The Torch Theatre was a
theatre located in
Capel Street
Capel Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland. On 20 May 2022, it was made traffic-free, following a campaign by people who wanted to improve the quality of life on the street. It is now the longest traffic-free street in Dublin.
History
Capel ...
,
Dublin, which operated from 1935 to 1941.
Establishment
The Torch Theatre was founded by husband and wife team
Charles L. Keogh and
Evelyn Lund
Evelyn may refer to:
Places
* Evelyn, London
* Evelyn Gardens, a garden square in London
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* Evelyn ...
and opened on February 27, 1935.
The building had previously been used as the headquarters of the United Trades Council, with the meeting room being converted into the theatre space.
Another founding member was the artist
Lilian Davidson
Lilian Davidson Royal Hibernian Academy, ARHA (26 January 1879 – 29 March 1954) was an Irish landscape and portrait artist, teacher and writer.
Early life and education
Lilian Lucy Davidson was born at Castle Terrace, Bray, County Wicklow, o ...
, who under the stage name "Jennifer Maud", designed scenery and was a co-director in 1936.
Associations
The semi-professional company that was based out of the Torch Theatre specialised in productions of
melodrama
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...
and opened with a production of ''
The Colleen Bawn''.
The production later focused less on melodrama and more on light theatre, pantomime and comedies.
Other plays the theatre produced were ''
A Royal Divorce'', ''
In Memory of the Dead
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* Indepe ...
'', ''
Nell Gwynne
Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled ''Gwynn'', ''Gwynne'') was a celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stag ...
'', and ''
Arrah-na-Pogue''.
Some of the actors who took part in these productions were
F. J. McCormick, Eve Panton, and
Harry Brogan.
In 1936
Cyril Cusack directed and set designed a season of
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
plays.
Closure
The theatre was largely unprofitable and operated sporadically until 1941.
The final production was a revue ''Sensations of 1940'', directed by Dan Rockford.
There is now a preservation order on the facade of the building.
References
{{Coord missing, County Dublin
Theatres in Dublin (city)