The more famous brother couldn't make it. Jim Sheridan, producer of Agnes Browne, had to be in New York for the film's gala premiere. It's tough at the top, as they say. But his younger brother, Peter Sheridan, writer and film director, has stepped into the breach to officially open Abigail's Party at the New Theatre in Temple Bar.
Actors Mary McEvoy and Isobel Mahon add a touch of glamour to the proceedings, hooting away in the front row. Before the show, away from the long-running soap, Glenroe, they discuss their respective characters - Biddy and Michelle. Tonight they're moaning: McEvoy is fed up with her character being "the social equivalent of a Sacred Heart lamp" and Mahon is "the much-dumped Michelle - the old swingin' doors on the semi-D". Holy God!
The Cork actor, Bill Murphy, arrives and talks about his most recent role as a doctor who helps a young girl to die. That's very nice, we say. "No, he does it in a nice way." The Irish-made film, called Revelation, is due out in May. Can't wait.
Also doing the meet and greet thing is the show's director, Jean O'Dwyer, welcoming her father, Paddy O'Dwyer, a psychologist with the Department of Education. Bridget Breathnach, mother of Gabrielle Breathnach, the play's producer, is here too.