Bernard Shaw's _John Bull's Other Island_, as Irish plays go, is a
fine specimen; Canon Hannay has written two successful comedies,
_Eleanor's Enterprise_ and _General John Regan_--the latter not
wholly to the taste of the people of the west. James Stephens and
Jane Barlow have also tried their hands at playwriting, with but
moderate success. Perhaps the modern drama that made the most
impression when first played was _The Heather Field_, by Edward
Martyn. It gripped and remains a lasting memory with all who saw it
in 1899. But I think I have written enough to show that the Irish
Theatre of today is in a very alive condition, and that if the great
National Dramatist has not yet arrived, he is sure to emerge. When
that time comes, the actors are here ready to interpret such work to
perfection.
An article, however brief, on the Irish Theatre, would be incomplete
without mention of the world-famous tragedians, John Edward
MacCullough, Lawrence Patrick Barrett, and Barry Sullivan; of genial
comedians like Charles Sullivan and Hubert O'Grady; of sterling
actors like Shiel Barry, John Brougham, Leonard Boyne, J.D.
Beveridge, and Thomas Nerney; or of operatic artists like Denis
O'Sullivan and Joseph O'Mara--many of whom have passed away, but
some, fortunately, are with us still.
REFERENCES:
John Genest: Some Account of the English Stage from the Restoration
to 1830 (1832; vol. 10 is devoted to the Irish Stage); Chetwood:
General History of the Stage, more particularly of the Irish Theatre
(Dublin, 1749); Molloy: Romance of the Irish Stage; Baker: Biographia
Dramatica (Dublin, 1782); Hitchcock: An Historical View of the Irish
Stage from its Earliest Period down to the Season of 1788; Doran:
Their Majesties' Servants, or Annals of the English Stage (London,
1865); Hughes: The Pre-Victorian Drama in Dublin; The History of the
Theatre Royal, Dublin (Dublin, 1870); Levey and O'Rourke: Annals of
the Theatre Royal (Dublin, 1880); O'Neill: Irish Theatrical History
(Dublin, 1910); Brown: A Guide to Books on Ireland (Dublin, 1912);
Lawrence: The Abbey Theatre (in the Weekly Freeman, Dublin, Dec.,
1912), Origin of the Abbey Theatre (in Sinn Fein, Dublin, Feb. 14,
1914); Weygandt: Irish Plays and Playwrights (London, 1913); Lady
Gregory: Our Irish Theatre (London, 1914); Bourgeois: John M. Synge
and the Irish Theatre (London, 1913); Moore: Hail and Farewell, 3
vols. (London, 1911-1914); Esmore: The Ulster Literary Theatre (in
the Lady of the House, Dublin, Nov. 15, 1913); the Reviews, Beltaine
(1899-1900) and Samhain (1901-1903).
IRISH JOURNALISTS
By MICHAEL MACDONAGH.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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