1.
Brendan Behan
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Brendan Francis Aidan Behan was an Irish Republican, poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both English and Irish. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish writers and he was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army. Born in Dublin into a republican family, he became a member of the IRAs youth organisation Fianna Éireann at the age of fourteen. However, there was also an emphasis on Irish history and culture in the home. Behan eventually joined the IRA at sixteen, which led to his time in a borstal youth prison in the United Kingdom. During this time, he took it himself to study. In 1954, Behans first play The Quare Fellow, was produced in Dublin and it was well received, however, it was the 1956 production at Joan Littlewoods Theatre Workshop in Stratford, London, that gained Behan a wider reputation. This was helped by a famous drunken interview on BBC television, in 1958, Behans play in the Irish language An Giall had its debut at Dublins Damer Theatre. Later, The Hostage, Behans English-language adaptation of An Giall, Behans autobiographical novel, Borstal Boy, was published the same year and became a worldwide best-seller. He married Beatrice Ffrench-Salkeld in 1955 and he developed diabetes, which ultimately contributed to his death on 20 March 1964. He was given an IRA guard of honour, which escorted his coffin and it was described by several newspapers as the biggest funeral since those of Michael Collins and Charles Stewart Parnell. Behan was born in the city of Dublin at Holles Street Hospital on 9 February 1923 into an educated working-class family. He lived in a house on Russell Street near Mountjoy Square owned by his grandmother, Christine English, if Behans interest in literature came from his father, his political beliefs came from his mother. She remained politically active all her life and was a friend of the Irish republican Michael Collins. Brendan Behan wrote a lament to Collins, The Laughing Boy, the title was from the affectionate nickname Mrs. Behan gave to Collins. Kathleen published her autobiography, Mother of All The Behans, a collaboration with her son Brian, Behans uncle Peadar Kearney wrote the Irish national anthem The Soldiers Song. Following Brendans death, his widow had a child with Cathal Goulding called Paudge Behan, a biographer, Ulick OConnor, recounts that one day, at age eight, Brendan was returning home with his granny and a crony from a drinking session. Isnt it terrible maam to see such a child deformed
2.
Dublin
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Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
3.
Tragicomedy
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Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in literature, the term can variously describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious play with a happy ending. There is no formal definition of tragicomedy from the classical age. It appears that the Greek philosopher Aristotle had something like the Renaissance meaning of the term in mind when, in Poetics, he discusses tragedy with a dual ending. In this respect, a number of Greek and Roman plays, for instance Alcestis, may be called tragicomedies, the word itself originates with the Roman comic playwright Plautus, who coined the term somewhat facetiously in the prologue to his play Amphitryon. For rule mongers, mixed works such as mentioned above, more recent romances such as Orlando Furioso. Two figures helped to elevate tragicomedy to the status of a regular genre, Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio, in the mid-sixteenth century, both argued that the tragedy-with-comic-ending was most appropriate to modern times and produced his own examples of such plays. Even more important was Giovanni Battista Guarini, Guarinis Il Pastor Fido, published in 1590, provoked a fierce critical debate in which Guarinis spirited defense of generic innovation eventually carried the day. Guarinis tragicomedy offered modulated action that never drifted too far either to comedy or tragedy, mannered characters, all three became staples of continental tragicomedy for a century and more. In England, where practice ran ahead of theory, the situation was quite different, for the law of writ and the liberty, these are the only men. Some aspects of this romantic impulse remain even in the work of more sophisticated playwrights, Shakespeares last plays, by the early Stuart period, some English playwrights had absorbed the lessons of the Guarini controversy. John Fletchers The Faithful Shepherdess, an adaptation of Guarinis play, was produced in 1608. Fletchers definition focuses primarily on events, a genre is determined by whether or not people die in it. Some of Fletchers contemporaries, notably Philip Massinger and James Shirley, wrote successful, richard Brome also essayed the form, but with less success. And many of their writers, ranging from John Ford to Lodowick Carlell to Sir Aston Cockayne. Tragicomedy remained fairly popular up to the closing of the theaters in 1642, the old styles were of course cast aside as tastes changed in the eighteenth century, the tragedy with a happy ending eventually developed into melodrama, in which form it still flourishes. The more subtle criticism that developed after the Renaissance stressed the thematic and formal aspects of tragicomedy, gotthold Ephraim Lessing defined it as a mixture of emotions in which seriousness stimulates laughter, and pain pleasure. Even more commonly, tragicomedys affinity with satire and dark comedy have suggested a tragicomic impulse in modern absurdist drama, friedrich Dürrenmatt, the Swiss dramatist, suggested that tragicomedy was the inevitable genre for the twentieth century, he describes his play The Visit as a tragicomedy
4.
Mountjoy Prison
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Mountjoy Prison, founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland, the current prison warden is Brian Murphy. Mountjoy was designed by the British military engineering officer, Captain Joshua Jebb, Royal Engineers and opened in 1850, a total of 46 prisoners were executed within the walls of the prison, prior to the abolition of capital punishment. Executions were done by hanging, after which the bodies of the dead were taken down from the gallows, the list of prisoners executed at Mountjoy Prison includes, Kevin Barry Patrick Moran Frank Flood Thomas Whelan Thomas Traynor Patrick Doyle Thomas Bryan Bernard Ryan Edmond Foley Patrick Maher. Rory OConnor Joe McKelvey Liam Mellows Richard Barrett Annie Walsh from Limerick and she remains the only woman ever executed by the Irish State which was founded in 1922. After being convicted of murdering a Garda officer, Charlie Kerins, the last execution carried out in the Republic of Ireland, that of Michael Manning, took place in Mountjoy Prison on 20 April 1954. Some Irish leaders involved with the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War were held there, on 14 May 1921, an IRA team led by Paddy Daly and Emmet Dalton mounted an attempt to rescue Sean McEoin from the prison. They used an armoured car to gain access to Mountjoy. On 31 October 1973, it was the scene of an escape by a hijacked helicopter by three Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners, including Seamus Twomey and J. B OHagan. By 2006, a 60-hectare site had acquired for €30 million at Thornton Hall, Fingal. The new facility was intended to accommodate 1,400 prisoners, the site was planned to include court facilities, video-conference links, medical and therapeutic facilities, but due to government cutbacks these plans have now been sidelined. In August 2006, prisoners who were separated from the rest of the population for safety were mixed together for a night with mentally ill inmate Stephen Egan. Prisoner Gary Douche was killed by Egan who was not guilty of murder due to a lack of responsibility. This prompted the Minister of Justice to seek a limit of 520 inmates on the capacity of the prison, in October 2010, the prison was placed under lockdown after a night of violence and rioting involving more than 70 inmates. It started when a number of prisoners attacked three officers with pool cues and balls during recreation. Reinforcements were brought in from around Dublin to quell the riot, in 2016, figures were released showing that Mountjoy Prison saw a disproportionate number of prisoners hospitalised due to assaults and self-harm. In response, the Irish Penal Reform Trust said the levels of violence and intimidation in Irish prisons, particularly in Mountjoy Prison. Mountjoy Prison is constructed along a radial design with four wings, A through D
5.
Oscar Wilde
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Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he one of Londons most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment, Wildes parents were successful Anglo-Irish, Dublin intellectuals. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life, at university, Wilde read Greats, he proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Dublin, then at Oxford. He became known for his involvement in the philosophy of aestheticism. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles, known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with social themes. He wrote Salome in French in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to the prohibition of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, at the height of his fame and success, while The Importance of Being Earnest, was still being performed in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry prosecuted for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wildes lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, the charge carried a penalty of up to two years in prison. The trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest, after two more trials he was convicted and imprisoned for two years hard labour. Upon his release he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain, there he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of 46, Oscar Wilde was born at 21 Westland Row, Dublin, the second of three children born to Sir William Wilde and Jane Wilde, two years behind William. Wildes mother was of Italian descent, and under the pseudonym Speranza and she read the Young Irelanders poetry to Oscar and Willie, inculcating a love of these poets in her sons. Lady Wildes interest in the neo-classical revival showed in the paintings and busts of ancient Greece, William Wilde was Irelands leading oto-ophthalmologic surgeon and was knighted in 1864 for his services as medical adviser and assistant commissioner to the censuses of Ireland. He also wrote books about Irish archaeology and peasant folklore, a renowned philanthropist, his dispensary for the care of the citys poor at the rear of Trinity College, Dublin, was the forerunner of the Dublin Eye and Ear Hospital, now located at Adelaide Road. On his fathers side Wilde was descended from a Dutchman, Colonel de Wilde, on his mothers side Wildes ancestors included a bricklayer from County Durham who emigrated to Ireland sometime in the 1770s. Wilde was baptised as an infant in St, marks Church, Dublin, the local Church of Ireland church
6.
Comedy
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In a modern sense, comedy refers to any discourse or work generally intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, television, film, and stand-up comedy. The origins of the term are found in Ancient Greece, in the Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a performance which pits two groups or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a Society of Youth and a Society of the Old, a revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions that pose obstacles to his hopes. Satire and political satire use comedy to portray persons or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, parody subverts popular genres and forms, critiquing those forms without necessarily condemning them. Similarly scatological humour, sexual humour, and race humour create comedy by violating social conventions or taboos in comic ways, a comedy of manners typically takes as its subject a particular part of society and uses humor to parody or satirize the behaviour and mannerisms of its members. Romantic comedy is a genre that depicts burgeoning romance in humorous terms. The adjective comic, which means that which relates to comedy is, in modern usage. Of this, the word came into usage through the Latin comoedia and Italian commedia and has, over time. The Greeks and Romans confined their use of the comedy to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings. Aristotle defined comedy as an imitation of men worse than the average, however, the characters portrayed in comedies were not worse than average in every way, only insofar as they are Ridiculous, which is a species of the Ugly. The Ridiculous may be defined as a mistake or deformity not productive of pain or harm to others, the mask, for instance, in the Middle Ages, the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings. It is in this sense that Dante used the term in the title of his poem, as time progressed, the word came more and more to be associated with any sort of performance intended to cause laughter. During the Middle Ages, the comedy became synonymous with satire. They disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms and they viewed comedy as simply the art of reprehension, and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or to the troubling beginnings and happy endings associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century, the term gained a more general meaning in medieval literature. Starting from 425 BCE, Aristophanes, a playwright and satirical author of the Ancient Greek Theater wrote 40 comedies,11 of which survive. Aristophanes developed his type of comedy from the satyr plays
7.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
8.
Capital punishment
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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, etymologically, the term capital in this context alluded to execution by beheading. Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment,103 countries have abolished it de jure for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes. Capital punishment is a matter of controversy in various countries and states. In the European Union, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment, also, the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007,2008,2010,2012 and 2014, non-binding resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India. Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime, in most countries that practise capital punishment it is reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, defection or as part of military justice. In many countries use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty, in militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history, most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment, usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included a formal apology, a blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of a system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour, acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished. However, in practice, it is difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context, compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, the person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals
9.
Abbey Theatre
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The Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day. The Abbey was the first state-subsidized theatre in the English-speaking world, since July 1966, the Abbey has been located at 26 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1. In its early years, the theatre was associated with the writers of the Irish Literary Revival, many of whom were involved in its founding. The Abbey served as a nursery for many of the leading Irish playwrights and actors of the 20th century, including William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory, Seán OCasey and John Millington Synge. In addition, through its programme of touring abroad and its high visibility to foreign, particularly American, audiences. The Abbey arose from three bases, the first of which was the seminal Irish Literary Theatre. Founded by Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and W. B, Yeats in 1899—with assistance from George Moore—it presented plays in the Antient Concert Rooms and the Gaiety Theatre, which brought critical approval but limited public interest. The second base involved the work of two Dublin directors, William and Frank Fay, William worked in the 1890s with a touring company in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, while his brother Frank was involved in amateur dramatics in Dublin. In April 1902, the Fays gave three performances of Æs play Deirdre and Yeats Cathleen Ní Houlihan in a hall in St Theresas Hall on Clarendon Street, the performances played to a mainly working-class audience rather than the usual middle-class Dublin theatregoers. The run was a success, thanks in part to the beauty and force of Maud Gonne. The company continued at the Antient Concert Rooms, producing works by Seumas OCuisin, Fred Ryan, the third base was financial support and experience of Annie Horniman. Horniman was a middle-class Englishwoman with previous experience of production, having been involved in the presentation of George Bernard Shaws Arms. She came to Dublin in 1903 to act as Yeats unpaid secretary and her money helped found the Abbey Theatre and, according to the critic Adrian Frazier, would make the rich feel at home, and the poor—on a first visit—out of place. Encouraged by the St Theresas Hall success, Yeats, Lady Gregory, Æ, Martyn and they were joined by actors and playwrights from Fays company. At first, they staged performances in the Molesworth Hall, on 11 May 1904, the society formally accepted Hornimans offer of the use of the building. As Horniman did not usually reside in Ireland, the letters patent required were granted in the name of Lady Gregory. The founders appointed William Fay theatre manager, responsible for training the actors in the newly established repertory company
10.
Joan Littlewood
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Joan Maud Littlewood was an English theatre director, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called The Mother of Modern Theatre and her production of Oh, What a Lovely War. In 1963 was one of her most influential pieces, Littlewood and her company lived and slept in the Theatre Royal while it was restored. Productions of The Alchemist and Richard II, the latter starring Harry H. Corbett in the title role, after joining his troupe, Theatre of Action, Littlewood and Miller were soon married. After a brief move to London, they returned to Manchester, in 1941, Littlewood was banned from broadcasting on the BBC. The ban was lifted two years later, when MI5 said she had broken off her association with the Communist Party and she was under surveillance by MI5 from 1939 until the 1950s. The following eight years were spent touring, shortly afterwards, when Gerry Raffles joined the troupe, MacColl and Littlewood divorced, though they still worked together for many years and Littlewood was godmother to MacColls two children. Littlewood and Raffles were life partners until his death in 1975, one of Littlewoods most famous productions was the British première of Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children, which she directed and also played the lead role. Her production of Fings Aint Wot They Used TBe, a musical about the London underworld, became a hit and ran from 1959 to 1962, transferring to the West End. The works for which she is now best remembered are probably Shelagh Delaneys A Taste of Honey, which gained acclaim. Her stage adaptation of a work for radio by Charles Chilton, both were subsequently made into films. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical for Oh, becoming the first woman nominated for the award. Theatre Workshop also championed the work of Irish playwright Brendan Behan, after Raffless death in 1975, Littlewood left Theatre Workshop and stopped directing. After a time of drifting she settled in France and became the companion of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, the vintner and poet, in the mid-1980s, she commenced work on her 1994 autobiography, Joans Book. Littlewood died, in 2002, of natural causes at the age of 87 in the London flat of Peter Rankin, agit-Prop to Theatre Workshop, Political Playscripts, 1930-50. Joans Book, The Autobiography of Joan Littlewood
11.
Theatre Royal Stratford East
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The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a large community theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, the theatre was designed by architect James George Buckle, who was commissioned by the actor-manager Charles Dillon in 1884. It is the only surviving work, built on the site of a wheelwrights shop on Salway Road. It opened on 17 December 1884 with a revival of Richelieu by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, two years later, Dillon sold it to Albert OLeary Fredericks, his sisters brother-in-law and one of the original backers of the scheme. In 1887 the theatre was renamed Theatre Royal and Palace of Varieties, the stage was enlarged in 1891, by the original architect. In 1902, Frank Matcham undertook minor improvements to the entrance, the Theatre reverted to its Theatre Royal Stratford East name in 1914. A fire on the stage on August Bank Holiday Monday of 1921 did considerable damage to the rear of the theatre, thankfully the fire happenned at midnight, with the safety curtain lowered, saving the auditorium which retains many of its original features to this day. The theatre was closed until January 1922, the Fredericks family continued to manage the theatre until 1932, although after the World War I, the theatre fell into financial difficulties, opening only irregularly after 1926. Theatre superstition has it that should the letters ever be removed, TRSE closed in 1938 and remained closed until 1943. Revues were then tried, but failed, and again the theatre was closed until October 1946. The theatre closed again in December 1949, in late 1950, a touring company presented the Christmas pantomime, Alice in Wonderland. Highly experimental, its success was by no means guaranteed or uniform throughout the tour, theyll lynch us, recalls Sven Stahl. I still have nightmares about Alice in Wonderland at Barnsley and the miners throwing pennies at John Blanshard, the company were to return, as the Theatre Workshop in 1953, with artistic director Joan Littlewood and take over the theatre. Money remained short, and the manager, Gerry Raffles only managed redecoration, in 2001, following a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid, all of the theatres front of house and backstage areas were refurbished as part of the Olympiads Stratford Cultural Quarter project. In 1990, TRSE scored a hit with the premiere of Five Guys Named Moe. The show has produced all over the word, including Broadway. In 2004, TRSE made history by having the first British Black musical, The Big Life, transfer to Londons West End, where it played at the Apollo Theatre. In 2005, the theatre produced a version of the cult Jamaican film The Harder They Come – famous for its reggae soundtrack
12.
Harold Pinter Theatre
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The Harold Pinter Theatre, formerly the Comedy Theatre until 2011, is a West End theatre, and opened on Panton Street in the City of Westminster, on 15 October 1881, as the Royal Comedy Theatre. It was designed by Thomas Verity and built in just six months in painted stone, by 1884 it was known as just the Comedy Theatre. In the mid-1950s the theatre underwent major reconstruction and re-opened in December 1955, in 1883, the successful operetta Falka had its London première at the theatre, and in 1885, Erminie did the same. The theatres reputation grew through the First World War when Charles Blake Cochran, famous actors who appeared here include Henry Daniell who played John Carlton in Secrets in September 1929. The theatre was notable for the role it played in overturning stage censorship by establishing the New Watergate Club in 1956, the Theatres Act 1843 was still in force and required scripts to be submitted for approval by the Lord Chamberlains Office. Formation of the club allowed plays that had been banned due to language or subject matter to be performed under club conditions. Plays produced in this way included the UK premières of Arthur Millers A View from the Bridge, Robert Andersons Tea and Sympathy, the theatre was Grade II listed by English Heritage in June 1972. On 7 September 2011 it was announced that the theatres owner, howard Panter, Joint Chief Executive and Creative Director of ATG, told the BBC, The work of Pinter has become an integral part of the history of the Comedy Theatre
13.
Patrick McGoohan
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Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born Irish actor, writer and director who was brought up in Ireland and England. He began his career in Great Britain in the 1950s, and his career defining roles were in the British 1960s television series Danger Man, and the surreal psychological drama The Prisoner, which he co-created. McGoohan was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, the son of Rose and Thomas McGoohan and he was brought up as a Roman Catholic. Shortly after he was born, McGoohans parents moved back to Mullaghmore, County Leitrim, Ireland, McGoohan attended St Vincents School and De La Salle College in Sheffield. During World War II, he was evacuated to Loughborough, Leicestershire, there he attended Ratcliffe College, where he excelled in mathematics and boxing. When one of the actors became ill, McGoohan was substituted for him, in 1955, McGoohan starred in a West End production of a play called Serious Charge in the role of a priest accused of being homosexual. Orson Welles was so impressed by McGoohans stage presence that he cast him as Starbuck in his York theatre production of Moby Dick—Rehearsed. Welles said in 1969 that he believed McGoohan would now be, I think and he was tremendous as Starbuck. and with all the required attributes, looks, intensity, unquestionable acting ability and a twinkle in his eye. His first film appearance was a role in The Dam Busters. He delivered the line – Sorry, old boy, its secret – you cant go in, which was cut from some prints of the movie. While working as a stand-in during screen tests, McGoohan was signed to a contract with the Rank Organisation, after a few films and some clashes with the management, the contract was dissolved. Free of the contract, he did some TV work, winning a BAFTA in 1960 and his favourite part for the stage was the lead in Ibsens Brand, for which he received an award. It appeared in a BBC television production in August 1959, soon, production executive Lew Grade approached McGoohan about a TV series in which he would play a spy named John Drake. The series debuted in 1960 as Danger Man, a half-hour programme geared toward an American audience and it did fairly well, but not as well as hoped. Production lasted only one year and 39 episodes, McGoohan was one of several actors considered for the role of James Bond in Dr. No. While McGoohan, a Catholic, turned down the role on moral grounds and he was later considered for the same role in Live and Let Die, but turned it down again. Before that happened, McGoohan spent some time working for Disney on The Three Lives of Thomasina, after he had also turned down the role of Simon Templar in The Saint, Lew Grade asked him if he would like to give John Drake another try. This time, McGoohan had even more say about the series, Danger Man was resurrected in 1964 as a one-hour programme
14.
Music of Ireland
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Irish Music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland. The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music and it has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st century, despite globalising cultural forces. It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll, punk and rock, some of these fusion artists have attained mainstream success, at home and abroad. It is still a vibrant genre with many composers and ensembles writing and performing art music in the classical tradition. On a smaller scale, Ireland has also produced many musicians of note. 1011, Connmhach Ua Tomhrair, priest and chief singer of Cluain-mic-Nois,1168, Amhlaeibh Mac Innaighneorach, chief ollamh of Ireland in harp-playing, died. 1269, Aed Ó Finn, master of music and minstrelsy,1329, Maol Ruanaidh Cam Ó Cearbhaill, tiompanist, murdered during the Braganstown Massacre in County Louth. 1330, Mael Sechlainn Mac Carmaic, an entertainer, died. 1343, Donnchad Clereach Ó Maol Braonáin, a canon of Elphin, was killed by an arrow. 1357, Donn Shléibhe Mac Cerbaill, an accomplished musician,1360, Gilla na Naem Ó Conmaigh, music ollamh of Thomond. Magraith Ó Fionnachta, Chief Musician and Tiompanist to the Síol Muireadaigh,1364, Bran Ó Brain, a skilful tympanist. 1369, John Mac Egan, and Gilbert Ó Bardan, two accomplished young harpers of Conmaicne, died,1469, Ruaidrí mac Donnchad Ó Dálaigh, the most musical-handed harpist in all Ireland. 1490, Diarmait MacCairbre, harper, was executed,1553, Tadhg, son of Ruaidhri Ó Comhdhain, i. e. the ollamh of Éire and Alba in music, died. 1561, Naisse mac Cithruadh, drowned on Lough Gill, daighre Ó Duibhgeannáin, a most affable, musical man, died. Early Irish poetry and song has been translated into modern Irish and English by notable Irish poets, song collectors and musicians. The 6th century hymn Rop tú mo baile by Dallán Forgaill for example, was published in 1905 in English by Mary Elizabeth Byrne, the Blackbird of Belfast Lough has been notably translated by poets such as Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson and Frank OConnor. Some musicians were acclaimed in places beyond Ireland, cú Chuimne lived much of his adult life in Gaelic Scotland, and composed at least one hymn. Foillan, who was alive in the century, travelled through much of Britain and France, around 653 at the request of St. Gertrude of Brabant
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