Tag: The Silver Tassie

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Actor Doreen Keogh 1924 – 2017

We are very sad to note the death of Doreen Keogh on 31st December 2017.

Doreen Keogh 1924 - 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.

There are several lovely obituaries available in The Guardian,  The Telegraph and The Irish Independent.

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The Silver Tassie in the BBC Radio 3 Minds at War Series

By Penti at English Wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Playwright Elizabeth Kuti examines The Silver Tassie as part of the BBC Radio 3 Minds at War series. She looks at how the second act works to question the meaning of the war and how the final act places the meaninglessness of the war and its consequences back into the lives of the soldiers and their families.

Kuti goes on to put the play in context in Sean’s life looking at the rejection from W.B. Yates and support from G.B. Shaw as well as how the play fits in the context of other war plays including Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, Joan Littlewood’s Oh What a Lovely War! and Sarah Kane’s Blasted.

 

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Somerset Maugham’s For Services Rendered Parallels With The Silver Tassie

Maugham retouched
Howard Davies production of Somerset Maugham’s For Services Rendered at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester is receiving very positive reviews, building on the success of his production of The Silver Tassie at the National Theatre last year.

Michael Billington in his Guardian review points out the parallels between the two works. Both plays use an examination of family to make, “attack[s] on the destructive consequences of war”. While The Silver Tassie takes you to the battlefield For Services Rendered remains inside the family dynamic.

First performed in 1932 in the West End the play was not well received as its anti-war message was not popular at the time. The work received a handful of revivals, including a TV version by Granada in 1959. Howard Davies production is now bringing this play and its message back to the British stage.