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Afterword: the Act and the Word

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Afterword: the Act and the Word Afterword: The Act and the Word Olwen Fouéré Actors are still categorized as mere interepreters within the artistic hier- arachies of Irish theatre. Of course, many of us have bowed to that definition and sadly trundle along, madly interpreting. I wonder why that is. As an actor/actress – or dare I say it – as an artist, as one who seeks, I am conscious that theatre demands everything of the actor’s human form. It demands everything of the body who acts and receives all the knowledge we will ever need. The body is the delta, alpha and omega of theatre and the actor’s power resides there, free from the perceived tyranny of the word. This is the task. It is as simple as putting words on a page and it is not easy, as any writer will tell you. A lot of things can get in the way. For instance, the idea that as I am woman I am therefore called an actress. An Actress might be an icon, languorous and eternally poised somewhere dangerously close to Sunset Boulevard. She lives alone and remains forever exotic and unattainable. There are times when I like that idea and court it for my own wicked amusement. The idea that as an actress I am brilliant at displaying emotion and can move an audience to tears, not to mention the nice writer in the back row. Even the idea that this is perhaps an actress’s job, to be so ‘moving’ in the role that everyone says she really must play Nora in A Doll’s House or later even Medea so that she can demonstrate her remarkable histrionic range – but mind, not too much rage, there madness lies, keep charming the audience if you can and don’t be too ‘strong’ or it will go against you. And don’t be too intelligent when you’re being funny because otherwise it’s not funny. I jest. Even though she was very famous, I think of Sarah Bernhardt and her wooden leg as one of us, sailing up the Lee to perhaps play Hamlet in the Cork Opera House, and I feel blessed by the ascendent rythmns of her voice on a salvaged recording of Racine’s Phédre. I think of the glorious and dangerous alchemy which is released in the roles of Hester Swane and the Mai in the work of Marina Carr, work that blesses as it wounds. I think of the artistic freedom of playing the ambivalently gendered roles in The Diamond Body by Aidan Matthews and in The Gospel according to 219 220 Afterword Judas by Frank McGuinness. I think of the icy, passionate and manipu- lative Salomé, murdered for murdering her love. All of the above died for their love. The man Hamlet, the woman Phedre, Hester Swane, the Mai, the hermaphrodite and his lover in The Diamond Body, Salomé, and poor Judas. Did you know he was a woman? He was. So was Tiresias. He was always both things. Blind and a seer. Male and female. Depending on the climate of the time. And he/she never seems to have died for long. She/he appears in so many plays and stories that he/she must have written her/his own script. He/she must have been an artist. Contrary to popular opinion, actors don’t need a play to practice the art of theatre. It is a way of life. A lot of our work is about completely subverting the script. Many writers love us for it. It was fascinating for me to have an opportunity to play Kathleen ni Houlihan, the archetypal woman of Yeats’s and Lady Gregory’s Ireland. Fascinating to subvert the long-suffering image we have inherited of her. To unleash the seductive, manipulative queen with predatory desires running through the country of her body. She is a beautiful, thirsty and compelling vampire. Not unlike Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard Appendix: Irish Women Playwrights Date and place, where given, indicate first production. Part I 1663–1980 1. Philips, Katherine: Pompey (1663, Smock Alley). 2. Centlivre, Susanna (? Co. Tyrone, ? 1667–1722): The Perjured Husband (1700, Drury Lane), Love’s Contrivance (1703), The Gamester (1705), The Basset Table (1705), The Platonic Lady (1707), Busie Body (1709), Marplot (1711), The Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret (1714), A Wife Well Managed (1715), The Gotham Election (1715), The Cruel Gift (1716), A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1718, Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre). 3. Davys, Mary (Dublin, 1674–1732): The Northern Heiress or The Humours of York (1716), The Self Rival (1725). 4. Clive, Kitty (Ulster, 1711–1785): The Rehearsal (1753). 5. Sheridan, Frances (Dublin, 1724–1766): The Discovery (1762). 6. Griffith, Elizabeth (1727–1793): The Platonic Wife (1763), The Times (1780). 7. O’Brien, Mary: The Fallen Patriot (1790). 8. Owenson, Sydney (Lady Morgan, 1776–1859): The First Attempt or Whim of a Moment (1807). 9. Le Fanu, Alicia: Sons of Erin or Modern Sentiment (1812). 10. Leadbeater, Mary (1758–1826): Honesty is the Best Policy (1814). 11. Balfour, Mary (Derry, 1780–1819): Kathleen O’Neill (1814). 12. Owenson, Olivia (Lady Clarke, ?1785–1845): The Irishwoman (1819). 13. Edgeworth, Maria (1767–1849): The Absentee (1812), Love and Law (1817), The Two Guardians (1817), The Rose (1817), Thistle and Shamrock (1817), The Grinding Organ (1827), Dumb Andy (1827), The Dame Holiday (1827). 14. Hall, Anna Maria (Dublin, 1800–1881): St Pierre, The French Refuge: A Burletta in Two Acts (1837), Mabel’s Curse (1837), The Groves of Blarney (1838), Juniper Jack or My Aunt’s Hobby (1845). 15. O’Brien, Charlotte Grace (1845–1909): A Tale of Venice (1881). 16. Riddel, Charlotte (1832–1906): George Geith of Fen Court (1883). 17. Milligan, Alice (Co. Tyrone, 1866–1953): The Green Upon the Cape (1898), The Last Feast of the Fianna (1900), Oisín and Patraic (1899), Oisín in Tír na nÓg (1900), The Harp that Once (1901), The Deliverance of Red Hugh (1901), The Daughter of Donagh: A Cromwellian Drama in Four Acts (1902), Brian of Banba (1904), The Last of the Desmonds (1905), The Return of Lugh(1909). 18. Gregory, Isabella, Lady Augusta (Galway, 1852–1932) selected plays: Kathleen ní Houlihan (1902), Spreading the News (1904), Twenty Five (1903), Kincora (1905), The White Cockade (1905), Hyacinth Halvey (1906), The Gaol Gate (1906), The Doctor in Spite of Himself (1906), The Canavans (1906), The Rising of the Moon (1907), The Jacdaw (1907), Dervorgilla (1907), The 221 222 Appendix Rougueries of Scapin (1908), The Miser (1909), The Image (1909), The Travelling Man (1910), The Full Moon (1910), Coats (1910), Grania (1910), The Deliverer (1911), The Bogie Men (1912), Damer’s Gold (1912), Hanrahan’s Oath (1918), The Dragon (1919), The Golden Apple (1920), Aristotle’s Bellows (1921), Dave (1927). 19. Butler, E. L. Mary: Kittie (1902). 20. Mitchell, L, Susan: The Voice of One (1903). 21. Chesson, Nora: The Sea Swan (1903, with Butler O’Brien). 22. Varian, Susan: Tenement Troubles (1904). 23. Gonne, Maud (1865–1953): Dawn (1904) Published. 24. O’Dwyer, Delia: All Soul’s Eve (1905). 25. Mulholland, Rosa (Gilbert, Lady) (1841–1921): Our Boycotting (1905). 26. McManus, L. Miss: The Sun God (1902), O’Donnell’s Cross (1907). 27. Gore-Booth, Eva (Sligo, 1870–1928): The Triumph of Maeve (1902), Unseen Kings (1912), Death of Fionavar (1916), The Buried Life of Deirdre (1916). 28. Dobbs, Margaret Emmeline (1871–1962): Memento, Lady Cantire’s Courtship, The Way to Advertise, Cormac’s Adventure. 29. Letts, M, Winifred (1882–1972): The Eyes of the Blind (Abbey, 1907), The Challenge (Abbey, 1909), Hamilton and Jones (Gate, 1941). 30. Fitzpatrick, Nora: Home Sweet Home (1908, with Casimir Markievicz). 31. Tynan, Katharine (Dublin, 1861–1931): The Stepmother (1909). 32. Fitzpatrick: Kathleen: Expiation (1910). 33. Barlow, Jane (Dublin, 1857–1917): A Bunch of Lavender (1911, Theatre of Ireland, Hardwicke Street Hall). 34. Redmond, Johanna: Honor’s Choice (1911), Falsely True, The Best of a Bad Bargain (1911), Pro Patria (1911), Leap Year (1912). 35. Scott, F, Molly: Charity (1911, Grand Opera House), Family Rights (1912, Grand Opera House). 36. Fitzpatrick, Norah (Mrs O’Hara): The Dangerous Age (1912). 37. Dobbs, Margaret: She’s Going to America (1912). 38. Costello, Mary: The Coming of Aideen (1910), The Gods at Play (1910), A Bad Quarter of an Hour (1913). 39. Day, R, Susanne, and Cummins, Geraldine, Dorothy (selected plays): Out of the Deep Shadows (1912), Toilers (1913), Broken Faith (Abbey, 1913), Fidelity (1914), The Way of the World (1914), Fox and Geese (1917, Abbey). 40. Robbins, Gertrude: The Home-Coming (1913, Abbey). 41. Eaton, Florence: Playing with Fire (1913). 42. Kennedy, Mrs Bart: My Lord (Abbey, 1913). 43. Finny, Alice Maye: A Local Demon (1913). 44. O’Brien, Katherine (pseud. Fand O’Grady): Apartments (1913, Abbey). 45. Lloyed, J. W., Annie: A Question of Honour (1914). 46. Waddell, Helen (Tokyo, 1889–1965): The Spoilt Buddha (1915, Grand Opera House), The Abbé Prévost. 47. Leicester, Blanche: Her Little Bit of Heaven (1916, with Jackson Leicester). 48. Standish-Barry, Nellie: An Irish Lead (1916). 49. Carrickford, J. B., Mrs: Willy Reilly and his Dear Colleen Bawn (1916). 50. Shane, Elizabeth (Belfast, 1877–1951): The Warming Pan. 51. St Albans, Blanche: Come Back to Erin (1917). 52. O’Neil-Foley, Anastasia: Father O’Flynn (1917). Appendix 223 53. Burke, Una: Newspaper Nuptials (1917). 54. McKenna: Rose: Aliens (Abbey, 1918). 55. Casey, Sadie (Mrs Theodore Maynard): Brady (Abbey, 1919). 56. Walsh, Sheila: The Mother (1918, Queen’s Theatre). 57. Macardle, M. C. Dorothy (1889–1958): Atonement (1918, Abbey), Asthara (1918, Little Theatre), Ann Kavanagh (1922, Abbey), The Old Man (1925, Abbey), Witch’s Brew (1928), Dark Waters (1932, Gate Theatre).
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