The Abbey Theatre may be feeling the sting of criticism these days, but that's nothing new, according to those who gathered yesterday to celebrate its centenary, writes Joe Humphreys.
W.B. Yeats, who put on the first play at the National Theatre with Lady Gregory 100 years ago last night, was said to have been one of the toughest task-masters to work at the theatre, and perhaps its most trenchant critic. At least, that is how his son, Mr Michael Yeats, remembers him.
"We used to go to the Abbey every week in those days. I was only a child but I do remember going home in the horse and cart with my father and mother, and they'd be tearing the play to shreds, saying: 'the play was awful, the players were bad, the direction was terrible'," said Mr Yeats (83), a guest of honour at the celebrations.
Yeats's spirit lived on yesterday with a performance of his work On Baile's Strand, the first of three one-act plays featured on the theatre's opening night on December 27th, 1904.
Ms Doreen Lovegrove (91), who joined the Abbey as a 15-year-old ballet student in 1928, recalled Yeats's demand for high standards. "The first time I met him was when I was ordered to go up to him and apologise for being late for rehearsals. I'll not forget it," she said. "I was petrified."
The Sound of the Gong, a condensed stage history of the Abbey's first 100 years, performed by former Abbey players, was among the other highlights of yesterday's celebrations. Fire jugglers, street performers and jazz musicians entertained guests - mainly members of the arts community - at a cake-cutting ceremony.
After a difficult year, the Abbey's management team was eager to strike a positive tone. "We have had our negative days in the Abbey. It's been controversial," said Abbey chairwoman Ms Eithne Healy. "But I have now decided 'controversial' - that word in theatre - is not a negative word. If the Abbey had not been, and is not, controversial it would then possibly be anodyne and uninteresting, and it is anything but that."
Artistic director Mr Ben Barnes, who survived a vote of no confidence this year, credited the Abbey with having "illuminated the conscience of the nation, and lit a light for artistic expression throughout the world".