Local Habitation: The Irish Players

Event

1995-03-11

01:36:05

This is a lecture by Kay Diviney titled “A Local Habitation: The Irish Players”, discussing poets and imagination, theaters, history, playwrights, performances, reviews of plays and theater performances, as well as actors and actresses involved in theater.

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Held by Benevolent Irish Society

Using quotes the speaker explains that in theatre a writer’s words could be spoken as the writer intended. Yeats understood this and so was instrumental in the creation of the Irish National Theatre or the Abbey Theatre in 1902 along with Lady Gregory and John Willington Synge. The speaker will focus on the actors and the actresses in the Abbey Theatre.
The old Abbey Theatre opened December 27, 1904 to bring together writers, performers, Irish nationalists and Irish patrons. It burned down in 1951. Using visuals, the speaker shows the theatre’s exterior and interior including the green room. This room contained John Yeats’ portraits of people involved with the Abbey as well as where Lady Gregory provided the actors with a huge barm brack or fruitcake.
The speaker demonstrates the physical dimensions of the Abbey’s stage, proscenium arch, and auditorium. Despite the huge effect the Abbey had on Irish arts, the Abbey was a small theatre.
The speaker shows a copy of an original program and highlights the Abbey’s type of plays, their schedule and cast lists. The Theatre Society wanted to bring together all kinds of people, but patrons became disgruntled due to the large number of plays by Yeats, Lady Gregory and Synge. Unlike other theatres, the Abbey presented plays about Irish myths and Irish small town life.
The speaker notes that the plays “Kathleen ni Houlihan” and “In the Shadow of the Glen” were part of the Abbey’s repertoire. Like all of the Abbey’s plays they influenced the audience. Maire Nic Shiubiagh played Kathleen when the Abbey opened.
The speaker delves into the play “Kathleen ni Houlihan” first performed in 1902 with Maud Gonne playing Kathleen. The speaker notes that Gonne was much beloved by audiences and especially by Yeats. The speaker recaps the play’s story line in which Kathleen embodies the spirit of Ireland. The speaker reads a description of Gonne’s performance of Kathleen.
The speaker summarizes Lady Gregory’s involvement with the Abbey including once playing the part of Kathleen when Maire Nic Shiubiagh could not take the stage. The speaker reads Maire Nic Shiubiagh’s unflattering review of Lady Gregory’s performance of Kathleen.
The speaker introduces Maire Nic Shiubiagh AKA Mary Walker using John Yeats’ portrait of her. The speaker notes that Maire Nic Shiubiagh also left her own memoirs. The speaker quotes a description of Maire Nic Shiubiagh as well as a review from the Times on Maire Nic Shiubiagh’s performance of Kathleen.
The speaker reads Joseph Connolley’s description of Maire Nic Shiubiagh’s portrayal of Kathleen. Also, the speaker quotes the Abbey’s architect, Joseph Holloway, describing how Maire Nic Shiubiag transformed the stage with her performance of Kathleen. The speaker notes, with an example, that the actors acted at night or on days off from their jobs.
The speaker points out that Yeats’ sisters, Lily and Lollie, as actresses and his brother, Jack, as a portraitist were involved with the Abbey. The speaker uses a photo to show various people involved with the Abbey. The speaker explains that the introduction of paid actors caused issues using an example involving Sara Allgood.
The speaker introduces the Fay brothers. William was a comedic actor, director and manager of the Abbey and created professionalism on the stage. Frank, a tragic actor, trained actors to change their accents and diction befitting the poetic nature of the plays. He was also an assistant in the accounting office. Prior to being part of the Abbey the Fay brothers produced over a hundred productions.
The speaker emphasizes that the Abbey was about Irish drama produced by Irish players and writers with a distinct style. William Fay was a perfectionist and controlled all aspects of staging, requiring the actors to go over their parts repeatedly. Sara Allgood and Maire Nic Shiubiagh gave Frank Fay credit for their voice on the stage. Joseph Connolly noted that Frank Fay could project himself as a heroic and commanding figure despite his small size.
The speaker reads from Arthur’s (last name unclear)review of Frank Fay’s performance. The speaker also explained that on the stage the focus was on the speaker while the other characters were the listeners and could not move around unlike English players. So the Irish style of acting was more like a puppet play where the speaker and their words were the most important.
The speaker introduces Sara Allgood, who played Bridget Gillane in “Kathleen Ni Houlihane” and the wife in “Spreading the News” on opening night, by quoting her desire to play Kathleen and how she would play that character. Allgood gained fame both as an actor at the Abbey and in her film career in America. Allgood was part of the 1910 Abbey’s American Tour.
Tape break
The speaker notes that Allgood’s voice made her famous and was described as a “gift from God”, but she also had great ability as an actress. The speaker reads a quote about Allgood’s acting ability.
The speaker introduces Sara Allgood’s younger sister Molly whose stage name was Maira O’Neill. O’Neill, noted for her work in John Synge’s plays, had a relationship with him. Synge wrote with O’Neill in mind including his last play “Deirdre of the Sorrows”. The speaker reads Synge’s poem, “A Question”, written for O’Neill. The speaker ends by pointing out the success of the Abbey was due to the actors and actresses as well as the playwrights and directors.
Applause, audience questions and discussion, final comments