A host of stars of stage, screen, politics and the entertainment industry in general gathered in Liberty Hall last night for the opening of the 45th Dublin Theatre Festival which runs until October 12th.
Names such as actors Tom Conti and Rosaleen Linehan, Riverdance producer and festival chairwoman, Ms Moya Doherty, and broadcaster Mr Mike Murphy rubbed shoulders with the Lord Mayor, Mr Dermot Lacey, and Mr Prionsias De Rossa MEP at the premiere of Donal O'Kelly's new production, The Hand, which opened the festival at the new venue in Liberty Hall last night.
Ms Doherty paid tribute to the great festival productions of the past and to all those taking part this year.
"As this is the 45th festival, it's a very historic year. The Dublin Theatre Festival is the oldest in Europe, and I look forward with interest to this year's productions," she said.
Theatregoers who have already had their appetites whetted by various fringe productions can now sink their teeth into the meat of the festival proper.
This year's menu offers a healthy portion of Irish productions, including Tom Murphy's Conversations on a Homecoming, starring Adrian Dunbar at the Gaiety, and Marian Carr's Ariel at the Abbey.
The Druid Theatre company makes a return to the festival with Sive by the late John B. Keane, starring Anna Manahan, Eamon Morrissey and Derbhle Crotty.
Tom Conti, who makes his first Irish stage appearance in One Helluva Life, the story of Hollywood matinee idol John Barrymore at the Tivoli Theatre, said he was delighted to be working in Ireland.
