All eyes were on the walls - not on the stage - at the Gate Theatre on Thursday evening when photographer Tom Lawlor opened an exhibition of his theatrical work accompanied by a book, Tom Lawlor At The Gate. The evening was infused with a kind of doppelganger effect as so many of the subjects of Tom's pictures had come along to wish him well.
Maureen Potter was there looking sprightly in a white hat and was accompanied by her husband and scriptwriter, Jack O'Leary. Actors Alan Stanford and Johnny Murphy were both there - they're currently rehearsing Waiting For Godot for the Melbourne Theatre Festival. In fact, much of the city's thespian population will be disappearing Down Under shortly - Pat Kinnevane is also in Godot, as is Barry McGovern, and Donal Kelly is taking Catalpa to Australia.
Lawlor's two children, Jenny and Deirdre, got a big kiss from their Dad after his speech. Both Michael Colgan of the Gate and RTE's Mike Murphy also made short speeches - with Mike M. getting the last laugh by describing Tom as "lensman to the luvvies".