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The Briery Gap

Forbhreathnú

  • Drámadóir

    T.C. Murray 

  • Nótaí

    Murray wrote 'The Briery Gap' in 1915. He found this play very troubling. He worried about public opinion given the subject matter. In a second printing in 1926, Joan does not commit suicide; but merely slumps on a rock near the river. The play was given several public readings before the 1948 Abbey production; an experimental production in the Peacock in 1973, directed by Jim Sheridan, was framed in the context of contemporary debates about the availability of contraception and the plight of unmarried mothers in Ireland.

  • Achoimre

    The play finds young Joan pregnant out of wedlock by Morgan. They have been denounced from the pulpit by Father Coyne that morning. Joan fears that it is “the talk o’ the world by now.” She implores Morgan to marry her immediately. Morgan, being an orphan, is waiting for an uncle to endow him with property rights. Father Coyne meets with Joan’s parents and Morgan’s uncle, and tells the young couple they must marry. Morgan’s priorities are a secure future and he abandons Joan to emigrate. With no hope left for a respectable life, Joan drowns herself in the nearby river.

  • Cinéal Dráma

    Drámaí Ginearálta

    Líon na Míreanna

    Aon-ghníomh

  • Méid na Fóirne ( Fireann)

    2

  • Méid na Fóirne (Baineann)

    1

Céad Léiriú

Foireann An Chéad Léirithe  
Joan Angela Newman
Father Coyne Philip O'Flynn
Morgan Patrick Nolan
Foireann Léirithe  
Tomás Mac Anna
Tomás Mac Anna

Scripteanna Foilsithe

Eolas Faoi Chearta

  • Críoch

    All Territories

  • Cinéal Cearta

    All Rights

  • Teagmháil

    Colin Smythe Ltd.

  • Seoladh

    P. O. Box 6, Gerrards Cross
    Buckinghamshire
    SL9 8XA
    England

  • Guthán

    +44 (0) 1753 886000

  • Ríomhphost

    cs@colinsmythe.co.uk

Foinse Eolais

The information for this entry was taken from the original production programme and Ireland's Abbey Theatre: A History 1899-1951 by Lennox Robinson. The synopsis and additional notes were provided by Martin Munroe.