Theatre Archive Doc of the Month - 'A Whistle in the Dark'

The theatre archive document of the month for May is to coincide with the return and nationwide tour of Druid Theatre's DruidMurphy series. This 2013 season run showcases some of Tom Murphy's greatest literary and dramatic works, Conversations on a Home Coming and A Whistle in the Dark. Druid's relationship with Tom Murphy, dating back to when he was Writer-in-Association with Druid in the 1980s has allowed for the creation of an examining of Irishness, the Irish family and Irish history and society so visceral that enthrals audiences at home and abroad still to this day.

 

This document is a cast photograph from the 1987 production of A Whistle in the Dark, which was produced at the Jesuit Hall in Salthill and directed by Garry Hynes. This play's history is well worth noting as it received its premiere at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London in 1961 having previously been rejected by the Abbey Theatre. In the photograph are: (l to r standing) Peter Gowan, Maeliosa Stafford, Johnny Murphy, Mick Lally, Corinne Ransom. (Front row, L to R) Sean McGinley, Godfrey Quigley, David Herlihy.

The Druid Theatre archive at the James Hardiman Library contains further records on the history of this classic murphy play. Interestingly, cast member Maeliosa Stafford (2^nd from left, standing) is currently playing the role of 'Dada' in the current Druid Theatre production of A Whistle in the Dark. Further records relating to this play in the Druid archive include:

T2/152 Scope and Content: A Whistle in the Dark - Written by Tom Murphy and directed by Garry Hynes. Performed at Jesuit Hall, Salthill, Galway. File contains printed playbill featuring biographical essay on Tom Murphy, details of cast and production crew members, article entitled "Drama and Metaphor" by Christopher Murray. 3 copies. Printed black and white flyer and invitation to the opening night performance of the play. 12 items. Assorted photocopy of press cuttings of reviews and coverage of the play taken from various Irish newspapers and press. 60pp Date: 13-25 Jul 1987 Extent: 142 pp

 T2/153 Scope and Content: A Whistle in the Dark - Black and white photographs featuring cast members in costume and on set during rehearsal of A Whistle in the Dark. Contact sheets feature 11-12 images each. 2 items Also includes black and white images of Druid theatre members posing as a group outside Druid Theatre. Those pictured include Sean McGinley, Maeliosa Stafford, Mick Lally, Godfrey Quigley and others. Quigley is seated in these three pictures. Items measure 203mm X 254mm. Date: Jul 1987 Extent: 5 items

 

T2/154 Scope and Content: A Whistle in the Dark - Photocopy of typed script of A Whistle in the Dark, written by Tom Murphy.  Date: Jul 1987 Extent: 1 item

The Druid Archive catalogue can be viewed in full here.

Looking back on "'Tis Pity She's a Whore"

Now on in Dublin’s Project Arts Centre is The Making of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore”, a reworking of the John Ford-written 17^th century darkly thrilling drama. The original play, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore deals with the hidden and lustful desires of one man for his sister in the 17^th century Italian city of Parma. This modern staging of the play places the action on a film set and works the themes of the original around this engaging twist which is being staged by Siren Productions and directed by the Irish Times Award-Winning director, Selina Cartmell.

The play itself certainly has a chequered and daring history, finding itself almost forgotten from the collected works of John Ford as early as the mid-17^th century. Interestingly, the play received a full production from Druid Theatre from June to July 1985. Staged at Druid Lane Theatre in Galway and directed by Gary Hynes, the play featured a strong cast and featured the talents of Pat Leavy, Malcolm Douglas, Marie Mullen, Mairéad Noone, Ciaran Hinds, Maelíosa Stafford, Séan McGinley, Jane Brennan, Ray McBride and Darragh Kelly. 

The Druid Theatre Archive here in the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway, holds a rich record of this production that includes programmes - which detail cast lists, headshots, productions credits and an article detailing thoughts on the play written by author John Banville - entitled "In the teeth of the whirlwind"; posters, photographs flyers, invitations, tickets and play posters. There are also many press reviews and articles from regional, local and national press. This unique collection of play records and ephemera is a fantastic research resource and provides an insight into how one of Ireland’s premier theatre companies staged a work over twenty-five years ago which has now found its place back on a major Irish stage.

The files T2/121 – 125 and T2/380 relate directly to this Druid production and their descriptions and details can be viewed on the Druid Archive online catalogue: http://archives.library.nuigalway.ie/cgi-bin/FramedList.cgi?T2

For more on the current production of The Making of ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore by Siren Productions see http://www.projectartscentre.ie/

Culture Night events at NUIG Archives

The wonderful ‘Culture Night’ is now only a few weeks away and we here at the Archives and Special Collections hope you will call by and enjoy what promises to be an entertaining and fun evening. Friday night, 23^rd of September will see cultural venues and institutions open up to the public for a series of special events to mark the national initiative that is Culture Night.

Our events feature talks, info sessions and film events to give you, our users, a sample and insight to our wonderful archival collections. Talks, screenings and events will feature specifically on our extensive landed estates records, our theatre archives and also our literary collections. For any fans of writer John McGahern, archivist Fergus Fahy will give a talk about the personal archive of McGahern himself, which is deposited here in the NUIG archive. (The McGahern archive catalogue can be seen here: http://tiny.cc/apmso )

Marie Boran and Bridget Cleshan have this year launched the fantastic Irish Landed Estates database. The database provides an incredible record of Irish landed estates in Connaught and Munster from c.1700 – 1914. For anyone with interest in this period or for those working in genealogy, this is an event not to be missed.

The multiple award-winning Druid Theatre Company, based here in Galway, have committed their extensive and rich archive to the holding of NUIG. The production archive of Druid (1975 – 2008 is fully catalogued and available) To celebrate this proud link with one of Ireland’s premier theatre companies, we will be screening two pieces from their 2004 ‘DruidSynge’ series. “Riders to the Sea” and “The Well of the Saints” are two of Synge’s most acclaimed works and we are delighted to be screening them this Culture Night.

For details of events and times please click here

Events are staged in the Patrick. F Fotrell Theatre, Arts Millennium Building (Next to James Hardiman Library) All events are free and open to the public.

For any details or enquires about these events please contact barry.houlihan@nuigalway.ie

http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/collections/archives/

The Cripple of Inismaan

The rich and dark comedy of Martin McDonagh’s the Cripple of Inismaan has been touring coast to coast across America as part of the ‘Imagine Ireland’ programme throughout the first half of 2011. An award winning co-production between Druid Theatre Company and Atlantic Theatre Company, the show has performed to nearly 100,000 people throughout this trans-Atlantic tour. Launching in Roscommon and tracing its way across the United States with stops in Boston, Michigan, Chicago, California and South Carolina, to name a few, before a trip to its spiritual home in Inis Maan for an emotional homecoming.

McDonagh has enjoyed a long association with Druid. The rise of McDonagh is well documented in then Druid Theatre Company Archive, also held here in NUI Galway. McDonagh’s writing has created some of the best loved plays and performances by Druid of recent years. The visceral, beautiful and poetic language that McDonagh creates and is spoken between his islanders has throwbacks to the best of Synge but also is uniquely his own. The archive of Druid Theatre Company holds records such as invitations to teh opening night of the 1998 production of The Cripple at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, and also many photographs taken during rehearsal and full performance of this production.

Dearbhla Molloy as Eileen (1997)

Now that the tour of the co-production by Druid and Atlantic Theatre Company has just finished its massively successful run, it is interesting to look at other productions of The Cripple. The archive of the Galway Arts Festival contains wonderful photographs (above and below) from the Royal National Theatre’s (U.K.) production of The Cripple of Inismaan which was a highlight event during the 1997 Galway Arts Festival. Directed by Nicholas Hytner and designed by Bob Crowley, the production files contain black and white photographs of the production, while the press files contain numerous local and national press reviews and features on The Cripple. The play was staged at the Town Hall Theatre Galway from 22 Jul to 2 August 1997.

Ray McBride as Johnnypateen (1997)

For more on the production history of The Cripple of Inismaan please see the archives of Druid Theatre Company and the Galway Arts Festival held at NUI Galway James Hardiman Library: http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/collections/archives/ or contact archivist barry.houlihan[at]nuigalway.ie

John B. Keane and 'Sive' - The Irish Dramatic Tradition

Image courtesy of Listowel Writers Week

It speaks volumes about the skill and talent of John B. Keane as a playwright and also to the quality of local theatre in Ireland in the 1950’s,that the Listowel Players were the first English-speaking amateur drama group to perform on the stage of the Abbey Theatre. This particular bastion was the final and often unassailable frontier for so many Irish playwrights and actors alike. For Keane, his personal desire to see his works produced on the national stage proved an emotional journey.

Outside of Dublin, the midlands town of Athlone was to become a hub of theatrical activity when it began to host the annual All-Ireland Drama Festival in 1953. The finals comprised of nominated participants who were successful in regional heats nationwide. Festivals like those held at Scarriff, Charleville, Roscommon, Castleisland, Mountmellick, Enniscorthy and Glenamaddy, to name but a few,  were the first stop for many local and community groups determined to strike for glory in Athlone. When a young assistant pharmacist returned to Listowel in Co. Kerry from England and bought a pub, none could predict the success he and his many works would have.

Image courtesy of Mercier Press

John B. Keane settled in Listowel with his wife Mary. Keane recalled sitting down to write at 1:00am one morning and seven hours later, he had in his possession a draft of his new play, ‘Sive. ’ In this Spring of 1959, John B. Keane was unknown outside of his native Listowel. However, when the local Listowel Drama group began to present ‘Sive’ at amateur drama festivals, Keane’s name would soon find its way into the national headlines. 1959 would become known to many as ‘the Year of Sive’.

Success would follow this play wherever it toured. Reports from a production in the Clare Drama Festival in March 1959, taken from The Irish Independent describes ‘Sive’ taking first place in Scarriff, with adjudicator Michael O’ hAodha remarking that ‘Sive’ was, to his mind, “the greatest contribution to the Irish amateur movement since M.J. Molloy’s ‘The Paddy Peddlar.’

A report from The Kerryman newspaper, 28 March 1959 described the volatile scenes outside the theatre in Limerick city where “Sive was greeted with unprecedented enthusiasm. The house was full and the doors were locked half an hour before the curtain went up.”

All Ireland glory would follow for Sive and it took top honours at the Athlone festival in 1959.Sive would continue to succeed. Following its initital rejection by the Abbey Theatre, the Listowel players were invited to perform at the Abbey but contractually as an amatuer company - an unprecedented step in Irish theatre. 

Sive was loved nationwide. Its tragic beauty and commentary on an overbearing patriarchal  and clerical- driven state, obsessed with maintaining a moral highground and traditions touched a point with an eager audience. The celebrated actress Siobhan McKenna saw Sive at the Olympia theatre, Dublin and declared the play would even be a success on Broadway if a backer could be found. McKenna described the play as ‘the most exciting play I had seen in a long time. The characters, the language and the absolute honesty of it, gave a true picture of Ireland, without insulting or ‘plamasing’ it”.

Poster from Druid Theatre Company archive.

Some years later, in 2002, even after the passing of Keane himself, Sive, the play that brought Keane to the attention of the country, would again be produced and toured nationally. Druid Theatre Company staged Sive and toured it to Galway, Cork, Clare and Dublin. Directed by Garry Hynes, the production starred Anna Manahan, Derbhle Crotty, Ruth Bradley, Eamonn Morrissey, Barry Ward and others. The Druid theatre company archive holds the production records for the touring production of Sive. The playbill contains full cast details, original articles by Keane and commentary by Colm Toibin. Flyers, invitations and large posters present an iconic of the much loved Keane who had died prior to the production. The press files provide numerous reviews from Irish publications of the Druid production and provide a barometer by which to judge the public reception. The journey of Sive from Listowel in 1959 to the professional stage where it still remained in 2002 is a remarkable story and one that will always enthral audiences.

For more information on Sive, its history and legacy, listen to a special dedicated episode of RTE series, ‘From Stage to Street’ which discusses the legacy of Sive: www.rte.ie/radio1/stagetostreet/ and http://www.facebook.com/#!/FromStageToStreet

Druid Theatre Archive nearing completion!

Cataloguing of the Druid Theatre Company archive is finally nearing completion! The past few months have seen the production of an itemised catalogue and finding aid for the records of Druid Theatre Company from 1975 to 2008.

Just to explain and expand on the outcomes of the archival listing: the collection has been divided up into series that are named 1) Production Files 2) Press Files 3) Season Programmes 4)Scripts 5) University College Galway Drama Society 6) Druid Theatre – Building 7) Druid Theatre – History 8)Druid – The First Ten Years 9)Handover of Druid Theatre Company Archive 10) Druid in Review 11) Other Photographs 12) Non-Druid Productions.

The production files include descriptions of material from production by Druid. The files include playbills, posters, photographs, invitations, flyers, scripts, tour handbooks and other related documents. The press files feature Irish and international reviews of Druid productions, interviews with cast members, directors and production crew members, feature articles and general coverage on Irish theatre, local amateur productions and Irish arts.

La Baladin du Monde Occidental, 1984

The files from the University College Galway Drama Society pre-date the formation of Druid theatre company and date as far back as the early 1970s and document the emerging careers of Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and others. The collection of theatre posters includes one foreign gem, a poster of a production of “La Baladin di Monde Occidental” which is a version of The Playboy of the Western World by a French theatre company called Theatre du Perche. Produced in 1984 at the Jesuit Hall in Salthill in Galway, it’s a truly unique piece.

The collection features some thirty five boxes of material and is a truly unique research resource. The collection catalogue will be available in full in early February. Stay tuned to the NUI Galway Archives homepage and the NUI Galway archives Twitter account for updates!

The Many Lives of Albert Nobbs

The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs is a story worth hearing and a life worth knowing. So much so in fact, it is being filmed in Ireland for a new film starring Glenn Close in the title role. The original story, written by George Moore, has long been adored on the international stage and also on the Irish stage.

Premiering on Broadway in June 1982, the stage version of the story, devised by Simone Benmussa, tells the story of a young woman in the male-dominated Dublin society of the 1860’s and who disguises herself as a man in order to get ahead in the city. Described in review from the New York Times, the production “[was] an oddly haunting piece of theatrical chamber music, at times so low-key as to be dim wattage, but one that holds our attention like a tale told at the fireside”. The 1982 review can be read in full here. The standout performance of this production was by none other than actress Glenn Close, described as follows: “Miss Close, so lovely in ''Barnum'' and as Elena in ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Yale Repertory Theatre, is almost unrecognizable as Albert. It is not simply a matter of her boyish hairdo -darkened and cut short - but of her manner, movement and sensibility. She is a timid youth who is efficient at work but without grace, eager to please but afraid to be expressive. The play is a curio, but the performance is transforming”

This story was given the Druid theatre treatment is a production in 1996 and also designed and directed by the renowned Simone Benmussa who brought Albert Nobbs to the Broadway stage in 1982. Jane Brennan starred in the title role alongside an ensemble cast of Clara Simpson, Jayne Snow, Dawn Bradfield, Aoife Kavannagh, Melanie McHugh, Natalie Stringer, Allen McLelland, Dermot Crowley and Kevin Moore. The Druid Theatre archive in NUI Galway holds the production files for this production. The files include the scripts used by Druid Theatre, press releases, playbill, flyers, invitations as well as a file of photographs taken during rehearsal and production of Albert Nobbs.

Glenn Close as 'Albert Nobbs'

Adding even more to this story of the recurring presence of life of Albert Nobbs, Glen Close will reprise her role of some 30 years ago as filming is currently underway, with Close back in the title role. It will be directed by Rodrigo Garcia, the son of the novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and co-written by Man Booker Prize winner John Banville. Read more about this coup for Irish film here.

The Druid files for The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs will be available soon in 2011.

Druid Hits a Century

It took Druid theatre a mere seventeen years to make it to a century of productions. In the mid 1970’s when Druid was first established, it would go on to set a precedent for producing and promoting the work on new Irish writers and playwrights as well as producing relevant revivals of classic Irish and international works.

Straw mask as worn in the play

The piece chosen to be Druid’s 100^th production in October of 1992 was At the Black Pig’s Dyke and was written by Vincent Woods. The play is a dark, terse and engaging piece that traces the experiences of a life marked by violence and with questions of identity along Ireland’s border between north and south.

'The Black Pig’s Dyke' is a fortified series of divisions and ramparts along the boundary of the historic province of Ulster in old Gaelic society. The people who inhabited this area are known as ‘mummers’ and are presented here at straw-masked tribal warriors. The play is teaming with folklore and stories native to the border region. These ‘mummars’ wander from village to town and entertain those who they meet with local songs and music, all the while dancing and providing a visual spectacle dressed in their towering straw masks, boots and straw skirts dotted with poppies – the first instance of blood imagery and lust for violence.

Original play poster

Quickly the play descends into fear and violence. The wedded union of a catholic girl to a Protestant man sets in motion the cyclical motion of revenge and killing. The sectarianism is a direct and unashamed commentary on the conflict and killing experienced by those in the North. The fact much of this story is based on inherited folklore highlights the sad connection that for many in the North and indeed the South, their inherited legacy was that of fear, distrust and killing. The fact the play is set at ‘the Black Pig’s Dyke’ along the border between north and south sets the play in a void between the sectarianism and where identity and connection with the self as a citizen is blurred.

This 100^th production by Druid received headline reviews in national and regional press in the North and South and includes “A remarkable mix of passion and despair”, “The unmasking of brutal violence in stunning new play” and with comments such as “Masked men, eyes glittering fantastically through slitted hoods immediately herald horror. We had and have on our North/South border such disguised murdering avengers who hunt their prey under the cover of darkness”

The play is a supremely important commentary in Irish theatre on the despair, passion, killing and loss suffered for generations in Ireland’s North and its border regions. The play was produced at Druid Lane theatre, Galway and toured nationally to co, Galway, Armagh, Derry, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Cavan, Antrim (Belfast) Meath, Mayo, Tipperary Clare, Offaly, Wexford, Cork, Kerry, Donegal, Waterford and Kilkenny.

The Druid theatre archive contains original documents from the production including programmes, posters, photographs, sketches of costumes and masks, tour handbook for cast members and extensive press file of reviews, cuttings, articles and commentary.

For more information on this production and tour by Druid click here

Frank McGuinness's "Dracula" at Druid

Draft artwork from production of "Dracula"

While Halloween may just be passing and the season of Samhain and the month of the souls begins, it is hard to ignore the many films, books and plays designed to scare and thrill readers and viewers. The season of Trick or Treat and ghosts and ghouls is especially remembered in Ireland by those writers and playwrights who inspire to scare. From Sheridan La Fanu to Yeats’ occultism to more recent works by the likes of Conor McPherson have thrilled their audiences by exploring the dark realms of the undead and the unknown.

One piece in particular is by an Irishman who gave the world one of the greatest of horror stories. Bram Stoker’s Dracua has terrified young and old for generations. Druid tackled this work in 1986 and in doing so staged a version by the celebrated Frank McGuinness. Starring Sean McGinley, Jane Brennan, Maeliosa Stafford, Michael Ford, Maurice O’Donoghue, Brendan Conroy, Kate Hogan and directed and designed by Monica Frawley, the production explored the original 1897 reflection on the morality of late Victorian times. 

The production file in the Druid theatre archive contains the original play programme, flyers, a copy of the script, colour photographs of the set, invitation to the opening night’s performance, press reviews of the production and colour artworks and drawings that were used as draft ideas for the play poster and programme.  

In the programme a note by Frank McGuinness describes his thoughts on the evolution of the play: “The first monster s I met were made from celluloid; Frankenstein, Dacula, their brides and curse, daughters and revenge. . .What myth lies behind the powerful hold of Dracula on the European imagination? It is the poetry and power, not the period [of the story] that interests me, for Dracula belongs to a diseased universe, full of blood loss and bloodletting madness. He is not the source but a symptom of that universe, longing for its death.” McGuinness’s version is a powerful production and exploration of moral consequence, a failing human nature and lust for power. Through Frawley’s  hugely skilful design and direction it is a performance that was a success for Druid and not just owing to seasonal influences of Halloween: It was actually produced in April of 1986!

Programme cover from "Dracula" at Druid theatre.