Seven Short Plays By Lady Gregory

by Lady Gregory

Seven first produced at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; 1904-1908.

Genres: Plays, Ireland, Drama

204 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1976

About the author

Irish playwright Lady Isabella Augusta Persse Gregory wrote a number of short plays, including Spreading the News (1904) for the Abbey theater, which she founded and directed from 1904 to 1928.

This Irish dramatist and folklorist with William Butler Yeats and other persons co-founded the Irish literary theatre and wrote numerous short works for both companies. Lady Gregory produced a number of books retelling stories taken from Irish mythology.

Reviews

[Stacia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the included plays are short farces that kind-of reminded me of the "Who's on first" routine -- miscommunications, misunderstandings, wordplay, games of telephone, etc. The last two took a more serious tone (one a religious allegory & one about death). Read for "Read Ireland" month (March).

[Charles Sheard · Rating 4 out of 5]

For decades I have had a soft spot for "The Rising of the Moon", and I still love it. For me it remains the star of this collection, though "The Gaol Gate" is also moving and tragic. The surprise for me was how much I enjoyed her farces, which as a genre do not usually grab me. "The Workhouse Ward" is my favorite, with two cantankerous old men who cannot stop arguing with one another, and wouldn't have it any other way. Also very good is "Spreading the News", where town gossip and lies readily believed take on lives as big as the characters. "The Jackdaw" and "Hyacinth Halvey" are similar, relying on dramatic irony, though to me not quite as successful. "The Travelling Man" is a far too preachy and obvious for my taste.

Nearly all of these one-act plays are spare in setting and number of actors, and it would be great to see some simple, raw new productions of them. Don't let them be forgotten.

[Althea]

very funny