ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: THE WOMEN OF THE ABBEY THEATRE, 1897 – 1925 Robin Jackson Boisseau, Doctor of Philosophy, 2004 Dissertation directed by: Professor Emeritus Patti P. Gillespie Department of Theatre The Abbey Theatre was esta blished in Dublin in 1904 as part of the Irish cultural Renaissance of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century through the efforts of men and women who sought to create a theatre that would produce indigenous Irish drama using native Irish actors a nd actresses. Although substantial evidence exists suggesting that the contributions of the women involved with the establishment of the Abbey Theatre, such as Lady Augusta Gregory, Annie Horniman, Sara Allgood, and Sarah Purser, were significant, histori ans of this period have tended to focus instead on the contributions of the men connected with the theatre. This study highlights the contributions of these and other women to the establishment and perpetuation of the Abbey Theatre from its inception in 1897 until the granting of a governmental subsidy in 1925. Women's contributions are explored in areas of theatrical practice, such as design, management, acting, and playwriting, and are grounded within the multiple social, political, historical, religious, and cultural contexts of the period. In addition, several tensions or conflicts existed at the Abbey Theatre in which women played major roles. These conflicts included a clash between the nationalists, who desired to use the Abbey as a political forum, and the artists, who insisted on creating an art theatre; discord between the English and Irish cultures present at the Abbey; and, at the most basic level, tensions between the women and men who worked to create the theatre. The study concludes that women actively participated in all areas of theatrical practice at the Abbey Theatre initially; that the Abbey utilized women more than any other theatre in Dublin at the time; but that women did not flourish at the Abbey because their roles in the theatre were consistently diminished as the theatre itself became a more commercial enterprise. The University of Maryland THE WOMEN OF THE ABBEY THEATRE 1897-1925 by Robin Jackson Boisseau Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate Sc hool of the University of Maryland in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2004 Advisory Committee: Professor Patti Gillespie, Chair Professor Carol Burbank Professor Gay Gullickson Professor Frankli n Hildy Professor Catherine Schuler Copyright 2004 by Robin Jackson Boisseau ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to give my grateful acknowledgements to those many people who have assisted me throughout this dissertation process. Thank you to Ms. Mariad Delaney, National Theatre Archivist, for her kind help and guidance with the Abbey records, and to Micheal Fahy, Director of the National Theatre of Ireland for permission to view the private Abbey Theatr e records at the National Library of Ireland. Special thanks to Mr. Tom Desmond, Assistant Librarian at the National Library of Ireland, for his assistance in locating files on the Abbey and informing me of their existence. Thank you also to Mr. Maurice Halfhide of Hampton University for his technical assistance in computer programming and formatting. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee: Dr. Carol Burbank, Dr. Frank Hildy, Dr. Gay Gullickson, Dr. Catherine Schuler, and especially my advisor, Dr. Patti Gillespie, for all of your assistance with this dissertation and for your patience in waiting for its completion. I would also like to thank Dr. Heather Nathans both for serving on my prospectus committee and for her flexibility in establi shing the final dissertation committee. Thank you again to Dr. Frank Hildy for agreeing to chair my committee during the period Dr. Gillespie was ineligible to chair. iii Table of Contents List of Figures . iv Chapter One Introduction . 1 Chapter Two The Women Who Came Before . 30 Chapter Three The Women Who Designed . 82 Chapter Four The Women Who Managed . 137 Chapter Five The Women Who Acted . 188 Chapter Six The Women Who Wrote: Lady Gregory . 263 Chapter Seven The Women Who Wrote: Other Women . 306 Chapter Eight Conclusion: The Women of the Abbey Theatre . 347 Appendix A The Women of the Abbey Theatre . 364 Appendix B Plays Written, Co -Written, or Translated by Women, Listed by Date of First Production By the Abbey Company . 368 Appendix C New Plays Produced at the Abbey and in Ireland, by Gender of Playwright . 371 Appendix D Women Playwrights Produced in Ireland 1907-1925 . 372 Appendix E Abbey Theatre Productions for which Directing Credit for Women Can Be Reasonably Established, and the Directors . 373 Selected Bibliography . 374 iv List of Figures Figure 1. Florence Farr…………………………………………………… 31 Figure 2. Farr as a young woman………………………………………… 34 Figure 3. Florence Farr in A Sicilian Idyll ……………………………….. 37 Figure 4. Florence Farr at about the time she met W. B. Yeats in 1890… 39 Figure 5. Aubrey Beardsley’s poster for Farr’s season at the Avenue Theatre in 1894………………………………………………… 40 Figure 6. Alice Milligan…………………………………………………. 52 Figure 7. Maud Gonne…………………………………………………… 58 Figure 8. Maud Gonne at about the time she met Lucien Millevoye……. 62 Figure 9. Maud Gonne’s Inghinidhe na hEireann, circa 1905-06……….. 64 Figure 10. Maud Gonne in the title role of Kathleen ni Houlihan in 1902... 70 Figure 11. Annie Horniman……………………………………………….. 87 Figure 12. Horniman sewing costumes she designed for The King’s Threshold , 1903……………………………………………….. 90 Figure 13. Pamela Colman “Pixie” Smith………………………………... 95 Figure 14. Pamela Colman Smith with miniature set and costume designs (foreground)…………………………………………. 97 Figure 15. Edith Craig in 1895…………………………………………… 99 Figure 16. Above, Pamela Colman Smith’s sketches of “a number of bushes shaped Dutch fashion into cocks and hens, ducks, peacocks;” below, her backdrop for Where There is Nothing.. 100 Figure 17. Annie Horniman designed the interiors for the new Abbey Theatre……………………………………………………….. 104 Figure 18. The exterior of the Abbey Theatre as it looked from 1904 to 1951…………………………………………………………… 106 v Figu re 19. Interior of the Abbey Theatre after Horniman’s renovations…. 107 Figure 20. Sarah Purser…………………………………………………… 109 Figure 21. Sarah Purser in her workshop at An Tur Gloine……………… 112 Figure 22. One of the stained -glass windows created by Sarah Purser in 1904………………………………………………………… 115 Figure 23. Lily Yeats as a young woman………………………………… 116 Figure 24. Lily Yeats (foreground) with her embroiderers at Dun Emer… 119 Figure 25. Tapestry by Lily Yeats depicting the Abbey Theatre………… 120 Figure 26. The Abbey Theatre logo: Queen Maeve hunting with an Irish wolfhound. In the background is a rayed sun, also symbolic of Ireland………………………………………. 122 Figure 27. Painting of the Old Mechanics Theatre by Jack B. Yeats……. 124 Figure 28. Interior of the Abbey Theatre after renovations. Note stall seating in front…………………………………………… 126 Figure 29. Reproductions of sketches and notes for decorative dadoes Horniman made while renovating the Abbey Theatre in 1904………………………………………………………… 128 Figure 30. The Abbey’s green room, circa 1930………………………..… 129 Figure 31. The Abbey’s entrance hall, sometime after the coffee bar was installed. Note Sarah Purser’s windows in the background….. 130 Figure 32. Lady Gregory managed the day -to -day administration of the Abbey from 1904 until her death In 1932……………………………………………………….. 140 Figure 33. Annie Horniman managed tours for the Abbey from 1905 to 1907………………………………………………………. 147 Figure 34. Lady Gregory at about the time sh e managed the American tours……………………………………………….. 170 Figure 35. Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh. This portrait was painted by John Yeats for the opening of the Abbey Theatre vi in 1904……………………………………………………… 196 Figure 36. Honor Lavelle, stage name of Helen Laird, was the Abbey’s first leading lady…………………………………. 200 Figure 37. Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh at about the time she left the Abbey……………………………………………………… 204 Figure 38. Maire O’Neil (Mary Allgood), painted for the opening of the Abbey Theatre in 1904…………………………….. 208 Figure 39. Maire O’Neil as Pegeen Mike in the first production of The Playboy of the Western World ……………………….. 211 Figure 40. Sara Allgood, circa 1907…………………………………. 217 Figure 41. Sara Allgood (left), Bridget O’Dempsey (center), and Maire O’Neil (right), in a scene from Spreading the News ……………………………………………………… 220 Figure 42. Poster for the 1921 Matinee Fund benefit performance…. 238 Figure 43. Sara Allgood in the title role of Juno in Ju no and the Paycock in 1924………………………………………….. 239 Figure 44. Maureen Delany began her career at the Abbey School of Acting………………………………………………… 246 Figure 45. May Craig……………………………………………….. 247 Figure 46. Lady Gregory as Kathleen ni Houlihan. Gregory agreed to play the role stating, “What is needed but a hag and a voice?”…………………………………………………. 249 Figure 47. Lady Gregory as Kathleen ni Houlihan and Arthur Sinclair as Michael Gilane in a scene from Kathleen ni Houlihan in 1919…………………………… 250 Figure 48. Eileen Crowe joined the Abbey as an actress in 1921…… 253 Figure 49. Augusta Persse at the time of her marriage to Sir William Gregory…………………………………………. 275 Figure 50. Lady Gregory at her writing desk at Coole Park………… 282 Figure 51. A scene from Twenty -five , Gregory’s first acknowledged play.. 284 vii Figure 52. A scene from Spreading the News , presented on the Abbey Theatre’s opening night, December 27, 1904…………………. 285 Figure 53. A scene from The Workhouse Ward , writte n originally as The Poorhouse in 1903………………………………………... 290 Figure 54. Lady Gregory’s career as playwright was rejuvenated by her wonder plays………………………………………………….. 296 Figure 55. Reproduction of floor plan for Day’s and Cummins’ Fox and Geese , whic h opened at the Abbey on February 17, 1917. From Stage Manager’s sketch; designer unknown…………………………………………… 322 Figure 56. Other women who wrote for the Abbey Theatre: Above, Dorothy Macardle; below, Kathleen Cruise O’Brien……… 328 Figure 57. Reproduction of the floor plan for Dorothy Macardle’s Ann Kavanagh. From Stage Manager’s sketch; designer unknown…………………………………………………….