''On Baile's Strand'' is a play written by
W. B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
and first printed in ''
In the Seven Woods
''In the Seven Woods: Being Poems Chiefly of the Irish Heroic Age'' is a volume of poems by W. B. Yeats, published in 1903 by Elizabeth Yeats's Dun Emer Press, the first edited by this publishing house.[Dun Emer Press
The Dun Emer Press (''fl.'' 1902–1908) was an Irish private press founded in 1902 by Evelyn Gleeson, Elizabeth Yeats and her brother William Butler Yeats, part of the Celtic Revival. It was named after the legendary Emer and evolved into the Cu ...]
in 1903.
The play was first performed at the grand opening of the
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...
on 27 December 1904. The play is based around the Irish mythological hero
Cuchulain.
History
The story is based on the early Irish folk story ''
Aided Óenfhir Aífe
''Aided Óenfhir Aífe'' ( en, The Death of Aífe's Only Son) is a story from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.
It is a sequel to ''Tochmarc Emire'' ( en, The Wooing of Emer), in which the Ulaid hero Cú Chulainn, while training in arms oversea ...
'', but with significant changes to the tale, including the addition of a comic subplot. The play received significant revision in 1905.
1938 production
The play was performed again on the 4 April 1938. WB Yeats’s daughter
Anne Yeats
Anne Butler Yeats (26 February 1919 – 4 July 2001) was an Irish painter, costume and stage designer.
Early and family life
She was the daughter of the poet William Butler Yeats and Georgie Hyde-Lees, a niece of the painter Jack B. Yeat ...
designed for this second production, taking responsibility for the setting and costumes. Anne was 19 when she produced the second performance of ''On Baile’s Strand''.
Yeats designed many character sketches in a number of notebooks she kept, which are held at the archives of the National Gallery of Ireland; these sketches include designs for ''Cuchulain'', played by
Liam Redmond
Liam Redmond (27 July 1913 – 28 October 1989) was an Irish character actor known for his stage, film and television roles.
Early life
Redmond was one of four children born to cabinet-maker Thomas and Eileen Redmond. Educated at the Christi ...
.
Other characters include:
* ‘A Blind Man’ (W. O’Gorman)
* ‘A Fool’ (
Cyril Cusack
Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his int ...
)
* ‘Conchubar’ (John Stephenson)
* ‘A Young Man’ (W. Brambell)
* ‘Young kings and Old Kings’ (M. Keegan, D. O’Neill, J. Winter, F. Webster, F. Carney, P.H Considine)
* ‘Three Women’ (Ann Clery, Gertrude Quinn, Kathleen O’Byrne)
* ‘Servant’ (
Peggy Cummins
Peggy Cummins (born Augusta Margaret Diane Fuller; 18 December 1925 – 29 December 2017) was an Irish actress, born in Wales, who is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis's ''Gun Crazy'' (1950), playing a trigger-happy ''femme fa ...
)
References
External links
*
''On Baile's Strand'' direct HTML link, at
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
{{W. B. Yeats
Plays by W. B. Yeats
1903 plays