Any opening night at the Gate Theatre usually has a certain society buzz to it - lots of air-kissing, friendly gossip and concentrated, if a little cramped, drinking in the back bar. However the presence of an Oscar-winning actress at the opening night of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night on Tuesday definitely gave the evening an added edge.
Frances McDormand, who proved that there is occasional justice in the Oscar world when she won a little gold man for her role in Fargo last year, came along in the company of Isabella Boorman and designer Lainey Keogh. She had just that day started rehearsals on A Streetcar Named Desire, the next Gate production, opening next month.
Looking great in a smart black mac and bright scarf, she will be staying in that star enclave, Dalkey, and her three-year old will be joining her in a couple of weeks after she has a little work done.
She didn't mention whether her husband Joel Coen, who is one half of the superb Coen Brothers directing duo, would be popping over but one of his films will certainly be showing in town - The Big Lebowski, which stars Jeff Bridges and John Goodman. Donna Dent, who wowed the crowds and the critics alike in The Heiress at The Gate over Christmas, will be playing Stella Dubois to Frances's Blanche. Donna, who was in the company of both her real-life husband, actor Joe Gallagher, and on-stage husband, actor Liam Cunningham, admitted that she was rather chuffed to be working with McDormand. She had been slightly worried that they did not look enough alike to be sisters but said that when they arrived at rehearsals that day "We just looked at each other in astonishment - there actually is a kind of similarity." After the show, two of the mainstays of Irish theatre, Barry Mc- Govern and Alan Stanford, were discussing another Gate production, Oscar Wilde's Lady Windemere's Fan. This production, directed by Alan Stanford, will be performed at the Spoleto Festival in South Carolina this summer. Before that, the pair is off to a theatre festival in Toronto with Waiting For Godot.
The evening was also notable for the number of younger actors present, including Peter McDonald, who appeared in I Went Down, the film written by his old friend, Conor McPherson. McDonald was keeping his plans close to his chest but hinted at a few up-coming projects and mentioned "writing something".
Meanwhile McPherson, whose hit play, The Weir is coming to the Gate in July, announced that while he enjoyed the performance, he didn't really like sitting through hours of theatre - Long Day's Journey was originally four and a half hours although the Gate cut it down to three. "At least I make mine short," he said rather sniffily. The play included great performances by Rosaleen Linehan (whose son Conor Linehan composed the play's music) and the handsome American veteran actor, Donald Moffat under the direction of Karel Reisz, who is well-known in the film world for productions such as The French Lieutenant's Woman and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
Both the British ambassador, Veronica Sutherland, and the US ambassador, Jean Kennedy Smith, were there, both chatting to Ciaran Benson of the Arts Council, which was also represented by its director Patricia Quinn.
Tony O Dalaigh, director of the Dublin Theatre Festival was deep in conversation with Frances McDormand, while the festival's chairwoman, Eithne Healy, chatted to RTE's Dave Fanning and his wife, Ursula Courtney. Bernard Farrell was there with his wife Gloria Farrell. He remarked that after a week and a half of rehearsals on his new play, Kevin's Bed at the Abbey, he was going to "leave them to it for a week and then return to remove all the improvements!"
Other first-nighters included writer Gerry Stembridge and Cliona Ni Bhuachalla of Tyrone Productions, delighted that the TnaG soap, Ros na Run, has been selected for the Celtic Film and Television Festival in Tralee this weekend. Annie Ryan of the Corn Exchange Theatre Company was there with her partner, writer and film-maker Michael West; and there was film-maker Johnny O'Reilly; actor Rory Egan and Rupert Murray, relaxing after his chaotic role as director of the St Paddy's Day festival.