With audiences down in London's theatreland post-September 11th, Tuesday's full house and ecstatic reception for the Gate's production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming augured well. The Comedy Theatre was packed with fellow actors and directors, including Peter Hall, David Aukin, Frank Grimes and Cusack sisters Niamh and Sorcha. T.P. McKenna, recovering from an operation on his Achilles heel, was one of the first to congratulate Ian Holm in the auditorium where the post-show party was held. "He's my favourite actor of our generation," said McKenna. "I've knelt at the altar a long time - since I first saw him at the RSC in the early 1960s. He packs so much punch for a man of his size."
Convict-cropped Malcolm McDowell waited his turn at the altar with his companion, Marie Helvin, who drew the eyes of everyone who saw her - as did the tousle-haired Greta Scacchi - while the ever-elegant Patricia Hodge was barely visible behind a ring of young admirers. While Harold Pinter held court, Antonia Fraser talked to John Richmond, commissioning editor responsible for Channel 4's co-production with the Gate of the Beckett films project. Any talk of a similar Pinter series is premature, he warned. "Just call it a twinkle," he said, with a twinkle.
Holm was optimistic about the show's chances of continuing to draw good houses. "Tonight you could hear a pin drop - followed by laughter, which is as it should be." In New York, audiences had gone completely over the top, he said. "They gave me a round of applause when I walked on, for goodness sake. The first time it has happened in my life. I mean, what are you supposed to do?" Fellow cast member Nick Dunning was just enjoying himself, he said.
"Sometimes it gets to you. I mean, this is a 40-year old play. As Harold says, it's surprising how little attitudes have changed."