First Night at the Lyric Theatre - 1968

The new Lyric Theatre opens in a couple of weeks (1 May). No doubt the opening night will be a fantastic experience, and a celebration of those who worked so hard to raise the funds to rebuild the theatre. This echoes the victorious opening night in 1968, when the Lyric’s first purpose built theatre opened. It’s difficult to imagine how Mary O’Malley, founder of the theatre, must have felt. What had been a labour of love for almost twenty years had finally come to fruition, and for the first time Lyric productions would be based outside of the O’Malley family home. To get an idea of the excitement of that time, here is a slideshow of some images from that night.

Sarah Poutch

Mary O’Malley

With a range of activities including establishing and running a theatre, directing plays, editing a literary magazine, serving as a city councillor and raising a family, Mary O’Malley was a formidable woman. In her autobiography Never Shake Hands with the Devil she writes of how she often had to rely on au pairs and other household help to manage all of the demands on her day. It’s still astonishing that she could  fit all of this work into her time.

 

In this she was undoubtedly aided by her husband Pearse. Despite his position as a consultant in Belfast’s Mater Hospital, and his private surgery hours, he played a huge role in the administration of the Lyric, serving on the Board of Trustees until the 1990s. Another interest of Dr O’Malley’s was the Clan O’Malley, an organisation uniting descendants of the clan and of their most famous ancestor, Granuaile (Grace O’Malley). He played an instrumental part in establishing the Granuaile Trust, which sought to facilitate genealogy research and to build a heritage centre in Westport, county Mayo.

With such busy lives, it’s perhaps no wonder that Mary O’Malley found she had to be firm with those around her; this list of rules for her actors was found written on the reverse of a playbill!

Sarah Poutch

Lyric Production Photographs: 1970s

The last in the series of production photographs, today's slideshow contains images of productions from the early 1970s. Although the archive contains material from productions from 1950 until 1994, from this time on there are less photographs and slides and more audio recordings of plays. This is the case until the 1980s material, most of which consists of programmes and posters. As this is the O'Malley family archive, the material included reflects the gradual distancing of Mary and Pearse O'Malley from the day to day running of the theatre.

Sarah Poutch

The New Lyric Theatre - Opening May 2011

Building began on a new building for the Lyric Theatre in late 2009. The previous building, built in 1968, had long been unfit for the purposes of the ambitious company. Its construction is the result of some incredible fundraising work, by many people, over eight years. The development team hold the distinction of having secured the largest ever philanthropic gift made to an arts venue from Ireland. This incredibly generous donation of £1,000,000 was given by Martin and Carmel Naughton.

This new home for the Lyric is gaining more interest from the media as it approaches completion. An extensive piece appeared in the Irish Times this weekend, and this interest will only increase as the new theatre opens and its productions begin.

At such a momentous time for the Lyric, it is illuminating to look back through the archives here in NUI Galway and see the roots of this now flourishing institution. Here on the right you can see plans made by architect Neil Downes in 1957 for an extension which was built at the rear of the O'Malley residence on Derryvolgie Avenue, Belfast. The purpose of the extension was to provide a new entrance to the small auditorium (up until that point, audience members had to pass through the O'Malleys' home), to create some backstage facilities and a foyer. The extension was completed in September 1957 and it heralded the burgeoning recognition of the Lyric as a serious and potentially professional theatrical company.

Neil Downes went on to become instrumental in the design for the first purpose-built home for the Lyric, which was on the same site in Ridgeway Street as the new theatre. We will take a closer look at that project, driven of course by Mary and Pearse O'Malley, in a future blog post. Below is a video in which architect John Tuomey outlines his concept and vision for the new Lyric Theatre building.                        

Sarah Poutch

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Threshold

With theatrical productions up and running on a regular basis, Mary and Pearse O’Malley’s attentions turned in 1957 to the possibility of establishing a literary magazine to run in tandem with the Lyric Players Theatre. They felt that the theatre’s achievements were receiving scant publicity from the mainstream press and wanted to rectify this. Attracting more publicity was seen as the key to alerting the writing community of the existence of the company, and encouraging new works from them to produce. As well as this, Mary O’Malley saw it as a chance to fill the vacuum of literary magazines in Northern Ireland.

Mary became editor of the fledgling magazine, adding this hat to those she already possessed as theatrical director, producer, and local politician. John Hewitt became Poetry Editor. Settling on the title Threshold after the W.B. Yeats play The King’s Threshold, the first issue was published later that year. It contained a short story by Mary Beckett, articles by John Jordan and Roger McHugh, and poems by Pearse Hutchinson and T.P. Flanagan, amongst other pieces.

Threshold was met with positive comments by many reviewers, including those of the Irish Press, the Observer, the Independent and the Irish Times. The editors aimed to publish the magazine quarterly, a goal which was not always met due to lack of funds. Mary paid tribute though to her husband Pearse, calling the magazine his ‘brainchild’ and recognising that the effort put into it was repaid by the fact that the project introduced the Lyric establishment to many contemporary Irish writers and critics. These included Thomas Kinsella, John Montague, Brian Moore, Kate O’Brien, Patrick Galvin and Tom McIntyre. Future contributors would even include politicians, with Seán Lemass contributing an article in 1958. The magazine would also have a future Nobel laureate as editor when Seamus Heaney undertook the role in the late 1960s.

Threshold finally ceased publication in 1990, but future posts will explore its impact and discuss some of the contributors to the magazine.

Sarah Poutch

Christmas 1950: Mary O’Malley’s First Production

MacNeice House, formerly Aquinas Hall

Pearse O’Malley, as well as being a consultant in the Mater Hospital, Belfast, also became President of the Newman Society of Queen’s University after the couple’s move north. Part of this role was to organise lectures and host the Society’s annual dance. As well as this, Pearse discovered that it was his duty to host a Christmas party at Aquinas Hall. He enlisted his wife’s help in making this a success.

Nativity, Christmas 1950

Mary, with her great interest in theatre, took the opportunity to seek like-minded individuals to put on theatrical entertainment for the party guests. She sought advice from her friend Lily Reid, and eventually made contact with several actors who would go on to become the earliest Lyric Players: Paddy Coyle, Frances McShane, Maureen Cremin, Nan McGuigan, Lucy Young, and Bob Haldane. All came onboard and Mary proceeded with her plan to stage two one act plays, The Dear Queen by Andrew Ganly and Nativity by Lady Gregory.

Script for The Dear Queen with Mary O'Malley's notes

The cast had just ten days, during a memorable snow storm, in which to rehearse and perfect their performances. Mary describes herself in her autobiography Never Shake Hands with the Devil as working ‘like a beaver’ taking rehearsals in the O’Malley family home on Ulsterville Road at this time. 

She thrived in the theatrical atmosphere, and the production was a great success. Max Freeland, Assistant Secretary of the university, wrote that ‘it was just wonderful to realize that in these benighted times that there was someone with the skill and initiative to do such a lovely thing’. This triumph sparked the possibility amongst the group of further productions: Mary O’Malley had found her creative outlet in Belfast.

Sarah Poutch

Mary O’Malley and the Origins of the Lyric Players Theatre

No discussion of the Lyric Players Theatre would be complete without mentioning Mary O’Malley, founder of the theatre and self-taught director of hundreds of plays. Mary was a devotee of W.B. Yeats, and modelled the Lyric on Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. She guided the Lyric through the early years of productions staged in her own home right through to its move to a purpose-built theatre on the banks of the River Lagan, on Ridgeway Street in Belfast.

Born in 1918 in Mallow, county Cork, the then Mary Hickey developed an early love of theatre after seeing a production of Dion Boucicault’s The Colleen Bawn at the age of six. Her brother Gerald, himself a successful set designer, brought her to the Abbey when she was thirteen, pointing out to her the famous playwrights Yeats and Lady Gregory. She remained fascinated with Yeats’ plays, staging all of them throughout the Lyric’s early years.

Image via www.archiseek.com

After completing her education at Loreto Convent, Mary moved to Dublin with her mother. She immersed herself in Dublin’s theatrical scene, becoming a member of the New Theatre Group and the Irish Film Society, amongst others. These were exciting times in Dublin: the Second World War had driven many intellectuals and artists to Dublin from the continent, making for a vibrant cultural atmosphere in the city. It was at this time also that Mary’s political conscience began to assert itself, which will be explored in a future post.

Dr Pearse O'Malley

Mary met her future husband Pearse O’Malley, a neurologist, in Dublin and they married in September 1947. The marriage meant a move north, as Pearse was involved in the planning of a new Department of Neurology and Psychiatry in the Mater Hospital, Belfast. Northern Ireland’s capital was found lacking, culturally speaking, when compared to the O’Malleys’ experiences in Dublin. Mary however soon created an outlet for herself; the beginnings of the Lyric Players Theatre will be detailed in a forthcoming post.

Sarah Poutch

The Lyric Theatre Archives

Mary and Pearse O'Malley

The Lyric Players began in 1951, when Mary O’Malley organised a performance of Robert Farren’s Lost Light in her husband Dr Pearse O’Malley’s consulting room, located in their home on the Lisburn Road, Belfast. What started life as an amateur theatrical group which performed for invited audiences flourished, and eventually became Northern Ireland’s most consistent and established professional theatre company. It is unique in being the only theatre in Belfast to remain open throughout the Troubles, a testament to the commitment of those involved in its operation.

  

 A purpose-built Lyric Theatre was opened on Ridgeway Street in 1968, the foundation stone having been laid by Austin Clarke in 1965. Over the years the Lyric has staged myriad productions, ranging from the classics to newly commissioned plays, as well as focussing on the work of Irish playwrights. The Lyric has premiered works by writers such as John Boyd, Anne Devlin, Patrick Galvin, Robin Glendinning, Jennifer Johnston, Martin Lynch, Gary Mitchell, Stewart Parker, Christina Reid and Graham Reid. It has also nurtured local acting talent, with many famous local faces having been associated with the Lyric over its fifty years’ history. These include the theatre’s patron Liam Neeson, playwright Marie Jones, and stage and television actors Adrian Dunbar, Ian McElhinney, Jimmy Ellis, and Dan Gordon.

These archives encompass the Lyric’s early years through to more recent times. They include material such as scripts, programmes, photographs and audio recordings of productions. In addition to this there is also a considerable amount of administrative material, including correspondence. The O’Malley family, the original founders of the company, are well represented with Mary and Pearse O’Malley’s correspondence and personal papers also being an integral part of the archives. There are over one hundred boxes of material, which will be catalogued over the next fifteen months.

Sarah Poutch