Gates of Gold

Starts at 8:00 pm

Admission: from £8.80

Concession Admission: from £7.35

From March 21 until Saturday 11 April. the Library Theatre follows up its Manchester Evening News Theatre Award-winning production of Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me from May 2007 with another Frank McGuinness play.

Gates of Gold explores the character of love and celebrates a remarkable partnership between two men, one a great actor in the final months of his life, the other an illustrious director.

A passionate, witty and moving play inspired by the true story of two of Ireland’s greatest figures, Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, who co-founded the Gate Theatre in Dublin in 1928, it offers a fascinating glimpse of two lives devoted to each other and the theatre they founded.

Suffused with dark humour, Gates of Gold is a poignant portrayal of an intense relationship.

The regional premiere of Frank McGuinness’ touching drama Gates of Gold continues the spring 2009 season at the Library Theatre in Manchester. The production, which runs between Friday 20 March - Saturday 11 April, will be directed by Rachel O’Riordan, making her directorial debut at the Library Theatre.

Inspired by the true story of two of Ireland’s greatest theatrical figures, Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, who co-founded the world-renowned Gate Theatre in Dublin in 1928, Gates of Gold is a passionate, witty and moving play, yet studded with moments of dark humour.

Renowned theatre director and actor Gabriel is terminally ill. His partner, Conrad, has engaged the services of a nurse, Alma, to care for him. Their daily life is tense as Gabriel, in great pain, is hardly an ideal patient, and things become tenser still when Kassie, Gabriel’s sister, and her short-tempered son, Ryan, come to stay with the couple.

Confrontation is in the air - can each character be reconciled with one another? Gates of Gold offers a fascinating glimpse of two lives devoted as much to each other as it is to the theatre they founded.

Director Rachel O’Riordan, whose production of Hurricane, about the life and times of controversial snooker star Alex Higgins, was nominated for a Best Visiting Production award at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards in 2004, has assembled a top-drawer cast for Gates of Gold.

Heading the cast as Gabriel is one of Britain’s leading stage actors, Oliver Cotton, who started his career as a member of Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre ensemble at London’s Old Vic. Recent credits include appearing in The Philadelphia Story and Richard II at the Old Vic with legendary American actor Kevin Spacey. He also appears as Michael Heseltine in the major BBC drama Margaret, to be screened on Thursday 26 February, about the final days of Margaret Thatcher’s long spell at 10 Downing Street.

Burnley-born Ian Barritt, who plays Conrad, also has a host of credits at the National Theatre as well as appearances in recent years at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in Separate Tables and Kes. He also TV credits in Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Foyle’s War, and A Touch of Frost.

Caitlin Mottram, as Alma, comes to the Library Theatre having starred late last year in The Venetian Twins at the Bolton Octagon Theatre. She has credits at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the Derby Playhouse, and with the prestigious Peter Hall Company.

Marty Cruickshank, who plays Kassie, has credits at most of the country’s repertory theatres. A member of both the Joint Stock Theatre Company and Shared Experience, she has also, as a playwright, had her work produced at the ICA, the Royal Court Theatre, and by English Touring Theatre.

Patrick Knowles, who plays Ryan, has recently appeared in Mark Ravenhill’s Paradise Regained at the Royal Court Theatre. He is also a writer, with a play due to be performed underneath a railway arch in Borough, London, later this year.

Gates of Gold runs from Friday 20 March to Thursday 11 April
at the Library Theatre, Central Library
St Peter’s Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

Tickets: Mon eve £9.80; Tue/Wed eve, Thu mat £12.25; Thu/Fri eve, Sat mat £14.70; Sat eve £18.10. Various concessions from £7.35 (not Sat eve). Group & party rates and early-bird deals (Mon 23-Wed 25 March) available.

www.librarytheatre.com

Telephone: 0161 236 7110