Written by Frank McGuinness
Directed by Kent Paul
Synopsis: Gates of Gold, a new play by Frank McGuinness, is an acerbic duel between two lovers, the fashionable and eloquent theatrical trailblazers who founded Dublin's Gate Theatre.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"Any good ham loves a deathbed scene, and Frank McGuinness has written a lovely one, and then stretched it out into a slip of a drama. "
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK POST:
"While the play doesn't provide much information or insight about the real-life figures who inspired it, it does present a touching depiction of a loving couple who managed to live openly in a society that refused to recognize such a union. "
Read the whole review HERE.
THEATERMANIA:
"However, while the central love/hate relationship within the text is explored in an interesting manner, a couple of the subplots are not only underdeveloped, it's unclear why they were introduced in the first place. "
Read the whole review HERE.
VARIETY:
"There was enough drama, trauma and fabulous hijinx in the lives and work of Micheal MacLiammoir and Hilton Edwards, the founders of Dublin's Gate Theater, to fuel several television miniseries -- or more appropriately, a good few operas. But Frank McGuinness is remarkably timid and half-hearted in his use of their story as inspiration for this world premiere..."
Read the whole review HERE.
NYTHEATRE.COM:
"There's nothing wrong with this plot. There is something wrong with the play. Very little happens, for starters. There's a lot of talking, but the characters don't say much. One man is dying, one isn't. They have a love-hate relationship. One is venomously cruel, the other is kind. One is a flamboyant showman, the other is demure, allegedly self-loathing, and has a penchant for smoking pot and snorting coke. Will their "wounds" be healed by the time one goes to the great theater in the sky? Will they be able to heal the "wounds" of the people around them? You can infer the answer."
Read the whole review HERE.
BACKSTAGE:
"Long before the lead character in Gates of Gold dies, the play itself expires in a welter of confusion and exhaustion. "
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TIME OUT NY:
"Perhaps it is appropriate that this tale of a dying diva, styling himself as Desdemona, leaves us feeling like an audience of innocents being smothered, slowly, with a blanket. "
Read the whole review HERE.
