Denis Johnston
Set in a cafe in Dublin during Easter Week of 1916.
Johnston wrote this play about the Rising of 1916 as an alternative view to O'Casey's pacifism in The Plough and the Stars - hence DJ's parodic title. It takes place in a cafe overlooking O'Connell Street where the rebels seize the General Post Office. An Irish officer with the British troops sent to suppress the rebellion is confronted by one of the rebel leaders, modeled on Patrick Pearse. Together they spar over the destiny of Ireland and the British Empire, and the clash of ideals that lay at the heart of the conflict. A young rebel and the cafe waitress present very different views of the populace towards the rebellion. Another character, a doctor, who is present by chance and serves as an observer to the action is modeled on Oliver St John Gogarty.
Drámaí Ginearálta
Dráma Fada
9
2
11
14 March 1958
Premiered at the Poets' Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Subsequently produced in the Queens Theatre, Dublin by the Abbey Theatre on 19th May 1958.
Denis Johnston : Selected Plays
1983
Catholic University of America Press
USA
0813205778
All Territories
All Rights
Micheal Johnston
Shandon20 Burdett Avenue, SandycoveCo. DublinRepublic of Ireland
The information for this entry was taken from the published playscript and other published material.