Gates of Gold

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Play Closed 16 December 2006

Trafalgar Studios 2 At the Whitehall Theatre, Whitehall, London

Frank McGuinness' play Gates of Gold, directed by Gavin McAlinden, with a cast that includes William Gaunt.

Gates of Gold explores the nature of love and a unique partnership between two men, one a great actor now approaching the end of his life, and the other an eminent director. A passionate, witty and moving play inspired by the true story of two of Ireland's greatest figures: the founders of the Gate Theatre, Hilton Edwards and Michael MacLiammoir, it offers a fascinating glimpse of two lives devoted to each other and the theatre they founded.

Originally produced at the Gate Theatre, Dublin in 2002, Gates of Gold received its British premiere in a sell–out production at the Finborough Theatre in November 2004 with a cast that included William Gaunt.

"Frank McGuinness's superlative play about death's challenge. Gates of Gold deals with the spiritual struggle of an old man who wavers between accepting hard reality and clinging to the comfort of illusion and self-deception. A death's-head humour keeps breaking the spell... Gavin McAlinden's powerfully nuanced production is remarkable for Gaunt's magnificently various performance - he both plays the role of a dying man and genuinely lives the part. Overwhelming." The London Evening Standard

"Aptly for a piece that is largely concerned with fantasy and artifice, this is not a historical drama, rather an elegiac meditation on life, love and art... William Gaunt's Gabriel is captivating. His startlingly bright blue eyes dancing, his delighted delivery of McGuinness's bitchy repartee and camp innuendo can give way with heart-twisting suddenness to naked terror." The Times

"A handsome and haunting production by Gavin McAlinden... A bulky, raddled William Gaunt turns in a magnificent performance in the role of Gabriel, affording you piercing glimpses of the desperate, hunted man inside the painted queen." The Independent