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Celebrate Two Dublin Icons Marking A Special Milestone With The Lady Gregory Afternoon Tea At The Westbury

To celebrate 40 years of The Westbury, the team at the five-star hotel have  created a special afternoon tea experience to honour Lady Augusta Gregory,  co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, which is this year celebrating 120 years as the  National Theatre of Ireland with a special female-led programme honouring the  Matriarch’s ideals. 

2024 marks 40 years since The Westbury first opened its iconic Balfe Street doors. To celebrate this  special anniversary, the team have created an afternoon tea experience in honour of Lady Augusta Gregory, co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, who are longtime collaborators of the five-star hotel. This  year The Abbey also celebrates an important milestone – 120 years of the National Theatre of Ireland – with The Gregory Project, a special programme to honour the legacy of Lady Gregory.  

The Gregory Project features ambitious and unmissable new writing alongside gems from the Irish  theatrical canon, with collaborations featuring important artists and partners. The body of work  embodies Lady Gregory’s ideals of excellence, ambition, inclusion, risk-taking and celebration, taking  their lead from her tenacious, passionate and relentless support of Irish artists, storytellers and  writers.  

The programme continues this summer with The Sugar Wife, written by Elizabeth Kuti and directed by  Annabelle Comyn, which runs until 20 July, starring Siobhán Cullen in the role of Hannah Tewkley. Set in 1850s Dublin, this powerful new production explores the dark side of global commodities like  sugar and asks urgent questions about money, marriage and morality. 

Coinciding with the opening of The Sugar Wife, The Lady Gregory Afternoon Tea, served in The Gallery overlooking Dublin’s Grafton Street, includes The Westbury’s exquisite selection of freshly prepared  sandwiches and scones alongside five newly created miniature handmade desserts, each inspired by  a play performed on the Abbey stage and written by Lady Gregory herself.  

This beautiful selection of confections includes the Choux au Craquelin, Strawberries and Mascarpone  Cream, inspired by Lady Gregory’s Spreading the News, a one-act comic play which first ran at the 

Abbey in December 1904; the Coconut Panna Cotta with Golden Pineapple Gel, inspired by Gregory’s  The Golden Apple, performed at the Abbey in 1973; the Lemon and Blueberry Tart, inspired by Gregory’s masterpiece, Grania, a retelling of the Diarmuid and Gráinne legend which makes its debut  on the Abbey stage as part of this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival, 21 September to 26 October,  reimagined in a contemporary context by Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre Caitríona McLaughlin; 

the Gâteau Opéra, which takes its inspiration from The Rising of the Moon, an exploration of Anglo Irish relations at the beginning of the 20th century; and finally, the Raspberry and White Chocolate  Crémeux, inspired by Dervorgilla, which explores themes of love, loyalty, and betrayal as well as the  tensions between different social classes in medieval Ireland. 

The Lady Gregory Afternoon Tea, €70 or €93 to include a glass of Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV,  is available now. The new menu, featuring beautiful illustrations by Lisa McGuinness, includes  vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, plus a selection of sustainably certified teas, coffees and  infusions from around the world.

To book visit https://www.doylecollection.com/hotels/thewestbury-hotel/dining/afternoon-tea or thegallery@doylecollection.com or call +35316463328

Celebrate the spirit of Lady Gregory’s trailblazing legacy at The Westbury this summer. @westburydublin 

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