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''Da'' is a 1978
memory play A memory play is a play in which a lead character narrates the events of the play, which are drawn from the character's memory. The term was coined by playwright Tennessee Williams, describing his work ''The Glass Menagerie''. In his production note ...
written by
Hugh Leonard Hugh Leonard (9 November 1926 – 12 February 2009) was an Irish dramatist, television writer, and essayist. In a career that spanned 50 years, Leonard wrote nearly 30 full-length plays, 10 one-act plays, three volumes of essay, two autobiograph ...
. The play had its American premiere at the
Olney Theatre Center Located in Olney, Maryland, the Olney Theatre Center offers a diverse array of professional productions year-round that enrich, nurture, and challenge a broad range of artists, audiences and students. One of two state theaters of Maryland, Olney ...
in
Olney, Maryland Olney is a U.S. census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located in the north central part of the county, north of Washington, D.C. Olney was largely agricultural unti ...
on 7 August 1973. Its New York City premiere came at the
off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...
Hudson Guild Theatre in 1978, and this production transferred to Broadway shortly after the completion of its run. It was directed by
Melvin Bernhardt Melvin Bernhardt (February 26, 1931 – September 12, 2015) was an American stage and television director. He was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and much of his work has been in the New York City area. He is known for his productions of ''The ...
and produced on Broadway by Lester Osterman, Marilyn Strauss and Marc Howard. It opened at the Morosco Theatre on 1 May 1978 and closed on 1 January 1980 after 697 performances. The scenic design was by
Marjorie Kellogg Marjorie Kellogg (July 17, 1922 – December 19, 2005) was an American author. Biography Marjorie Kellogg was born in Santa Barbara, California, July 17, 1922. Kellogg attended and dropped out of the University of California, Berkeley before goi ...
, the costume design by
Jennifer von Mayrhauser Jennifer von Mayrhauser is an American costume designer who has designed costumes for more than thirty Broadway productions, and is notable for her significant contributions in film, television, and theatre. Life and studies Von Mayrhauser was ...
, and the lighting design by Arden Fingerhut. The original cast included
Barnard Hughes Bernard Aloysius Kiernan Hughes (July 16, 1915 – July 11, 2006), known professionally as Barnard Hughes, was an American actor of television, theater and film. Hughes became famous for a variety of roles; his most notable roles came after mi ...
as Da, Brian Murray as Charlie Now,
Lois De Banzie Lois de Banzie (4 May 1930 – 3 April 2021) was a Scottish-born American stage, film, and television actress. Career Theatre De Banzie may be best known for her Drama Desk Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated performance in Paul Osborn's p ...
as Mrs. Prynne,
Mia Dillon Mia Dillon (born July 9, 1955) is an American actress. Early life Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Dillon graduated from Marple-Newtown Senior High School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Career Dillon made her Broadway debut as an unde ...
as Mary Tate, Sylvia O'Brien as Mother, Lester Rawlins as Drumm, Richard Seer as Young Charlie, and Ralph Williams as Oliver.
Brian Keith Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith, November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family film '' The Parent T ...
replaced Barnard Hughes toward the end of the Broadway run when Hughes went out on a National Tour across the U.S. and Canada. The play won the 1978
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. The award was initially introduced in 1955 as the Vern ...
, the 1978 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, the 1977/78 Outer Critics Circle Award for the Most Outstanding Play of the New York Season and the 1978
Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first yea ...
. The play is set in
Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...
,
County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
, in 1968, and times and places remembered, and is largely autobiographical. Its protagonist, an expatriate writer named Charlie Tynan, represents Leonard, who, like the character, was adopted. The play deals with Charlie's relationships with the two father figures in his life: "Da" – an old-fashioned Irish nickname meaning "Daddy" – his adoptive father, and Mr. Drumm, a cynical civil servant who becomes his mentor.


Characters

* Charlie Now – Charlie Tynan, a middle-aged writer * Oliver – Charlie's childhood friend * Da – Nick Tynan, Charlie's recently deceased adoptive father * Mother – Maggie Tynan, Charlie's long-deceased adoptive mother * Young Charlie – Charlie as a boy and as a young man * Drumm – Charlie's employer and mentor * Mary Tate, The Yellow Peril – a young lady with a low reputation * Mrs. Prynne – Da's old employer


Plot

Charlie, a writer who's been living in London for many years, returns to his boyhood home in Dalkey, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, after the death of his adoptive father. He finds that the house is filled with ghosts, of his parents and of his younger self. Charlie talks and interacts with all the ghosts, relives important moments from his youth, and comes to grips with his complicated feelings for his adoptive parents. Through Charlie's conversations and interactions with the ghosts in his home, we see both why he loved his parents and why he was so eager to leave them far behind. Charlie's family was not dysfunctional or abusive. On the contrary, Charlie's parents adored him, and made great sacrifices to give him a good education. His Da, a gardener for a rich Anglo-Irish family, was kind and patient, but also woefully unsophisticated and lacking in ambition. Charlie loved Da, but was also embarrassed by him, and felt guilty for this embarrassment. Charlie was an illegitimate child at a time when this carried a heavy stigma in Catholic Ireland. Although Da accepted Charlie fully, Charlie always felt like an outsider, heavily indebted to Da. Moreover, Charlie never could find a way to repay Da or even fully express his love and gratitude. The genial, undemanding Da was the polar opposite of Charlie's other father figure, Drumm, a high-level civil servant. Since Drumm was one of the few prosperous, educated Irishmen in the vicinity, Charlie's parents hoped he could find Charlie a job. In 1945, they invited Drumm to their home to introduce him to 17-year-old Charlie. The introduction went disastrously, as Da made a series of foolish, embarrassing statements (Da believed that a German victory in World War II was imminent, and he was plainly rooting for this outcome). Charlie was humiliated, and was astonished to learn that, despite everything, Drumm had actually taken a liking to him. Drumm was intelligent, shrewd, and very pessimistic. He saw Charlie as the son he never had, and offered him the unsentimental advice to regard his Da as his enemy, someone who'd hold him back from succeeding in life. Drumm advised Charlie to emigrate from Ireland, which was no place for an ambitious young man. However, Charlie instead took a job as Drumm's clerk. He imagined the job would be only temporary, but he ended up working for Drumm for 14 years. Like his Da, Charlie kept an unprestigious, low-paying job far longer than he ever intended to. In the late 1950s, as Charlie began to experience success as a writer, he unthinkingly snubbed Drumm in public; Drumm never forgave this crime, and turned against him. About the same time, Da's employers sold their home, leaving Da unemployed. They gave him a tiny pension and, as a parting gift, a tacky paperweight made from dozens of discarded eyeglasses. Da received the gift as a grand honor, which only increased Charlie's disdain for his father, a man who felt privileged to receive a worthless knickknack, so long as it came from "the Quality" upper classes. Soon after, Charlie moved to England with his fiancée, and his adoptive mother died. Charlie visited Da regularly, giving him a few pounds for spending money, and begging the old man to come live with him in England. Da always refused, which hurt Charlie more than the old man could have realized. After Da's death, Charlie receives a visit from Drumm, now an elderly man himself. Drumm still bears some ill will toward Charlie, but has been asked by Da to make sure that Charlie receives his inheritance. To Charlie's horror, the inheritance turns out to be the paperweight made of eyeglasses, and an envelope containing all the spending money Charlie had ever given to his Da. Charlie is forced to accept that he could never repay his father. In fact, Da adored him, and selflessly gave him his entire legacy: the money and the paperweight. Charlie berates his father's ghost, pledging to leave Ireland forever, outraged that Da never accepted any help, and saddened that Da refused to move to England. The ghost decides to make up for lost time, and come back to England with Charlie. As the play ends, Charlie leaves his house with the ghost following him. His Da will always remain a powerful presence in his life.


Awards and nominations

;Awards * 1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play * 1978 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play * 1977/78 Outer Critics Circle Award for the Most Outstanding Play of the New York Season * 1978 Tony Award for Best Play


Film adaptation

The film adaptation of 1988 retained Ireland as the primary setting. Playwright Hugh Leonard wrote the screenplay, adding material from his memoir. In addition, he slightly rewrote the main character, Charlie, as an Irishman who had emigrated to the United States many years earlier, to permit casting of actor
Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...
in the role without his being forced to attempt a British or Irish accent. Playwright Hugh Leonard had a cameo in the film as one of the pallbearers carrying the coffin of Charlie's father.


References

Notes Bibliography * *


External links

* * * {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Da'' , list = {{DramaDesk Play 1975–2000 {{TonyAwardBestPlay 1976-2000 1978 plays Autobiographical plays Broadway plays Drama Desk Award-winning plays New York Drama Critics' Circle Award winners Tony Award-winning plays Irish plays adapted into films