Tuesday 14 October saw the Gate Theatre, staff and friends celebrate its 80th birthday with the launch of a new edition of Micheál MacLiammóir’s theatrical autobiography, All For Hecuba. David Kelly, the renowned actor who has a long history with the Gate and worked with both MacLiammóir and Edwards, was special guest for the evening and relayed wonderful stories of his earlier years working with the late Gate founders

Michael Colgan, who has written the foreword in the limited numbered edition of 500, reminded everyone of the remarkable vision and courage of his predecessors, MacLiammóir and Edwards, without whom the Gate would not be in existence today. He added “To honour their legacy we decided to celebrate the 80th anniversary in three ways: the first was the provision of a new wing which is due to open in a matter of weeks, the second was to thank Anew McMaster for introducing the boys to each other by way of the first ever all-Ireland tour, and the third was to re-publish MacLiammóir’s wonderful All For Hecuba”.

Those in attendance included Michael Colgan and his partner Noelle McCarthy; members of the cast of Hedda Gabler John Light, Justine Mitchell, Susan FitzGerald and Billie Traynor; authors Thomas Kilroy, Micheal O'Siadhail, Tony Roche, Bernard Farrell, Christopher FitzSimon and Kate Thompson, Artists Michael Travers (Micheál MacLiammóir’s Grand-nephew and trustee) and Cian McLoughlin, British Ambassador David Reddaway, actors David Kelly & Laurie Morton, Bill Golding, Barbara Brennan and her mother actress Daphne Carroll, Ingrid Craigie, Kelly Campbell, Laurence Foster and Michael James Ford; Director of the Dublin Theatre Festival Loughlin Deegan; Former Deputy Directors Marie Rooney and Anne Clarke; Kathy Gilfillan; and Chairman of the Gate Theatre Board of Directors Laurence Crowley. 

From his days as a child actor in London, sharing the stage with Noel Coward, to founding the Gate Theatre with his partner Hilton Edwards, and undertaking ambitious tours to pre-war Europe, Micheál MacLimmóir’s All For Hecuba combines autobiography with a biography of theatre and of post civil-war Ireland. Warm, engaging, intelligent and witty, this vivid narrative, first published in 1946, describes the struggles and triumphs of the Gate’s early years, when with extraordinary vigour and dedication, MacLiammóir and Edwards set about creating innovative and experimental productions and designs, showcasing international theatre to Dublin audiences. They enlisted established talent while uncovering new talent along the way; Denis Johnston, Lennox Robinson, architect Michael Scott, Mary Manning, James Mason, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Christine and Edward Longford, Sybil Thorndike and the blazing comet that was Orson Welles. Converting the Rotunda Rooms into a theatre space, the constant threat of bankruptcy, the infamous Longford split, and pre-war tours to Europe, Egypt and North America are all set down in beautiful atmospheric prose that establishes All For Hecuba as more than mere history, but as literature.
 
In its eighty years the Gate Theatre has had only two artistic directorates, the first shared by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir and the second by Michael Colgan who, this year, celebrates 25 years at the Gate.  This limited edition, published by Lilliput press in association with the Gate Theatre, is now on sale at the Gate and can also be ordered by calling 01 874 4368.