J. M. Synge on the Irish Dramatic Movement: an Unpublished Article

J.M. SyngeontheIrishDramaticMovement: an Unpublished Article ANN SADDLEMYER During the last week of April, 1906, the Irish National Theatre Society visited the north of England for the first time, performing in the Midland Theatre, Manchester, on April 23 and 24 before proceeding to Liverpool and Leeds. As the only Director based in Dublin, Synge had been taking increasing responsibility for Abbey Theatre business, and he arranged to accompany the players on tour. He appears to have written the following articleI while on the road or immediately after his return to Dublin, intending it for the Manchester Guardian. During the preceding year he had published two travel essays for the Guardian, and a series of twelve commissioned articles, illustrated by Jack B. Yeats, describing the congested districts of the west of Ireland. However, "The Dramatic Movement in Ireland" was apparently never published. Synge may well have had a hand in the writing of a more extensive illustrated souvenir programme describing the history of the movement and its major dramatists which was issued in May, however, when the company toured once again, with Synge in attendance, this time to Cardiff, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Hull under the management of Alfred Wareing.2 Although he frequently wrote articles, "paragraphs," and book reviews for the Manchester Guardian and elsewhere, this manuscript is a rare example of Synge's public assessment ofthe movement to which he contributed. An article published in L'Europeen, May 31 1902, entitled "Le Mouvement Intellectuel Irlandais," had included brief summaries of Yeats's Countess Cathleen and Edward Martyn's The Heather Field and a moving testimonial to the influence of the Gaelic League on the occasion of the first production of Douglas Hyde's play in Irish, The Twisting ofthe Rope: "On venait de sentir flotter un instant dans la salle I'arne d'un peuple."3 The historical facts Synge recounted then and here are familiar, including the anecdote about the "drunken wanderer" (James Joyce) asleep in the Camden Hall passage. But apart from brief comments in letters, this is the only indication we have of his commitment to what became known as Yeats's "Samhain principles," his response to the early productions of the Irish Literary Theatre, and his personal judgment of the landmarks and ideals of the early years of the Abbey Theatre. Synge: An Unpublished Article 277 THE DRAMA TIC MOVEMENT IN IRELAND by J.M. Synge The Irish plays which were produced in Manchester the other day are the result of a dramatic movement which has been going on in Ireland for some years. In 1899, Mr. W.B. Yeats, Mr. Edward Martyn, Mr. George Moore, Lady Gregory and some others founded the Irish Literary Theatre, and for the next three years, Irish plays were performed for one week annually in Dublin. The first performances took place in May 1899, when two remarkable plays were produced, The Heather Field by Mr. Edward Martyn and The Countess Cathleen by Mr. W.B. Yeats. They were played by English actors in a concert hall fitted up for the occasion, and The Countess Cathleen, a poetical and delicate play, suffered a good deal from bad scenery and a not very satisfactory delivery of the verse. One part however - that of the poet, Aleel- played by Miss Florence Farr was most musically spoken. The other play which had to do with modern life in Ireland was more easy to perform and was in every sense a success. The following year three plays were given, The Bending ofthe Bough by Mr. George Moore; Maeve by Mr. Edward Martyn; and The Last Feast of the Fianna by Miss Milligan. The Bending ofthe Bough had a sort of actuality which gave it a hold upon the audience; but the other two plays were not of much importance. Finally in the autumn of 1901, The Irish Literary Theatre wound up its career by giving two plays in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, Diarmuid and Grania, written by Mr. W.B. Yeats and Mr. George Moore in collaboration, and a small one-act comedy in Gaelic written by Dr. Douglas Hyde. The first play was acted by Mr. Benson's company and the second...