Abbey Theatre: Difference between revisions

{{short description|National Theatre of Ireland, Dublin, origins tied to the Irish Literary Revival}}

The '''Abbey Theatre''' ({{lang-langx|ga|Amharclann na Mainistreach}}), also known as the '''National Theatre of Ireland''' ({{lang-langx|ga|Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann}}), in [[Dublin, Ireland]], is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after 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; from 1925 onwards it received an annual subsidy from the [[Irish Free State]]. Since July 1966, the Abbey has been located at 26 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1.

In its early years, the theatre was closely associated with the writers of the [[Irish Literary Revival]], many of whom were involved in its founding and most of whom had plays staged there. The Abbey served as a nursery for many of leading [[Irish theatre|Irish playwrights]], including [[William Butler Yeats]], [[Augusta, Lady Gregory|Lady Gregory]], [[Seán O'Casey]] and [[John Millington Synge]], as well as leading actors. In addition, through its extensive programme of touring abroad and its high visibility to foreign, particularly American, audiences, it has become an important part of the Irish cultural brand.

The Abbey arose from three distinct bases. The first was the seminal [[Irish Literary Theatre]]. Founded by Lady Gregory, [[Edward Martyn]] and W. B. Yeats<ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abbey Theatre Austin|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A-Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/12 12]|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/12}}</ref> in 1899—with assistance from [[George Moore (novelist)|George Moore]]—it presented plays in the [[Great Brunswick Street|Antient Concert Rooms]]<!--NB this is the correct spelling--> and the [[Gaiety Theatre, Dublin|Gaiety Theatre]], which brought critical approval but limited public interest.<ref>Foster (2003), pp.&nbsp;486, 662.</ref> Lady Gregory envisioned a society promoting "ancient idealism" dedicated to crafting works of Irish theatre pairing Irish culture with European theatrical methods.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ireland's National Theatre's : Political performance and the Origins of the Irish Dramatic Movement|last=Trotter|first=Mary|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=2001|location=Syracuse, N.Y}}</ref><!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:Kathleen Ni Houlihan Abbey Theatre, 1916.jpg|left|thumb|140px|Kathleen Ni Houlihan Abbey Theatre, 1816 {{Deletable image-caption|date=March 2012}}]] -->

The second base involved the work of two Dublin directors, [[William Fay|William]] and [[Frank Fay (Irish actor)|Frank]] Fay.<ref>Kavanagh, p.&nbsp;30.</ref> 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. After William returned to Dublin, the Fay brothers staged productions in halls around the city and eventually formed [[W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company]], focused on the development of Irish acting talent. In April 1902, the Fays gave three performances of [[George William Russell|Æ's]]<!--Æ was his pseudonym--> play ''Deirdre'' and Yeats' ''Cathleen Ní Houlihan'' in St Theresa's 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 great success, thanks in part to the beauty and force of [[Maud Gonne]], who played the lead in Yeats' play. The company continued at the Antient Concert Rooms,<!--NB this is the correct spelling--> producing works by [[James Cousins|Seumas O'Cuisin]], [[Frederick Ryan|Fred Ryan]] and Yeats.

The third base was the financial support and experience of [[Annie Horniman]],<ref name=EB/> a middle-class Englishwoman with previous experience ofin theatre production, having been involved in the presentation of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Arms and the Man]]'' in London in 1894. An acquaintance of Yeats from London circles, including the Order of the Golden Dawn, she came to Dublin in 1903 to act as Yeats' unpaid secretary and to make costumes for a production of his play ''The King's Threshold''. 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."<ref>Frazier, Adrian. ''Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman, and the Struggle for the Abbey Theater'', Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990. p.&nbsp;172</ref>

The founding of the Theatre is also connected with a broader wave of change found in European drama at the end of the nineteenth century. The founding of Théâtre Libre in Paris in 1887 and the work of the Moscow Art Theatre in 1895 represented a challenge to a "stale metropolitanism".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Film: "The Abbey Theatre: the First 100 years"|last=Lynch|first=John|date=2004|work=RTÉ}}</ref> This movement echoes Lady Gregory's commitment and determination to make the Abbey Theatre a theatre for the people.<ref name=":0Gregory-1972" />

The press was impressed with the building and the ''Cork Constitution'' wrote that "the theatre has neither orchestra nor bar, and the principal entrance is through a building which was formerly the Dublin morgue."<ref name=":1Hunt-1979">{{Cite book|title=The Abbey: Ireland's National Theatre 1904-1979.|last=Hunt|first=Hugh|publisher=New York : Columbia Press|year=1979}}</ref> Theatregoers were surprised and thought it to be scandalous that part of the theatre used to be a morgue. The orchestra was established under the guidance of John F Larchet.<ref name=":1Hunt-1979" />

Gregory helped create the Irish Literary Theatre, which would later form one base for the INTS, with W.B. Yeats and Edward Martyn. She met Yeats in 1898,<ref name=":2Gegory-1914">{{Cite book|title=Our National Theatre: a chapter of autobiography|last=Gegory|first=Isabella|year=1914|location=Ireland|pages=1–10}}</ref> and he admitted to her that it was a dream of his to create a theatre in which new ambitious Irish plays could be performed. The idea seemed more and more possible to achieve as they kept talking and by the end of their first meeting they had a plan for how to make a "national theatre" a reality. In the first year of the theatre, Lady Gregory was in charge of finding money and support from patrons, and she even donated some of her own money.<ref name=":2Gegory-1914" /> She was critical in making the ILT and the INTS function financially before Annie Horniman's support.

Annie Horniman, a British theatre enthusiast and manager, was essential in the creation of the Abbey TheaterTheatre, as she was its first significant patron and the woman who offered the edifice in which it would later be established. She was first brought in by Yeats as a costume designer for his play ''The King's Threshold'', as she greatly loved his art and it was also a way for him to get closer to her.<ref name="int 115">{{Cite book|title=Ireland's National Theaters: Political Performance and the Origins of the Irish Dramatic Movement|pages=115}}</ref> Yeats's long relationship with her and her love for theatre made her more likely to accept to become a permanent patron and, by 1901, her money was secured. Her support was so important that he already had a role for her in the Abbey Theatre before it was even created.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Behind the Scenes: Yeats, Horniman and the Struggle for the Abbey Theatre|pages=46–49}}</ref> However, by the time the ITL became the INTS, Yeats had to assure her that her money would not be used to fund a Nationalist rebellion.

In the early years, there were challenges in finding plays by Irish playwrights, so the founders established guidelines for playwrights submitting plays and wrote some plays themselves. The emergence of the theatre, the challenge of finding plays by Irish playwrights, the protests surrounding ''Playboy of the Western World'', and the work of the Irish Theatre were key developments during this time.<ref name=":0Gregory-1972">{{Cite book|title=Our Irish Theatre: A Chapter of Autobiography|last=Gregory|first=Lady|publisher=Colin Smythe|year=1972|edition=3rd|location=Buckinghamshire}}</ref> As one of the first directors of the new Abbey Theatre, Lady Gregory exchanged correspondence with her counterparts W.B Yeats and JM Synge which chronicled the further development of the new Abbey Theatre including themes such as the critical reception of plays, the challenge of balancing state funding and artistic liberty, and the contributions of actors and others supporting the theatre. The new Abbey Theatre found great popular success, and large crowds attended many of its productions. The Abbey was fortunate in having Synge as a key member, as he was then considered one of the foremost English-language dramatists. The theatre staged many plays by eminent or soon-to-be eminent authors, including Yeats, Lady Gregory, Moore, Martyn, [[Padraic Colum]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[Oliver St John Gogarty]], [[F. R. Higgins]], [[Thomas MacDonagh]], [[Lord Dunsany]], [[T. C. Murray]], [[James Cousins]] and [[Lennox Robinson]]. Many of these authors served on the board, and it was during this time that the Abbey gained its reputation as a writers' theatre.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}

The [[Abbey School of Acting]] was set up thatin year1911. The Abbey School of Ballet was established in 1927 by [[Ninette de Valois]] — who had provided choreography for a number of Yeats' plays – and ran until 1933.<ref>Sorley Walker, Kathrine. "The Festival and the Abbey: Ninette de Valois' Early Choreography, 1925–1934, Part One". ''Dance Chronicle'', Volume&nbsp;7, No.&nbsp;4, 1984–85. pp.&nbsp;379–412.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pinciss|first=G.M.|date=December 1969|title=A Dancer for Mr. Yeats|journal=Educational Theatre Journal|volume=21|issue=4|pages=386–391|jstor=3205567|doi=10.2307/3205567}}</ref>

Around this time the company acquired additional space, allowing them to create a small experimental theatre, the ''Peacock'', inon the ground floor of the main theatre. In 1928, [[Hilton Edwards]], [[Micheál MacLiammoir]], cabaret impresario [[Daisy Bannard Cogley]] and Gearóid Ó Lochlainn launched the [[Gate Theatre|Gate Theatre Studio]], leasing the Peacock from 14 October<ref name="EHH_mem_1989_Finegan">{{cite news |last1=Finegan |first1=John |title=Toto deserves remembrance (astonishing woman of Dublin theatre) |work=The Evening Herald |date=12 August 1989 |location=Dublin, Ireland |page=14}}</ref> and using the venue to stage works by European and American dramatists.<ref>Welsh (1999), p.&nbsp;108.</ref><ref name="Reynolds">{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=Paige |editor1-last=Howes |editor1-first=Marjorie Elizabeth |title=Irish Literature in Transition, 1880–1940: Volume 4 |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1108570794 |chapter=Theatrical Ireland: New Routes from the Abbey Theatre to the Gate Theatre}}</ref><ref name="Sisson">{{Cite book|last=Sisson|first=Elaine|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1050455337|title=The Gate Theatre, Dublin: inspiration and craft|date=2018|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-1-78874-624-3|editor1=David Clare|editor2=Des Lally|editor3=Patrick Lonergan|location=Oxford|pages=11–27|language=en|chapter=Experiment and the Free State: Mrs Cogley's Cabaret and the Founding of the Gate Theatre|oclc=1050455337}}</ref>

During the 1940s and 1950s, there was a steady decline in the number of new productions. There were 104 new plays produced from 1930 to 1940, whereas this number dropped to 62 for 1940–1950.<ref name=":1Hunt-1979" /> Thereafter, there was another decrease. However, the theatre was undeterred by the dwindling amount of productions of original plays and had their audience numbers increase. The attitude of the general public had vastly changed towards the Abbey since the beginning of the century.<ref name=":1Hunt-1979" /> It was no longer reserved as a theatre for the rich and for a small clique of intellectuals, it had become a theatre for the people. The plays of O'Casey and Lennox Robinson that were being produced by theatre at the time most likely aided in this shift. Larger audiences also brought a change in the Abbey's repertory policy. Rather than the theatre's old system of limiting the initial run of a new play to a week, no matter how popular the play became, the Abbey ran their new plays until their audience was exhausted. This change in policy which was brought about partly because of the shortage of new plays was to have serious consequences in future years when the Abbey found its stock of popular revivals exhausted.<ref name=":1Hunt-1979" />

During the 1940s and 1950s, the staple fare at the Abbey was a comic farce set in the idealised peasant world of [[Éamon de Valera]]. If such a world had ever existed, it was no longer considered relevant by most Irish citizens, and as a result, audience numbers continued to decline. This drift might have been more dramatic but popular actors, including [[F. J. McCormick]], and dramatists, including [[George Shiels]], could still draw a crowd.<ref>{{cite book | title=Experimental Irish Theatre: After W B Yeats | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | author=Walsh, Ian | pages=80–82}}</ref> [[Austin Clarke (poet)|Austin Clarke]] staged events for his Dublin Verse Speaking Society—later the [[Lyric Theatre, Dublin|Lyric Theatre]]—at the Peacock from 1941 to 1944 and the Abbey from 1944 to 1951.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} Long-time servant [[Nellie Bushell]] left service as an usher in 1948.

On 17 July 1951, a fire damaged the Abbey Theatre, with only the Peacock remaining intact.<ref>Haggerty, Bridget. "[http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ALandmks/AbbeyTheatre.html Irish Landmarks: The Abbey Theatre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208174803/http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ALandmks/AbbeyTheatre.html |date=8 February 2008 }}". irishcultureandcustoms.com. Retrieved 21 January 2008.</ref> It is often recounted that the building was destroyed in the fire, but [[Frank McDonald (journalist)|Frank MacDonald]] contends this is an overstatement, citing the continued use of the building by the Irish Academy of Letters until its eventual demolition in 1960.<ref name=":3McDonald-1985">{{Cite book|last=McDonald|first=Frank|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60079186|title=The destruction of Dublin|date=1985|publisher=Gill and Macmillan|isbn=0-7171-1386-8|location=Dublin|pages=45–46|oclc=60079186|access-date=5 January 2021|archive-date=24 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924144503/https://www.worldcat.org/title/destruction-of-dublin/oclc/60079186|url-status=live}}</ref> The company leased the old [[Queen's Theatre, Dublin|Queen's Theatre]] in September and continued in residence there until 1966.<ref name=EB/>

The board had plans for rebuilding with a design by the Irish architect [[Michael Scott (architect)|Michael Scott]] which dated back to 1959. The magazine, the ''[[Irish Builder]],'' argued that it was favourable to refurbish the old building rather than build a new one, as "we feel the tourists who come here would prefer to see the old Abbey of Yeats and Synge, rather than the Abbey of Scott."<ref name=":3McDonald-1985" /> On 3 September 1963, the [[President of Ireland]], Éamon de Valera, laid the foundation stone for the new theatre, and the Abbey reopened on 18 July 1966.<ref>Harmon, Maurice. ''Austin Clarke 1896–1974: A Critical Introduction'', Rowman & Littlefield, July 1989. p.&nbsp;116. {{ISBN|0-389-20864-7}}</ref> The cost of the new building was £725,000, an overspend on the original estimated £235,000, and resulted in the Dáil Committee for Public Accounts calling for an investigation into the overrun.<ref name=":3McDonald-1985" />

Irish American writer and W.B Yeats scholar [[James W. Flannery]] (born 1936) wrote two books about the Abbey Theatre: ''W. B. Yeats and the Idea of a Theatre: The Early Abbey Theatre in Theory and in Practice'' (1976)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220504114549/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-research-international/issue/5AB9FC67D717F3A219EEDB64DE529207 Review of "W. B. Yeats and the Idea of a Theatre"] by [[A. Norman Jeffares]], Theatre Research International, Vol 4 #1, Oct 1978, pp. 68 - 69</ref> and ''Miss Horniman and the Abbey Theatre'' (1970).<ref>[https://www.amazon{{Cite book|title=Amazon.com/Annie-Horniman-Abbey-Theatre-theatre/dp/|isbn=0196475511/ref=sr_1_9?qid=1678812989&refinements=p_27%3AJames+W+Flannery&s=books&sr=1-9 Miss Horniman and the Abbey Theatre]}}</ref> Flannery was the Executive Director of the Yeats International Theatre Festival held at the Abbey Theatre from 1989 to 1993.

After discussions about new locations in the Docklands, on O'Connell Street and elsewhere, it was decided to redevelop the Abbey in situ. Hence, in September 2012, the Abbey Theatre purchased 15-17 Eden Quay,<ref>{{cite news|last=Crawley |first=Peter |title=Downtown Abbey |url=http://www.irishtheatremagazine.ie/News/Current/Downtown-Abbey.aspx |work=News |publisher=[[Irish Theatre Magazine]] |access-date=20 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610223838/http://www.irishtheatremagazine.ie/News/Current/Downtown-Abbey.aspx |archive-date=10 June 2015}}</ref> and in 2016, 22-23 Eden Quay. With a budget of up to 80 million euroeuros mentioned, including capital funding from the central government, the plan is to remove the existing building and build on the combined site, creating two new theatre spaces, of 700 and 250 seats, along with a restaurant, modern rehearsal spaces, and new offices. The new theatre would open onto the [[River Liffey|Liffey]] quays.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shortall |first1=Eithne |title=Curtain up on Dublin's €80m new-look Abbey Theatre in 2021 |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/curtain-up-on-dublin-s-80m-new-look-abbey-theatre-in-2021-btwqbbb2n |access-date=13 November 2018 |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113170033/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/curtain-up-on-dublin-s-80m-new-look-abbey-theatre-in-2021-btwqbbb2n |url-status=live }}</ref> As of JanuaryMarch 20202023, constructionthe hasplans for the redevelopment had not yet commencedbeen finalised and an application for planning permission had not yet been submitted.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2023/03/13/plans-for-12-storey-abbey-theatre-scaled-back-following-planning-meetings/|title=Plans for 12-storey Abbey Theatre scaled back following planning meetings|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>

In February 2021, after open competition, two new co-directors were appointed, Caitriona McLaughlin as Artistic Director and Mark O'Brien as Executive Director.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abbey Theatre announces new Artistic and Executive Directors |url=https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0223/1198845-abbey-theatre-announces-new-artistic-and-executive-directors/ |website=www.rte.ie |date=23 February 2021 |access-date=11 August 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811221148/https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0223/1198845-abbey-theatre-announces-new-artistic-and-executive-directors/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

* [http://archives.lib.siu.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=487 Abbey Theatre Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726112456/http://archives.lib.siu.edu/index.php?p=collections%2Fcontrolcard&id=487 |date=26 July 2020 }} at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Special Collections Research Center

* [https://wwwartsandculture.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/partner/abbey-theatre Abbey Theatre Dublin at Google Cultural Institute]