Spreading the News

by Lady Gregory

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Genres: Plays, Irish Literature, Classics, Drama, Fiction, Theatre, School

34 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 1997

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

[Nada Khaled · Rating 2 out of 5]

إن الإشاعات قادرة على الانتشار في أرجاء البلدة أسرع من انتشار السُم في الجسد..
مُسببة سوء فهم بين الأطراف..
دون علم منهم بما الذي يجري..

لم أجد فيها شيء جديد على الإطلاق ..

[Niamh Lusson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Brady McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is it not clocking to you that I’m spreading the news?

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading very old plays that are still completely relevant. I didn't know what to expect but this was funny, and clever. This is completely realistic coming from a small town, things change so quickly, just for the sake of the story. Loved it.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a gem! I picked up this play on a whim and was glad I did. Lady Gregory is beautifully witty, and her sense of comedic timing is absolutely spot on.

[Phillip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a comedy, but it's interestingly enough not resolved, which means that the play doesn't properly fulfill the generic requirements of comedy. The humor is driven partly by a satire of English prejudices and fastidiousness, and partly by a satire of gossip. When a woman at the market mishears a report that one man has gone to return a hayfork to another man, the story grows that the first man has murdered the second. As the story spreads and undergoes distortions throughout the town, the new English magistrate arrives back at the market. The play had opened with the magistrate showing up to the market and assuming that everything around him reflected criminal activity, so when he hears the rumor of a murder he goes and makes an arrest. And when the man who has supposedly been murdered shows up alive and well, the magistrate arrests him for pretending to be the man who was murdered--even though he is the man who was reported murdered, and the murder never took place.
https://youtu.be/2opzUcXZaHg

[Rosaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

هذه المسرحية لا تحتوي على حوار ممتاز لكن ليدي غريغوري قامت بعمل جيد جدًا في إنشاء لعبة كوميدية مبنية على سوء فهم.

[someone · Rating 4 out of 5]

خلق كوميدي رائع تفصيلا لعبارة جوستاف لوبون "ان للاشاعات قدرة علي الانتشار اكبر بكثير من الحقيقية"

[Marcy O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

im so tim casey, just here for the gossip

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a small Irish town, on the day the gung-ho new Magistrate arrives, Bartley Fallon sees that Jack Smith has left his ax at Mrs. Tarpey's booth. He runs after Jack to return it. Between the village gossiping and Mrs. Tarpey's deafness, everyone believes that Bartley Fallon has killed Jack Smith with an ax and plans to run away to America with his wife. The new magistrate questions Jack in a scene where everyone grows progressively more confused until the truth comes out, that Jack is alive, Mr. Fallon is not having an affair, and didn't kill anyone.
This play doesn't have excellent dialogue like Wilde or Shaw, but Lady Gregory did a very good job of creating a comedic play based on a misunderstanding.

[Nada Mustafa · Rating 5 out of 5]

من أمتع النهايات التي قرأتها لمسرحية كوميدية 😂

[Sandy Iwo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soyons prudents de donner et de recevoir des infos.

[Fhar Lyeine]

i wanna read this. my teacher told me to make a synopsis of this.