Early one morning this week, Michael Colgan at the Gate Theatre asked friends to come round for a coffee, some croissants and a very important announcement.
Champagne was uncorked and guests delightedly witnessed Loretta Brennan Glucksman, a director of the Ireland Funds, present a cheque for €300,000 to the Gate. The money will be used to redevelop the 18th-century theatre, which has no rehearsal space, a tiny workshop, and a "get-in" facility that involves the sets being built in small sections, manually lifted up a narrow staircase and through a narrow doorway, and then assembled on stage.
Architectural company Scott Tallon Walker has a plan to resolve all the difficulties imposed by the physical limitations of the Gate's existing building, which celebrates 75 years as a theatre next year. The cost of this development project is more than €3.22 million. It is planned that the new design will provide an environment for the Gate's creative development plan, which aims to deliver an outreach and education programme.
"The Ireland Funds have not only given the Gate a generous cheque, but with it they have given us the encouragement and confidence to proceed with our building programme," said Colgan.
Among the stars and supporters of the Gate who gathered to celebrate the occasion were actors John Kavanagh, Barry McGovern, Susan Fitzgerald, Stephen Brennan and Eva Bartley, along with director Alan Stanford, artists Louis Le Brocquy and Anne Madden, Dublin Theatre Festival director Fergus Linehan, Ireland director of the Ireland Funds Kieran McLoughlin, and deputy director of the Gate Marie Rooney.