The Irish Repertory Theatre, in New York, are marking their 30th anniversary by holding a Sean O’Casey Season from 30th of January until the 25th of May. There are several events that make up the festival with the centerpiece being stagings of all three of Sean’s Dublin Trilogy in repertory.
In addition to the repertory season they are putting on a series of readings of all Sean O’Casey’s plays. This is a great opportunity to hear some important works that are not often performed. The works presented are,
The Silver Tassie (1928)
Within the Gates (1934)
The Star Turns Red (1940)
Purple Dust (1940/1945)
Red Roses for Me (1942)
Oak Leaves and Lavender (1946)
Cock-a-Doodle Dandy (1949)
Three One Acts Part I: “Bedtime Story” (1951), “The End of the Beginning” (1937), and “A Pound on Demand” (1939)
Three One Acts Part II: “Behind the Green Curtains” (1961), “Figuro in the Night” (1961), and “The Moon Shines on Kylenamoe” (1961)
The Bishop’s Bonfire: A Sad Play within the Tune of a Polka (1955)
The Drums of Father Ned (1959)
The readings are free but spaces are limited. Apply to the Irish Repertory Theatre box office for invitations.
We are very sad to note the death of Doreen Keogh on 31st December 2017.
Doreen Keogh 1924 – 2017
She will probably be most widely remembered for her television roles which were many and varied including a notable stint as Coronation Street’s barmaid. She also appeared with distinction in Ballykissangel, The Royle Family and Father Ted.
She has a strong connection with the plays of Sean O’Casey too, appearing in Sam Wanamaker’s UK tour of Purple Dust, Juno and the Paycock at the Aldwych, Silver Tassie at the Almeida and Shivaun O’Casey’s production of The Shadow of a Gunman.
Doreen trained at the Abbey Theatre School before joining the company at The Gate Theatre and later moving to London sparking a long career in television and radio in addition to her stage work.
Sean O’Casey was a prolific writer of letters. His correspondence was both deep and wide. Many of his letters were ably tracked down and presented in four volumes by the US poet and academic David Krause. These books are now out of print but can still be found second-hand, and are an extraordinary work of scholarship. This story is not included in there, but is also one that deserves telling.
In 1955 Sean corresponded with an amateur actor called David Butcher. David was born in Dublin in 1920, and although his family returned to England in 1922 he retained a strong connection to the country. He wrote to Sean after reading Sean’s autobiography asking him about specific places in Dublin where Sean had a connection or interest.
Sean O’Casey’s letter to David Butcher p. 1
Sean O’Casey’s letter to David Butcher p. 2
His story came to us via his cousin’s son Hugh Levey.
Norman David Butcher (known as David) was the only child of English parents: Charles Edward Butcher and Ethel Butcher (née Levey). His father, Charles, worked for the Audit Department of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway Company, based mostly in Norfolk. In 1913 Charles was transferred to the Auditor General’s Departments in Dublin, where [Norman] David was born on 7th January 1920.
Clearly there was much unrest in Ireland during the whole of this period, culminating in the formation of the Irish Free State and civil war. As a Civil Servant of English extraction, Charles Butcher was relocated back to the UK for his and the family’s safety. As David later wrote, “With great sadness the Butcher family left Dublin on 20th July, 1922, my mother in tears all the way over to Holyhead.”
David retained a fond affection for Ireland all of his life, and for Dublin in particular. He often visited Ireland, to meet up with other relations (Todd family) and to enjoy the people, culture and history.
David Butcher trained as an Accountant and spent much of his working life with British manufacturing company Goring-Kerr, retiring as a Director in July 1987. He lived in the Windsor area and was a passionate amateur actor, performing for over 40 years with the Windsor Theatre Guild, where he also acted as Treasurer (& Chairman?). He inherited his love of the theatre from his Aunt May Levey who was also an amateur thespian.
His love of literature and his love of Dublin, appears to have come together in his interest in Sean O’Casey’s work. He had read the writer’s autobiographies, corresponded with him, and photographed locations which were significant in O’Casey’s Dublin life and inspiration. David attended a 1995 performance of Juno and the Paycock in Dublin and was introduced to most of the cast by Tom McKenna. David, himself, performed roles in the play at least 2 or 3 times, including an amateur performance he organised in the late 1950s to raise funds for the rebuilding of Dublin’s Abbey Theatre.
David Butcher Visits Sean O’Casey’s Dublin
The following are pages from David Butcher’s album containing his letter from Sean O’Casey and his photographs and record of a trip to Dublin, in June 1956, to visit Sean’s old homes and to see the Abbey Theatre’s production of Juno and the Paycock. He tracked down the locations Sean described to him of where he had lived in Dublin. David also ventured out to explore more of the city and caused a sensation with his camera it seems.
Sean O’Casey’s Dublin 31st May 1955 “My father died in, and was buried from, 9, Inisfallen Parade – a street of little slum cottages, at the Drumcondra end of Lower Dorset Street, near Binn’s Bridge across the Royal Canal over which I often leaned when a kid, to watch the barges crawling along the water, or look at trains thundering by on their iron rails.”
“I lived for a time in a tenement in Summerhill, nearly opposite Hutton’s the great coach building firm – I can never remember the number of the house.” “Also in a room in Mountjoy Square, whose number, too I have forgotten. – here a raid gave me the idea of – “Shadow of a Gunman”. Also in 4 (afterwards 18), Abercorn Road.
North Wall, near St. Barnabas’ Church. Also in 422, North Circular Road, where “Gunman” “Juno” & “The Plough & the Stars” were written”. “In Lincoln Place, off Westland Row, was the Eye & Ear Hospital (now I believe a warehouse) where if all the times of visits were counted, I must have spent some years of my life.”
“But Dublin has many more exciting places to see than those which I hod to do with, and I hope you may see them all.” – Sean O’Casey 23rd May 1955 Liberty Hall, H.Q. of the Irish Workers’ Union, & Recruiting Centre for the Irish Republican Brotherhood – Sinn Fein – where Sean O’Casey spent much of his time. The Abbey Theatre. The old Broadstone Station of the M.G.W.R. from which Sean O’Casey mode one of his rare departures from Dublin – to stay with Lady Gregory in Co. Galway. A present day slum tenement in Lower Dominick Street. Upper Gardiner Street Slum doorway
Contrasting with five children dressed for some special occasion – “Please take our picture Mister!”
In Abercorn Road, North Wall, the camera soon attracted an audience, wanting to be photographed – with Ingrid Berhenleir. News soon spread, & within a few minutes another photograph! Jim Heffernan & Arthur Gorman acted as guides for my search of Sean O’Casey’s Dublin. As promised, I called back the following evening to say “Good-bye” & finish the last exposure.
David saw the Abbey Theatre production of Juno and the Paycock with Harry Brogan as the Captain and Eileen Crowe as Juno. The performance was staged at the Queen’s Theatre as the Abbey itself had been badly damaged by a fire (after a performance of The Plough and the Stars). He met with Tom McKenna, who played Johnny, and saw a show at the Gaiety Theatre with him before returning to England. Continue reading David Butcher’s Album of Sean’s Dublin Homes and Juno and the Paycock→
In a recent article on the dialects of Ireland Professor Raymond Hickey talks about how Irish and specifically Dublin accents aspirationally referenced English RP. He gives as examples James Joyce and Sean O’Casey, “listening now to recordings of James Joyce and Sean O’Casey, it’s extraordinary how English they sounded”.
Dr Liam P Ó Murchú contests this view. He gives examples of available recordings as evidence and contextualises them by pointing out that as formal recording both men probably put on their dialectical best to be understood.
The example he gives for Sean is an introduction to a 1955 radio recording of Juno and the Paycock produced by Cyril Cusak. Cusak himself plays Joxer. Juno and Captain Boyle are played by Siobhan McKenna and Seamus Kavangh. Sean’s introduction sets the scene for the play and lasts about seven minutes.
The first draft of Juno and the Paycock has been officially received by the National Library of Ireland. The manuscript was acquired in an auction at Sotheby’s in New York. The purchase was made possible by special allocation funding from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the NLI Trust.
The manuscript includes a handwritten draft of acts one and two of Juno and the Paycock, sections of act three, a list of characters and a synopsis of the play. The draft is in a school notebook, titled ‘Juno and the Peacock’ on the front cover.
Dr Sandra Collins, Director of the National Library of Ireland, said of the acquisition,
“We are delighted that this unique manuscript is now safely homed in the National Library. It represents a very significant addition to the NLI’s O’Casey collections, joining a substantial holding of O’Casey papers and his personal library, writing desk and other artefacts that really tell the story of this outstanding Irish playwright… This beautiful piece of Irish history and literature is as relevant for Irish actors and audiences today as it was in 1923”
Mark O’Rowe’s production of Juno and the Paycock has opened at the Gate Theatre and is receiving very positive reviews for his interpretation of this classic play.
We are sad to note the death of actor Frank Finlay. He died peacefully at home surrounded by his family after a short illness.
He was a stalwart of the early years of the National Theatre under Laurence Olivier and also played in some excellent productions at the Old Vic, including playing Joxer to Colin Blakely’s Captain Boyle in Juno and the Paycock.
Finlay is best known for his television and film work including the title role in Dennis Potter’s Casanova.
The Gate Theatre in Dublin is mounting a new production of Juno and the Paycock for 2016. The production will be directed by Mark O’Rowe with sets, costumes and lighting by Paul Wills, Joan Bergin and Sinead McKenna respectively. The cast will include Declan Conlon, Peter Coonan, Ingrid Craigie, Derbhle Crotty, Emmet Kirwan and Bríd Ní Neachtain.
Previews will begin on Thursday 11th February and
opening night is Tuesday 16th February.
“A wonderful and terrible play of futility, of irony, humour and tragedy.”
Lady Gregory
Juno and the Paycock is set in Dublin in the early 1920s during the Irish Civil War. Jack Boyle and his friend Joxer Daly are two Dublin tenement dwellers who put more effort into avoiding work than most do in securing it. Jack’s wife Juno is the breadwinner and moral powerhouse, but she can’t stop her life unravelling.
Assistant Professor and designer Jennifer Saxton said of the choice of production,
“I think one reason we picked the play was that there were so many universal themes in it that struck us as relevant. It’s about family, and loyalty, the civil war turning neighbor against neighbor rather than uniting against an outside force now that they have left, what it means to be a mother, and the effects of poverty.”
The play will run from 7th October to11th October to If you want more information or to book tickets contact Elva Galvan at the University Theatre box office, (956) 665-3581.
