1909 – 1923, 1994
Collection Number: 475
Accessioned: Purchase 2000.
Extent: .67 linear ft.
Contents: Playbills.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: December 2001 by Theresa Hessey.
Historical Note
The Abbey Theatre was established in Dublin 1904 as a venue for Irish playwrights. It developed out of the Irish Literary Theatre, which had been founded by William Butler Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1899. In 1902, that organization was taken over by the Irish National Dramatic Society and in 1903 became the Irish National Theatre Society. Yeats enlisted financial assistance for the Abbey from Edward Martyn in exchange for producing several of Martyn’s plays. Yeats found further monetary patronage through Miss Annie E. F. Horniman, an English woman interested in the work of the Irish National Theatre Society. It was she who provided the funds to purchase the building in which the Abbey Theatre was established. The Theatre officially opened on December 27, 1904, with productions of On Baile’s Strand by W. B. Yeats and Spreading the News by Lady Gregory. J.M. Synge joined the other two as co-director.
During the 1900s and 1910s, the Theatre was plagued with financial troubles, which were accentuated by World War I and the Irish Rebellion of 1916. Artistic disputed between Yeats and his backers also almost cut short the life of the theatre. However, the Theatre continued to produce and, in 1924, it became the first state-sponsored theatre in the world. As a result of their lifelong commitment to Irish theatre, the Abbey nurtured the careers of such influential playwrights as Lennox Robinson, Sean O’Casey, J.M. Synge, George Bernard Shaw, and Padraic Colum.
In 1928, a smaller theatre, the Peacock, was opened in a building adjacent to the Abbey. This theatre was to serve as a forum for experimental productions. In July 1951, fire destroyed the entire back stage area of the Abbey and all performances were transferred to the Queen’s Theatre. The Abbey Theatre did not reopen until 1966. It was rebuilt on its original site with the Peacock Theatre installed on the basement level.
While Yeats preferred to maintain absolute control over Abbey productions, as he and Lady Gregory advanced in age, he employed a series of carefully selected managers to handle the day-to-day affairs of the Theatre. After the death of Lady Gregory in 1932 and Yeats in 1939, the Abbey Theatre continued to mainly produce the works of Irish writers.
Sources:
Kavanagh, Peter. The Story of the Abbey Theatre. New York: Devin Adair Co., 1950.
Welch, Robert. The Abbey Theatre, 1899-1999: Form and Pressure. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Scope and Content Note
The Abbey Theatre Playbill Collection comprises 78 playbills for Abbey Theatre productions that took place between 1909 and 1923 and in 1994. The playbills document the works of important Irish writers, including Lady Augusta Gregory, W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge, Lennox Robinson, George Bernard Shaw, Padraic Colum, and Sean O’Casey. The specific plays produced were often important first-time productions. The collection includes playbills for productions of The Rising of the Moon (Gregory), The Jackdaw (Gregory), Spreading the News (Gregory), The Gaol Gate (Gregory), Hyacinth Halvey (Gregory) The Hour Glass (Yeats), On Baile’s Strand (Yeats), Kathleen Nì Houlihan (Yeats), A Pot of Broth (Yeats), Riders to the Sea (Synge), and In the Shadow of the Glen (Synge). In addition, the collection includes a pamphlet containing collected opinions of the London press regarding the Second Company of the Abbey Theatre.
Related Collections:
Arrangement
The playbills included in the Abbey Theatre Playbill Collection are arranged chronologically within two small series: I. Playbills and II. Other materials. The playbills for Irish plays performed by the National Theatre Society Ltd. at the Victoria Assembly Rooms in Cambridge and the pamphlet regarding the opinions of the London press on the acting of the Second Company of the Abbey Theatre are housed at the end of the collection.
Box -- Folder -- Contents
I. Playbills
1 F1 1909 Jan 21-23
Lady Gregory. The Gaol Gate and
Lady Gregory. The Miser.
F2 1909 Feb 11-13
Lady Gregory. Kincora and
Lady Gregory. The Rising of the Moon.
F3 1909 Sep 16-18
R. J. Ray. The White Feather and
Lady Gregory. Spreading the News.
F4 1909 Oct 14-16
W. M. Letts. The Challenge and
W. F. Casey. The Surburban Groove.
F5 1909 Nov 11-13
Lady Gregory. The Image and
Lady Gregory. The Rising of the Moon.
F6 1910 May 19 and 21
W. B. Yeats. The Green Helmet and
S. L. Robinson. Harvest.
F7 1910 Sep 29, 30, and Oct 1
S. L. Robinson. The Casting-Out and
Lady Gregory. The Workhouse Ward.
F8 1910 Oct 31 and Nov 1, 2
Padraic Colum. Thomas Muskerry and
Lord Dunsany. The Glittering Gate.
F9 1910 Nov 10-12
S. L. Robinson. The Cross Roads and
Lady Gregory. The Full Moon.
F10 1910 Dec 1-3
Bernard Shaw. The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet and
Lady Gregory. Coats.
F11 1911 Jan 14
Lady Gregory. The Deliverer
W. B. Yeats. The Hour Glass and
Bernard Shaw. The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posne.
I. Playbills (cont’d)
1 F12 1911 Jan 26–28
Lord Dunsany. King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior and
W. F. Casey. The Man Who Missed the Tide.
F13 1911 Feb 16-18
W. B. Yeats. The Land of Heart’s Desire,
T. C. Murray. Birthright and
W. B. Yeats. A Pot of Broth.
F14 1911 Apr 13, 15
A. Patrick Wilson. The Cobbler and
Edward McNulty, The Lord Mayor.
F15 1912 Apr 11 -13
Lennox Robinson. Patriots and
Lady Gregory. Hyacinth Halvey.
F16 1912 Apr 15-17
Lady Gregory. The Gaol Gate,
Joseph Campbell. Judgement and
W. B. Yeats. A Pot of Broth.
F17 1912 Oct 17-19
St. John G. Ervine. The Magnanimous Lover and
William Boyle. Family Failing.
F18 1912 Nov 21-23
W. B. Yeats. The Hour Glass,
Lady Gregory. Damer’s Gold and
Lady Gregory. The Gaol Gate.
F19 1913 Oct 16-18
Mrs. Bart Kennedy. My Lord and
Lennox Robinson. Patriots.
F20 1913 November 11-12
R. J. Ray. The Gombeen Man and
Lady Gregory. Spreading the News.
F21 1913 Nov 20-22
St. John G. Ervine. The Critics and
St. John G. Ervine. Mixed Marriage.
I. Playbills (cont’d)
1 F22 1913 Dec 18-20
St. John G. Ervine. The Critics and
Seamus O’Kelly. The Bribe.
F23 1913 Dec 16-17
Lady Gregory. The Gaol Gate
Seamus O’Brien. Duty and
William Boyle. The Building Fund.
F24 1914 Jan 29-31
W. B. Yeats. Kathleen Ni Houlihan,
Victor O’D. Power. David Mahoney and
Lady Gregory. The Jackdaw.
F25 1914 Mar 13-14
St. John G. Ervine. The Orangeman and
Edward McNulty. The Lord Mayor.
F26 1914 Apr 14-16, 18
Lady Gregory. Revival of Kincora and
Lady Gregory. Spreading the News,.
F27 1916 Feb 22-26
Lennox Robinson. The Dreamers.
F28 1916 Mar 7, 9-11
St. John Ervine. Mixed Marriage and
W. B. Yeats. Kathleen Ni Houlihan.
F29 1916 Mar 14
Bernard Duffy. The Coiner and
George Fitzmaurice. The Country Dressmaker.
F30 1917 April 9
Bernard Shaw. John Bull’s Other Island.
F31 1917 Oct 2
Lady Gregory. The White Cockade.
F32 1917 Oct 23
Seamus O’Kelly. The Parnellite.
F33 1919 Mar 25
George Bernard Shaw. John Bull’s Other Island.
I. Playbills (cont’d)
1 F34 1919 Aug 25, 27, 29
Lady Gregory. The Dragon and
Lord Dunsany. A Night at an Inn.
F35 1921 Apr 12
Lennox Robinson. The Whiteheaded Boy.
F36 1921 Apr 21
St. John G. Ervine. Mixed Marriage.
F37 1923 Feb 6
Lennox Robinson. Patriots and
Lady Gregory. Hyacinth Halvey.
2 F38 1923 Mar 22-24
Henrik Ibsen. A Doll’s House.
F39 1923 Oct 8
George Bernard Shaw. Arms and the Man and
Bernard Duffy. The Coiner.
F40 1923 Nov 19
J. M. Synge. The Shadow of the Glen and
George Fitzmaurice. The Country Dressmaker.
F41 1926 Apr 19
George Bernard Shaw. Fanny’s First Play and
Lennox Robinson. Crabbed Youth and Age.
F42 1926 Sep 27
G. Martinez Sierra. The Two Shepards and
Fand O’Grady. Apartments.
F43 1931 Apr 14
Dorothy Macardle. Ann Kavanagh and
William Boyle. The Eloquent Dempsey.
F44 1936 Feb 17
Sean O’Casey. The Plough and the Stars.
F45 1936 Dec 26
Ernst Toller and Denis Johnston. Blind Man’s Bluff.
I. Playbills (cont’d)
2 F46 1938 Jan 31
Hugh Hunt and Frank O’Connor. The Invincibles.
F47 1938 Augt 29
Sean O’Casey. The Plough and the Stars.
F48 1938 Aug 10
Lady Gregory. The Rising of the Moon,
W. B. Yeats. Purgatory and
Lady Gregory. Damer’s Gold.
F49 1938 Aug 12
T. C. Murray. Maurice Harte and
Lennox Robinson. Church Street.
F50 1938 Aug 16
Sean O’Casey. The Plough and the Stars.
F51 1938 Aug 20
Paul Vincent Carroll. Shadow and Substance.
F52 1938 Oct 31
Sean O’Casey. Juno and the Paycock.
F53 1942 Dec 6
Lennox Robinson. The Clancy Name and
Lennox Robinson. Church Street.
F54 1946 Feb 11
Walter Macken. Mungo’s Mansion.
F55 1949 Nov 3
George Shiels. The Jailbird.
F56 1950 Jul 17
Bernard Shaw. Village Wooing and
Sean O’Casey. The Shadow of a Gunman.
F57 1950 Nov 20
Lennox Robinson. The Whiteheaded Boy.
F58 1950 Nov 27
George Shiels. Professor Tim.
I. Playbills (cont’d)
2 F59 1951 Mar 24
T. C. Murray. Maurice Harte and
Bernard Shaw. The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet.
F60 1951 Nov 5
Bernard Shaw. Village Wooing and
Sean O’Casey. The Shadow of a Gunman.
F61 1952 Mar 10
Brinsley Macnamara. Look at the Heffernans.
F62 1952 Jul 14
Michael J. Molloy. The King of Friday’s Men.
F63 1952 Aug 15
Walter Macken. Home is the Hero.
F64 1955 May 9
Sean O’Casey. The Plough and the Stars.
F65 1994 Feb15
Frank McGuinness. The Bird Sanctuary.
F66 1994 Feb 17
Tom MacIntyre. Sheep’s Milk on the Boil.
F67 1994 Apr 13
Teresa Deevy. Katie Roche.
F68 1994 Apr 20
Frank O’Connor and Hugh Hunt. Moses Rock.
F69 1994 Jun 1
John Banville. The Broken Jug.
F70 1994 Jul 20
Bernard Shaw. The Doctor’s Dilemma.
F71 1994 Jul 27
Donal O’Kelly. Asylum! Asylum!.
F72 1994 Aug 23
Hugh Leonard. Chamber Music.
I. Playbills (cont’d)
2 F73 October 5, 1994
Marina Carr. The Mai.
F74 October 13, 1994
Frank McGuinness. Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme.
F75 1994 Dec 27
J. M. Synge. The Well of the Saints.
II. Other Materials
F76 London Press opinions of the acting of the Second Company, n.d.
F77 [programme]
Irish Plays presented at the Victoria Assembly Rooms in Cambridge, May 20-24, 1907. Plays performed by the National Theatre Society Ltd. of the Abbey Theatre that included performances of The Rising of the Moon by Lady Gregory, The Hour Glass by W. B. Yeats, Riders to the Sea by J. M. Synge, The Jackdaw by Lady Gregory, On Baile’s Strand by W. B. Yeats, Kathleen Ni Houlihan by W. B. Yeats, Spreading the News by Lady Gregory, The Gaol Gate by Lady Gregory, A Pot of Broth by W. B. Yeats, In the Shadow of the Glen by J. M. Synge, and Hyacinth Halvey by Lady Gregory.
F78 Jimmy Murphy, Brothers of the Brush, [1994].