The Gate Theatre was jammed for the world premiΦre of three new plays, which coincided with the Abbey opening. Written by Brian Friel, Neil Jordan and Conor McPherson, respectively, the playwrights were each present for the first night's performance.
Ciarβn Hinds, the actor who performs in Friel's The Yalta Game, greeted his mother, Moya Hinds - who came down from the Glens of Antrim to see him perform - and a friend from London, Susie Figgis.
His character is "a dandy and a gigolo whose heart gets turned by a girl, so he's not the person he was at the beginning," he explained.
Karel Reisz, director of the Friel play, stayed afterwards to relax with friends and the cast - and his wife, the actor Betsy Blair. What comes after this production (the three plays run until November 17th), we wonder? "Home to Hampstead to sit and sleep in my study," he said.
Friel's friends from Derry, Grβinne and Bobby Toland, were there, as well as his four children: Paddy Friel, Judy Friel, Sally Sultan and David Friel. The President, Mrs McAleese, also attended the opening night.
Also spotted were Trevor White, publisher of the Dubliner; Sarah Keappock, a third-year student at DIT Kevin Street; and Ken Langan, National College of Art and Design registrar.
Jordan was there with his partner, Brenda Rawn, and his two children, Anna and Sarah Jordan. He's just finishing a film about gambling set in Nice, he said. Filming in Nice. Mmmm. Nice work if you can get it.
And all the while, Marie Rooney, the Gate's deputy director, is moving among us, running the packed show, with not a hair astray.