturing a moment that will be gone very soon from living memory. It isn’t just old photos but rather the sense of what it was like to walk into it, sit in the seats or balcony; its such a strong stimulus for memories. This 3D space means technology has a role to play in bringing these forgotten memories back into circulation.

There are also educational aspects to the project. Those who have studied The Plough and the Starsor Juno and the Paycockwill remember the closely confined spaces in which O'Casey set his scenes.

When this 3D rendering is released online for free, future students will get a sense of how the playwright worked with the Abbey Theatre in mind.