Laughter and intermittent applause interrupted the performances on opening night at the Gate Theatre of its production of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
There was a full house in attendance to enjoy the play directed by Alan Stanford and based on an adaptation by James Maxwell. The comic moments came fast and furious.
The lamentations of Susan FitzGerald, as the demented Mrs Bennett, mother of five unmarried daughters, and the fine timing of Bill Golding, who played her long-suffering husband, brought the house down on a number of occassions.
Stylist Aisling Gleeson enjoyed the night with her parents, architect Tony Gleeson and Maureen Gleeson, who are home on holiday from Nairobi, Kenya. Solicitor Lainey Blayney chatted to friends at the interval also.
Former adviser to Síle de Valera, Michael Ronayne, from Claremorris, Co Mayo, was spotted, as was RTÉ and Metro Éireann journalist Michelle Browne with her sister, Geraldine Browne, and their mother, Geraldine Browne.
Antoinette Murphy, of the Peppercannister Gallery on Herbert Street, who was there with her husband, Patrick Murphy, chair of the Arts Council, was full of news about upcoming shows in her gallery, including a collection of work by Breon O'Casey, son of the great Irish playwright, next September. The sculptor and artist lives in Penzance in Cornwall. The work of Rome-based Anne Donnelly is currently on view at the gallery.
Ray Bates, director of the National Lottery, chatted happily at the interval to his American friend, Jim Hosker, a lottery consultant from Boston. They've known each other since 1987 when the Lotto was being devised, said Bates.
Senator David Norris was taking a breather after Bloomsday and before the Senate elections.