Dublin, Ireland 2017: Day 4

Today was a very exciting day because it was the opening of my show and the opening of 10 other shows. It's incredible how this festival is organized. There are 11 shows going on at the same time in four different venues. Shows happen at 7:30pm and at 9:30pm every night with 2:30pm and a 4:00pm matinees on Saturdays. People can only attend two shows per night but can go every night and see all the shows. Unfortunately we actors can only see the shows opposite to our times IF we can get to the venues on time. My show is always at 7:30pm with a matinee at 4:00pm. This means I can only see shows that start at 9:00pm and a 2:30pm show. We'll see how that goes.

Since today is opening night and the director (Jimmy) and I didn’t have to be at the theater until 6:00 PM., we decided to take a little stroll around the neighborhood. This time we decide to go to Marrion Square and visit someone very special to theatre, to literature, to the festival, and to me: OSCAR WILDE.

Oscar Wilde’s statue is located on northwest corner of Marrion Square? Why? Because his childhood home is located right across the street from the park so you can see both the statue and his home at the same time. Perhaps for many people is not an important site but for me, as a writer, as a theatre artist, and as a gay man, visiting the place where Oscar was raised was an exciting event. The man is everything.

As we walked from the apartment to Marrion Square and back, I was able to snap some photos of interesting buildings, (at least to me.) So here are some image from my walk, which include, a “government building,” “Public buses right outside Marrion Square,” and the back of the “National Gallery of Ireland.”

The more time I spent in Dublin, the more I realize this city is very compact and walkable. Apparently there are about 2 million people but they all live is a very small space. EVERYONE walks all over the place, and the tourists, like me, are annoying to the locals because we stop every second to look at things. Well... I... never mind, I leave it at that.

And finally, the time for the show came and it opened. We had a few technical glitches but other than that, it was great. After my show, another show started so I stayed to see that show, which was very well done. And after both shows were done, we went to a bar called OSCARS, where the casts and crews from all the 11 shows gather to celebrate our openings. My GOD, so many people, so many artists, so many handsome men.

First performance over and now we wait for the theatre reviews... I am excited and scare, all at the same time!