On Baile's Strand - Abbey Theatre 100th Anniversary
Written by W. B. Yeats
Directed by Geoffrey O'Keeffe
Performed in Abbey Theatre, Monday 27 December 2004
On Baile's Strand is one of the most dramatic of all Yeats' plays. King Conchubar (pronounced Chru-hoor), feels undermined by Cuchulain's bravery and unruly temper, so he makes him swear an oath of obedience. A host of human and other world emotions and spiritual forces come into play as a result and in the end, Cuchulain is forced to fight and kill his own son - the son of Aoife.
The first performance was in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in 1904. The work is written in blank verse, prose and song.
The play was one of four selected for the Abbey Theatre's 100th Anniversary celebrations organised by the National Theatre. Artistic Director, Ben Barnes, nominated the amateur sector to re-enact the four plays that were first performed on the Abbey stage on the opening night, Tuesday 27 December 1904. The four plays were:
- 'On Baile's Strand' presented by Balally Players, Dundrum, Dublin
- 'Spreading the News' presented by St Patrick's Dramatic Society, Dalkey
- 'Kathleen Ni Houlihan' presented by Ennis Players, Co Clare
- 'In the Shadow of the Glen' presented by Newpoint Players, Newry, Co Down
Lisa Walsh, Hilary Madigan, Claire Reilly (left) - Ronnie Harrison, Sean Murphy (right) - Pictures taken on the Abbey stage and reproduced in the Abbey / Drama League of Ireland (DLI) programme
Programme for the first production of the play by the Abbey Theatre in 1904
On Baile’s Strand was one of the double bill of plays that opened the Abbey Theatre on 27 December 1904 and ran until 3 January 1905.
It received widespread critical acclaim and was a popular play, frequently revived in the early years of the theatre.
The play was revised in 1906. On Baile’s Strand is based on the Táin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), the great mythic tale of Cuchulain, which tells the moving story of Cuchulain’s fight with his son.
Geoffrey O'Keeffe, Director
Geoffrey O'Keeffe, Director - biographical note in the programme
Geoffrey is an accomplished actor and director with Balally Players. He brings his expertise as an Arts Educator and Fine Artist to all his productions, which contain highly visual theatre styles. His direction debut was as assistant to the director on Women In The Assembly" for the company which was runner up at The All Ireland One Act Drama Finals. His recent production of "La Corbiere" brought Balally to their fifth All Ireland One Act Finals. As an actor Geoffrey has appeared in 'The Hunger March' (Father), 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' (Oberon) 'Much Ado About Nothing' (Dogberry).
| Cuchullain Conchubar A Fool A Blindman A Young Man Kings Women |
Ronnie Harrison Hugo Malone Dave Walsh Sean Murphy Gary Murphy John Canning Jim Carroll Oran O'Rua Declan Brennan Ross Styles Claire Reilly Lisa Walsh Hilary Madigan |
| Director Lighting Set Design Soundscape & Technician Costume Stage Manager A. S. M. Make Up Set / Prop Construction Stage Crew For the Abbey |
Geoffrey O'Keeffe Paul Macken Gerard Bourke Gerry Doyle Dympna Murray Jean Monahan Doris Cullen Teresa Dempsey Brian Dempsey Patrick Hand Martin Drury |
Picture Gallery
Photographs from productions are stored on the SmugMug.com site. The Balally Players SmugMug account allows for the viewing and downloading of images at various sizes if high resolution pictures have been uploaded. The slideshow below can be run and stopped by clicking on the play (>) and pause (¦¦) icons. You can move forward and back by clicking on the right or left of the image. To go to the gallery of these images stored in the Balally Players pages of the SmugMug site, where you can see and download larger copies of the images, visit www.balally.smugmug.com to see all of the available galleries of images.
Message from President Mary McAleese
As patron of the Drama League of Ireland I am delighted to send warm greetings to everyone who participated in the celebration of the centenary of The Abbey Theatre.
Here in Ireland, we are truly fortunate to have such a rich tradition of amateur drama - a tradition that I am delighted to say, has gone from strength to strength over the years. It forms a very distinct part of our culture and has been important stepping stone for many of our world renowned playwrights and actors.
I applaud the cast and crew of St. Patrick's Dramatic Society Dalkey, Balally Players, Ennis Players and Newpoint Players in re-imagining the first four plays ever staged at The Abbey Theatre and wish them every success on this special centenary birthday.
Go n-eiri go geal libh,
Mary McAleese
President Ireland
