On the Town: Oscar Wilde, the epitome of style, would have loved this week's opening at the Gate Theatre. The latest production of his play, Lady Windermere's Fan, includes designs by the couturier, Peter O'Brien, for the cast of 19.
The former head of design at the House of Chloe in Paris, was "terrified" before the play. He designed a total of 15 different gowns and day dresses for the play.
"I have had the most wonderful month of my life," he said. His mother, Muriel O'Brien, from Finglas, brothers Damien and David and niece Kate O'Brien were all in the audience for the gala opening.
Others from the world of fashion who came to the opening night included designer Ib Jorgensen, Catherine Condell, Cha Cha Seigne and Mariad Whisker, whose daughter, India Whisker, is in the play. RTÉ's Off the Rails presenters Caroline Morahan and Pamela Flood chatted to Gráinne Seoige, of Sky News Ireland.
"It's a beautifully written play. It doesn't waste a word. It's funny," said director Alan Stanford of Lady Windermere's Fan. He added that its message is that "fundamentally, we should never judge people in terms of black and white. We all have our perfections and we all have our imperfections".
"It's time has come again," said Dr Michelle O'Riordan, of the Institute for Advanced Studies. "For a while the preoccupations of the 1890s were not accessible to us but the current zeitgeist allows us to access some of the sensibilities in Wilde's plays again".
Prof Máirtín Ó Murchú and his wife, Helen, were also watching out for their daughter, Caitríona Ní Mhurchú, who was making her first appearance at the Gate.
Others at the show included artist Fionnuala Ní Chiosáin, playwright Conor McPherson and Seán Ó Dálaigh (aged 12), a fifth-class student at Coláiste Mhuire, whose verdict on the production was that "it was really good".
Lady Windermere's Fan, by Oscar Wilde, runs at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, until Sat, Jul 23