Security men at the door of the Peacock Theatre was a good indication of the tight control there was for the staged reading of The Guys by Anne Nelson by Hollywood couple, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.
Tickets had sold out in hours and the house was packed on Tuesday for the opening. Interest in the performance was largely due to excitement about the participation of the glamorous couple, but some people were also there to hear more about September 11th.
The Guys is based on the true story of journalist Nelson's meeting with a grieving fire-captain who needed help in composing eulogies for four of his colleagues who had been killed when the twin towers collapsed.
Earlier in the evening, Sarandon and Robbins were spotted at Talbot 101 restaurant having a relaxed dinner with their family, though their entrance to the theatre later was stage-managed and guarded. Members of the audience didn't mind. It was thrill enough to see Sarandon - star of films such as Thelma and Louise and Dead Man Walking - and her husband, Robbins, of The Shawshank Redemption fame, in such an intimate venue.
There were no interviews or photographs allowed, but after the staged reading, Sarandon and Robbins stayed for a surprise question and answer session with the audience and were joined by Nelson, who got a standing ovation. She had come from New York with her children, Julia (11) and David Black (13), and her husband, writer George Black, for the performance; joining his mother, Tessa Black, who travelled from London.
"The play is based on the experiences of an afternoon but there were additional conversations over a month," explained Nelson. "I wrote it as a way of expressing appreciation for the way of life of the firefighters. I think that Susan and Tim have shown that they share those feelings."
The fire-captain "spoke without hatred, without revenge, there was nothing about flag-waving in his expression . . . I was starting to get resentful that this wasn't being reflected in what was around me," she said. "The play was written very quickly . . . the humour is really reflective of the firefighters."
Reading The Guys in New York "was a little bit intimidating because I knew there would be firefighters in the audience," said Robbins - who joked that he didn't want anything to be thrown at the stage.
Tim Robbins, who read The Guys at the Edinburgh Festival, with Sarandon, earlier this month, said it was performed as a staged reading rather than a full production because "it's about a document and not about a set with actors".
They were asked about the forthcoming film based on The Guys. It's a very small film, very low budget," said Nelson. This film of monologues "moves around New York and they show parts of New York that I love . . . Part of the challenge has been protecting it [The Guys] from getting too big and getting tied up with too much money and it feels the best when it's in a small place," she said.
"He did it with three other women first," explained a smirking Sarandon, when asked how often the couple had performed the piece together. Sarandon's answers sparkled with wit and humour.
New York in the aftermath of the tragedy, she said, was like MASH. "A whole network sprang up without any kind of organisation, these crazy, eccentric people, started running things. They made it happen. New Yorkers are a tough bunch. It was New York at its best."
The Guys, which was written in the immediate aftermath of September 11th, has been criticised for its lack of political context and the discussion on Tuesday touched on the wider implications. Sarandon commented: "One of the only hopeful signs at the time came out of Ireland - the putting down of arms." She wondered "why we are in the same old cycle of violence," mentioning her own limited world view, which was not as limited as the US president's (an aside which got a round of applause).
Apart from a small number of media people, the audience comprised those who had queued on Sunday or phoned early for tickets, such as Maureen Sanders, manager of Veritas publications, and Sheila Powers, manger of the Veritas bookshop. They were both interested in the subject of the piece, particularly as Veritas published Finding Courage last year, a book by Joy Carroll, which deals with people who have undergone traumatic experiences, including many who were interviewed at Ground Zero last year.
Peggy Porter, from Malahide who was there with her friends, Anne Kilbane, Kathleen Flynn and Máire Flynn, was interested in the subject rather than getting to seeing the stars. Being reminded of that awful September day wouldn't be a downer, she said. "I think it's uplifting if anything." She and her friends beamed with pleasure at seeing two actors on stage bring the script to life.