David Eldridge's first night

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to have a new play (or, in this case, a new version of an Ibsen play) opening at a major London theatre, read playwright David Eldridge blogging about press night for John Gabriel Borkman at The Donmar.

Tuesday night's press night was particularly crazy, and not particularly full of the glitterati as there were so many reviewers and journalists there. The Donmar Warehouse holds approximately 250 audience and on our opening night about 60 of those seats were taken by the press. I had had three or four Jack Daniels to steady my nerves and in a theatre as intimate as this one the critics literally encircle you. As I said Jane Edwardes and Matt Wolf were to my left, to my right and only a couple of yards away were Nicholas de Jongh and John Peter and a couple of yards in front were Michael Billington, Charles Spencer and Susannah Clapp.