On The Town:'People live for love," mused the actor Gabriel Byrne, as he wandered into the opening night of Romeo and Juliet at the Abbey Theatre. Wearing a long black coat, Byrne made a suitably gallant entrance as he stopped briefly to ponder the meaning of romance.
Glowing from his recent success on Broadway, writer Conor McPherson was keen to see this new, modernised production of Shakespeare but took a no-nonsense approach to the love story: "I think it's a metaphor for growing up," he said. McPherson added that he was "excited but nervous" about his own new play, The Seafarer, which opens in the Abbey in April.
Pat Kenny, accompanied by his daughter Kristina, who is studying the play for the Junior Cert, wondered if the production would "stick to the text".
"It's a timeless story," said Kenny, "if you think of the warring families in Limerick - it would be impossible for someone from one side to fall in love with someone on the other side."
Looking happy - and relieved - after the show, Jason Byrne, the director of this colourful and upbeat version of Shakespeare, said he wanted the dialogue to be "gutsy". While Byrne is loyal to the text, many of the characters have "Dub" accents, wear hoodies or funky party dresses and dance to Amy Winehouse. "Younger people will have a connection to it," said Abbey director Fiach Mac Conghail, who was delighted with the production.
Actor Michael McElhatton, of Paths to Freedom fame, was beaming - and not a bit out of breath - after his sword-brandishing performance as Mercutio. Riverdance producer Julian Erskine, was "extremely proud" to watch his daughter and wife in their first stage performance together as Juliet (Gemma Reeves) and the Nurse (Anita Reeves).
Three generations of the McAnally acting clan, all with strong ties to the Abbey, were also present on the night: "I met my wife here, and my parents met on stage here too," said Aonghus McAnally, who was accompanied by his wife and mother, to watch his son, Aonghus Óg McAnally, playing Balthasar. It all seemed like a fitting prelude to a night of Romeo and Juliet - not to mention Valentine's Day - but the McAnallys were having none of it. "I never even thought of it that way," said McAnally, "the play is really more about tragedy and vengeance than a love story anyway." - SH
• Romeo and Juliet is at the Abbey Theatre until March 22
Angels and monsters and Patrick
Pyrotechnics at the Rock of Cashel, sea monsters in Dublin's George's Dock, and 16 US bands as well as magicians, angels and warriors taking part in the parade - this year's St Patrick's Festival, which "is unique in many ways", will represent "what is different and unique about Ireland", said chief executive Donal Shiels.
"It's not every day you get to be an angel," said Eloho Egwuterai from Nigeria, who will in the parade. "It's fantastic," said Joel Biongo from the Congo, about being a drummer in the parade. David Nicolas will also be marching as a drummer.
Arunas Teiserskis from Lithuania will be dressed up as a warrior. Rajendra Kafle and Dambar Singh from Nepal will be dressed as "mysterious black magicians".
"As always, the St Patrick's Day parade remains the focal point of the festival," said Séamus Brennan, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, who launched the festival's programme this week in Dublin's City Hall. He also praised the organisers for their courage in staging Skyfest at the Rock of Cashel.
"Tá mé ag súil go mór leis," said Ariel Killick, a stilt-walker from Australia, who will be dressed as a golden crowned chakra in the parade. She will also be hosting the speed-dating night as gaeilge, which is one of a series of events under the banner Gael Spraoi, which will promote Irish during the festival. "Bíonn atmaisféar iontach ann," she said. "Tá sé sách crua mar obair," she said, reminding us that it's hard work walking three miles on stilts. But, she adds quickly, "is mór is fiú é" (it's well worth it).
Among those who came to enjoy the launch was the singer Mary Black, who will sing at the National Concert Hall as part of the festival's line-up; Fáilte Ireland's chief executive Shaun Quinn; and Angela McLaughlin, who is organising "at least 15 events" as part of Gael Spraoi. CF
• St Patrick's Festival runs from March 13 to 17. More information at www.stpatricksfestival.ie
A bit of Tennessee in Dublin
The Gate Theatre welcomed many elegant lady and gentlemen callers to the opening night of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams this week.
Guests included the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil John O'Donoghue, actor Bryan Murray, playwrights Bernard Farrell and Hugh Leonard, broadcaster Gay Byrne and his wife Kathleen Watkins, and singers Eimear Quinn and Mary Coughlan, the latter of whom was just back from Calcutta with John O'Shea's Goal charity.
"It's so unusual to see a mother-son relationship and it's so strong," said actor Mark O'Regan, of the play's central story. "It just gives you a hint of that faded southern grandeur, which Tennessee Williams is a master of," he said. O'Regan steps the boards himself later this week when he opens in Bleeding Poets, a new play by Daniel Reardon, which will run at the New Theatre in Dublin's Temple Bar.
"I think [the play] is about waiting, it's all about life in the waiting room," said writer and journalist Mary O'Leary, whose late husband was Michael O'Leary, the former tánaiste who died suddenly in France last year.
"People can identify with all her dilemmas," said the theatre's deputy director, Marie Rooney, of the character Amanda Wingfield as played by Francesca Annis. Rooney was officiating on opening night for the last time before she leaves after almost 30 years in the theatre to set up her own independent marketing, PR and production company, Highlight Productions. "It's a great one to go out on," she said of the play. "I've great, great memories," she said. "I'm sad at leaving but looking forward to my new adventure." Becoming nostalgic for a moment, she thought back and said she knows every corner of the theatre. "I know all of it intimately. I can close my eyes and describe it to you in great detail," she said. CF
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams continues at the Gate Theatre until April 5
Triumph of the Sorrows
The story of Deirdre, who fell in love with handsome Naoise and brought about the fall of the Red Branch Knights of Ulster, was relived in the National Library in Dublin this week.
There to enjoy the great tragic legend, presented on stage in the WB Yeats version and a version by Ulick O'Connor, was Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister.
Directing Deirdre's Sorrows: Two Versions, was like having "a split personality, because [the two plays] are very different," said Caroline FitzGerald, who directed the same cast in both versions.
Deirdre is one of three great stories in western Europe, said the playwright, writer and biographer Ulick O'Connor. She stands alongside Helen of Troy and Isolde, he said. Deirdre "is a wonderful, exciting but sometimes a cruel person".
His play was performed in the Japanese Noh form, with Geraldine Plunkett taking the part of Deirdre. The idea of putting on a mask, which is part of Noh theatre, "disorientates you and it takes you into another world", O'Connor said. "It's meant to give you a little chink into the world of reincarnation, where people are becoming more perfected, [it takes you] into the half realised."
Others who attended the performances included Judge Pat McCartan and his wife Felicity; Prof Terence Brown of TCD; Senator Feargal Quinn and his wife, Denise; Enid Reid Whyte, the former theatre specialist at the Arts Council; and Plunkett's husband, the actor Peadar Lamb.
Also in attendance were Joseph Woods, director of Poetry Ireland; Conor O'Malley, director the Dublin Lyric Players; and UCD English students Christine Monahan and Alison Ní Dhorchaidhe. CF
• Deirdre's Sorrows: Two Versions will run at the National Library of Ireland, Dublin, from Mon to Thu