WE are blown in through the doors of the Abbey. It's an exhilarating, stormy evening and the curtain hasn't even gone up yet. "Well, if it's as good as the tempest out there!" says an impressed writer, Shane Connaughton, who has just flown in from Los Angeles to be with his wife, Ann, and attend one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays, The Tempest.
The rain lashes retired banker Jack Meany who has come in from Stillorgan for opening night - it takes more than a bit of bad weather to deter us. Actor Dave Duffy, of Fair City fame, has come, along with teacher Ailis de Paor. Writer Jennifer Johnston, who played the part of Prospero when she was at school, is here with her daughter, Sarah Smyth. "It's a wonderful play full of goblins and demons," says Johnston. "It's all about colonialism."
What's the language we hear coming from behind the Christmas tree? Three more Swedes - students Sara Munkhammra (19), Vera Gustasson (19) and Sanna Gustasson (21) - are chatting away, looking forward to seeing the play.
Conall Morrison, the young director, is out at the front of the house chatting to his mother, Ann, and his sister, Aine. "I'm anxious but optimistic," he says. Also spotted arriving for the opening are three playwrights in various states of drenchedness - Tom MacIntyre, Bernard Farrell and Tom Murphy.