Abbey Theatre

The Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland, is located in Dublin, in Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December, 1904 and, despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has continued to stage performances more or less continuously to the present day. The Abbey was the first state-subsidised theatre in the English-speaking world; from 1925 onwards it received an annual subsidy from the Irish Free State.

The Abbey after Yeats

In 1924, Yeats and Lady Gregory offered the Abbey to the government of the Free State as a gift to the Irish people. Despite some reluctance on the part of the Department of Finance, the offer was accepted, partly at least because of the theatre's commitment to producing works in Irish. As a consequence, in 1925 the Abbey became the first theatre company in the English-speaking world to be state-maintained. The following year, the Abbey School of Acting and the Abbey School of Ballet were set up. The latter, which closed in 1933, was run by Ninette de Valois, who also provided choreography for a number of Yeats' plays.

Related Topics:
1924 - Department of Finance - Irish - 1925 - 1933 - Ninette de Valois

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Around this time, some additional space was acquired and a small experimental theatre, the Peacock, was started downstairs from the main theatre. In 1928 Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammoir set up the Gate Theatre, initially using the Peacock to stage important works by European and American dramatists. The Gate sought work by new Irish playwrights and the story of how one such play came into their hands illustrated the fact that the Abbey had now entered a period of artistic decline. When Denis Johnston submitted his first play Shadowdance to the Abbey, it was rejected by Lady Gregory and returned to the author with “The Old Lady says No” written on the title page. Johnson decided to rename the play, and The Old Lady Says 'No' was staged by the Gate in the Peacock in 1928.

Related Topics:
1928 - Hilton Edwards - Micheál MacLiammoir - Gate Theatre - European - Denis Johnston

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The tradition of the Abbey as a writer's theatre survived Yeats' withdrawal from day-to-day involvement. For example, Frank O'Connor sat on the board from 1935 to 1939, serving as Managing Director from 1937, and had two plays staged during this period. Unfortunately, he was forced to resign after Yeats died. During the 1940s and 1950s, the staple fare of the Abbey stage was comic farce set in an idealised peasant world, which, if it ever had existed, no longer had much relevance for the lives of the majority of Irish citizens. As a result, the decline in audience numbers continued. This decline might well have been more dramatic but for a number of popular actors, including F. J. McCormick, and dramatists, including George Shiels, who could still draw a crowd. Another Abbey tenant was Austin Clarke's Dublin Verse Speaking Society, later the Lyric Theatre, which operated out of the Peacock from 1941 to 1944 and the Abbey from 1944 to 1951.

Related Topics:
Frank O'Connor - 1935 - 1939 - 1937 - 1940s - 1950s - F. J. McCormick - George Shiels - Austin Clarke's - Lyric Theatre - 1941 - 1944 - 1951

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On 18 July, 1951, the building was destroyed by fire, with only the Peacock surviving. The company took a lease on the old Queen's Theatre in September and continued in residence in this temporary home until 1966. The Queen's had been home to the Happy Gang, a team of comedians who staged skits, farces and pantomimes to huge audiences. In some respect, with its continued diet of peasant comedies, the new tenants were not far removed from the old. It is indicative of the state of the Abbey's ambitions at the time that neither of the two most interesting Irish dramatists to emerge in the 1950s, Brendan Behan and Samuel Beckett, featured there. In February 1961 the ruins of the Abbey were finally demolished and plans for rebuilding, with a design by Irish architect Michael Scott, began. On 3 September, 1963, the President of Ireland, Eamon de Valera, laid the foundation stone for the new theatre. The Abbey reopened on 18 July, 1966.

Related Topics:
18 July - 1951 - Queen's Theatre - 1966 - Brendan Behan - Samuel Beckett - 1961 - Michael Scott - 3 September - 1963 - President of Ireland - Eamon de Valera

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