Beckett Season

THE GATE ON TOUR
at the SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2007

In January 2007 the Gate toured to the Sydney Festival with a Beckett season about which the Sydney Morning Herald wrote. ‘Just as the Gate Theatre brilliantly enhanced the 1997 Melbourne Festival, it has brought the Sydney Festival artistic riches to be treasured for years’.

First Love, one of Beckett’s post war novellas, with Ralph Fiennes, directed by Michael Colgan; Eh Joe, with Charles Dance, directed by Atom Egoyan; and I’ll Go On, with Barry McGovern, directed by Colm O’Briain. The company was joined by the legendary musician Lou Reed for Poetry and Prose readings. The sell out productions received standing ovations and the following reviews:


‘Ralph Fiennes made 55 minutes feel like a lingering moment last night in a fluid, flawless opening of First Love…that burns and lives on the stage…powerful. Anyone who loves acting should love this play, a coup for the Sydney Festival and a treat for discerning Sydneysiders’ The Daily Telegraph



‘Mr. Dance lives up to his name with balletic nobility and emotional power and just by changing the way he looks moves an entire audience close to tears.’ The Daily Telegraph



...McGovern commands our attention with a masterfully rendered performance…a stunningly powerful speech and a fitting finale to a performance and production that is over all too quickly.’ The Daily Telegraph



‘Three powerful actors, and sets designed by the wonderful 70-something Eileen Diss and the Irish artist Robert Ballagh make the three-play season a must’ The Sydney Morning Herald