Abbey Theatre - Amharclann na Mainistreach

In 1911, the Abbey Theatre first toured to America with a repertoire of Irish plays including J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World and W.B.Yeats’ Kathleen Ni Houlihan, as well as four plays by Lady Gregory. Beginning in Boston’s Plymouth Theatre, this tour went to thirty venues nationwide and brought twenty plays to American audiences. Now, as the Abbey celebrates 100 years of touring in America, it is fitting that it returns to Boston with Mark O’Rowe’s Terminus.

Following the riots which accompanied the production in Dublin, they fully anticipated some controversy around The Playboy of the Western World. They were right to do so. As the tour progressed, resistance to the play grew amongst Irish American groups in particular. These groups objected to the depiction of Ireland which smashed their dreams of quaint white washed cottages and pleasant rural life. They were faced with a new realism that was harsh and even vulgar. They also objected to the language of the play which they found offensive.

Opposition to the play built up to the extent that when the production reached New York potatoes were thrown at the actors on stage and riots ensued. On the second night of their run Lady Gregory made the tactical move of inviting former President Theodore Roosevelt to the performance. He gave the play a favorable review and peace was restored. However, when the company arrived in Philadelphia they were arrested for putting on an immoral play. The case was eventually thrown out but the attendant publicity lengthened the tour and guaranteed full houses for the duration.

Extract from Lady Greory’s Our Irish Theatre, 1914: her diary extracts concerning their reception in Boston, the first engagement of the 1911 tour: ‘… We said farewell to Boston October 30th. Yet it was not quite farewell, for on our last day in America – March 5th – we stopped there on the way from Chicago to New York and gave a “flying matinée”; and I brought home the impression of that kind, crowded audience, and the knowledge that having come among strangers, we left real friends.’