Abbey Theatre - Amharclann na Mainistreach

Lennox Robinson (1886-1958)

Lennox Robinson was born in Douglas, Co Cork in 1886. He was a dramatist, poet, theatre producer and director. His first play, The Cross Roads was performed in the Abbey Theatre in 1909. He became Manager and Director of the theatre towards the end of that year, following the death of J M Synge. He resigned in 1914 but returned to the Abbey Theatre in 1918 as manager and producer, and was appointed to the board of the theatre in 1923. He spent many years as director of the Abbey School of Acting.

He continued to write many plays throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. During this period he wrote The Big House (1926), The Far Off Hills (1928) and Drama at Inish (1933), which, when it transferred to Broadway, was called Is Life Worth Living? He edited Lady Gregory’s Journals (1946) and The Oxford Book of Irish Verse with Donagh McDonagh (1958). In 1951 Lennox Robinson published Ireland’s Abbey Theatre, the first full-length history of the company. He remained on the Abbey board until his death in 1958.

Lennox Robinson Bursary Award
In his will Lennox Robinson bequeathed his estate to his wife and determined that on her death the copyright would pass to the National Theatre Society Limited, now the Abbey Theatre. His wish was that the copyrights assigned to the Abbey would be held as a trust fund to be called The Lennox Robinson Trust. The Trust was to be used “in aid of the following persons: Playwrights, Players, Producers, Stage Designers and Stage Musicians, Any Other Servant of the Theatre.” Since 1977 The Abbey Theatre has administered this fund by making an annual award to theatre practitioners. Past recipients include, Brien Vahey, Frank Flood, Blaithin Sheerin, Bronwen Casson, Dave Nolan, Dermot Bolger, Alan Gilsenan and Conall Morrison.

The recipient in 2009 is Melanie Clarke Pullen, who is undertaking a research project into professional Irish Language theatre, its current state and its viability for the future.