The Dublin Shakespeare Society – ‘The Shakes’
Introduction
The Dublin Shakespeare Society will celebrate its centenary in 2007. Over the years, many ‘greats’ of Irish Theatre ‘trod the boards’ with the Shakes including, Milo O’Shea, T.P. Mc Kenna, George Green, Donal McCann, Jim Norton, Betty Ann Norton, Maire O’Neill, Mike Murphy, Patrick Drury, Brenda Fricker, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Cunningham and many others who went on to make their mark in the professional theatre, or in the entertainment industry.
The Shakes has performed virtually all of the Bard’s plays over the years. In more recent times their productions have also included many of the classics of Irish and World Theatre, including plays by Friel, Tom Murphy, Stoppard, Rattigan, Eugene O’Neill, Shaw, O’Casey, Tennessee Williams, Calderon, Camus, Ibsen, Fugard and many others.
Productions in recent years have included The Merry Wives of Windsor (2003), Much Ado About Nothing(2004) and King Lear (2006), by Shakespeare; Hedda Gabler(2005) by Ibsen; The Road to Mecca (2005) by Fugard. Recent One -Act productions have included plays by O’Casey, Synge, Yeats, Lady Gregory, and the contemporary writer Patrick Power.
The Shakes also presents rehearsed play readings and occasional entertainments. In 2006 it presented two nights of readings from the works of Flann O’Brien/Myles na Gopaleen. It also presented a rehearsed reading of Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea.
For many years located in ‘The Studio’ at 50 North Great Georges Street, the Dublin Shakespeare Society is now firmly based at The Teachers’ Club (Club na Muinteori), 36 Parnell Square, where it has presented most of its major productions in recent years.
A Short History of the Dublin Shakespeare Society
The Society was founded in 1907 as a branch of the British Empire Shakespeare Society (BESS), which had been established in London in 1901. The prime movers were academics from Trinity College (Dublin University). The inaugural meeting of the Society took place on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Dublin, on 12 September 1907. The Rev. John Pentland Mahaffy, later Provost of Trinity College, presided at the meeting and was succeeded as President of the Society in 1908 by Edward Dowden, Professor of English and a Shakespearean scholar. The membership was drawn mainly from the Dublin middle, upper, and professional classes. (The membership fee of five shillings was a considerable sum at the time).
The objects of the Society, set out at its first meeting, were :-
1. To promote greater familiarity with Shakespeare’s work among all classes throughout the British Empire.
2. To help the rising generation not only to study Shakespeare’s works but to love them.
3. To form Shakespeare Clubs and Reading Societies or help those existing in London and the provinces and in the colonies.
4. To encourage the study of Shakespeare by prizes given yearly for the best reading, recitation, and actual scenes from his plays and by essays on Shakespeare by members and associates of the Society.
Initially, the activities of the Society were mainly literary and organisational. Academic treatises were delivered and the members entertained themselves with play readings from the Bard’s works. Also, distinguished actors such as Henry Irving visited the Society and delivered public readings from the works. Irving’s solo- reading of Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in May 1911 was a notable occasion. A year earlier, members of the Society accompanied members of F.R.Benson’s company in ‘Readings from Shakespeare’ at the Gaiety Theatre (February 1910).
The Society did not ‘take to the boards’ until April 1910 - in a production of Romeo and Juliet, at the Molesworth Hall. A Chronology of all the productions presented by the Society in the 100 years of its existence, which can be traced from the available records, is included on this web-site.
The main activities through the decades
The 1910s
From 1910 onwards the Society took to the boards - and to the Lawns. In the period to 1921, at least 5 productions were presented in Lord Iveagh’s Gardens, Stephen’s Green, which remains a popular recreational park for Dubliners and the occasional location of outdoor theatrical events. It is worth noting that the Society continued to be active during defining events in Irish history, such as the Easter Rising of 1916, and through the First World War.
The 1920s
Unfortunately, records of the Society’s activities in the 1920s are scarce and only two full productions are documented. It is likely that new political realities, including the arrival of Irish Independence in 1922, would have resulted in a reaction against an entity associated with the ‘British Empire’. But it should be recalled that the emphasis during the first decades of the Society’s existence was on Shakespeare’s works as literature to be read and absorbed, rather than as plays to be performed. The Annual Presidential Address focussed on scholarly topics. It was an important date in the city’s social calendar which was covered in the press.
It is known that the membership of the Society declined, due to resignations and the death of older members, from a membership of 101 in 1925, to 53 in 1933, when the Dublin branch of the BESS was dissolved on 6 July.
The 1930s
The Dublin Shakespeare Society was formally established in 1935 as the successor to the Dublin Branch of the BESS. In fact, moves were afoot from 1931 to change the title of the Society. Leading lights from the former BESS, including prominent academics from both Trinity College and University College Dublin, were again to the fore. Apart from the new name, the Society that emerged in 1935 was more in the nature of a theatrical revival with some cast changes, than a new production. The emphasis remained on literary events and the Society managed to attract impressive guest speakers. The BESS had handed on a tradition of scholarship and it would be fair to say that the overall ethos remained elitist and intellectual.
No details of full productions are available after 1931, but a notable development dates from 1937. That year the members of the Society entered into an attractive and lucrative arrangement with Radio Eireann, to broadcast scenes from Shakespeare on the national radio station, located in the GPO. First broadcast were ‘Scenes from Macbeth’ in 1937. At least 11 further broadcasts followed in the period up to 1944. These broadcasts put the Society on a sound footing and ended when a professional repertory company was established by the National broadcaster in the late 1940s.
The 1940s
One of the main restrictions on the Society in presenting full productions of Shakespeare’s plays through the 1930s and 1940s, was the lack of its own premises. In this absence, rehearsals were held in members’ homes, and other activities and meetings took place in various locations in the city.
Even so, a more regular pattern of productions is evident in the 1940s and at least 5 productions were presented at various venues around the city. It is worth noting that the Milo O’Shea, who was destined to become a celebrated theatre and film actor, played no less than three parts in the Society’s 1943 production of Julius Caesar. Wilfred Brambell, later of Steptoe and Son (TV) fame, played Autolycus in the 1940 production of The Winter’s Tale.
The 1950s
From the late 1940s the activities of the Society increasingly favoured the presentation of stage productions of the Bard’s plays. The Society in the 1950s more closely resembled the DSS of today. At least 17 productions were presented in the decade. All but two were Shakespeare plays.
This increased output was undoubtedly helped by the acquisition of the Society’s first ‘permanent’ premises in a basement at 54 Fitzwilliam Square, which it occupied from 1952 to 1968. It was the first studio theatre established by the Group. Another development came in June 1957 with a production by a long time member of the Society, Charles Horan, of Coward’s Hay Fever, in the new Studio theatre. This was the first production of a non-Shakespeare play by the Society. It would be the precedent for many other such productions over the next half-century.
The literary side was not ignored either. One issue dominated the academic side of the Society’s activities. This was the strong view held by the then President of the Society, Horace Kennedy- Skipton (an Oxford graduate), that the true author of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets was John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford. The issue was hotly debated in the Society for a decade or more after Kennedy-Skipton first raised it in a lecture to the Society in 1952. In doing so, Kennedy- Skipton was supporting the case already made in public by the Shakespearean scholar G.W. Phillips, who was a personal friend of his. It appears that the whole debate became a rather divisive issue within the Society for a long period.
The 1950s was also the decade in which many actors who went on to become major names in theatre and/or film, started their acting careers with the Society. The most obvious examples include T.P. McKenna, who appeared in the Society’s productions of ‘As You Like It’ and ‘Julius Caesar’ in 1953, before joining Anew MacMaster’s company. Jim Norton played in the production of Richard III in 1951 along with his sister Betty Ann Norton. The production of ‘the Scottish Play’ in 1952/3 saw Justice HA McCarthy in the lead role. This judicial figure was a regular cast member in the Society’s productions for many years, as was Al Byrne, brother of TV legend Gay Byrne. Gay is believed to have featured, as a teenager, in the 1953 production of Julius Caesar, with his brother Al playing Brutus,T P McKenna as Cassius and the redoubtable Justice McCarthy in the title role.
A brief dalliance with the lure of competitive glory on the All-Ireland circuit occurred in 1959 with a production of Hamlet, but it did not win the favour of the adjudicator in the finals at Athlone. Among the cast was
Mike Murphy, another major radio and TV personality who regularly acted with the Society between 1959 and 1962. There were other later forays into the world of competitive drama, for example in 1974, but this has not been a prominent feature of the Society’s activities down the years.
The 1960s
The 1960s was another good decade for the Society. The membership increased with the new emphasis on stage productions, but the records are somewhat incomplete as to the actual number of productions presented . There are records of at least 6 productions of Shakespeare plays and the Society presented an O’Casey play, The Shadow of a Gunman, for the first time, in the studio in the early 1960’s (The records don’t give a date.) It was the last production there as ‘the studio’ moved to its most enduring premises – in the basement of No. 50 North Great George’s St- in 1968. It would remain the Society’s home until 1988.
One particular production of the ‘Scottish Play’ in 1962 provides an indication of the quality of the actors working with the Society then. The production featured a young Donal McCann (in two parts), later to achieve national and international fame as an actor, Maire O’Neill (Lady Macbeth), later of the Abbey theatre, the future film director Bob Quinn (Banquo), as well as Mike Murphy (Macduff). Later that year McCann and O’Neill took the leading parts in As You Like It.
Another ‘high’ during the decade was a production of Hamlet at the newly restored Casletown House, in 1969 by the late Liam McGuinness, a long time stalwart, and later President, who first joined the Society in 1952 and remained active until the mid- 1990s. The main hallway of the House was used for the setting and the sweeping staircase was employed to provide an unusually dramatic entrance for the Ghost.
The commitment to the young generation – set out in the original objects of the Society was not forgotten. A notable development was an annual Shakespeare Festival for Schools. This commenced in the 1960s and, although it lapsed for a while, it resumed in 1977 and continued until 1987. By 1983 the competition was attracting upwards of 20 schools. The W.G . Mulvin Cup was awarded for the best production, while the Hugh Gunn memorial trophy was awarded for the best performer.
Two long-time members of the Society – Margaret Gunn ( now Margaret Healy-Doyle) and Rosemary Warner devoted considerable time and attention to organising these important annual Schools Festivals. Margaret is also an accomplished actress who played many leading roles in a long and distinguished career with the Society
The 1970s
Well established now in its studio premises in North Great Georges’ Street, the 1970s saw another surge in activity by the DSS and over 25 major productions are recorded. There was also a noticeable widening of the repertoire of the society, with productions of plays by Beckett, Pinter, Stoppard, Arrabal, Strindberg, and even Neil Simon. That is in addition to the staple works of The Bard, with a total of 13 full productions of Shakespeare plays presented.
The 1974 production of Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead featured Gabriel Byrne and Myles Dungan as the eponymous leads. Gabriel continued to star for the Society in a number of productions before setting out on the distinguished professional career that he continues to enjoy, at an international level.
Myles Dungan remained an active member of the Society well into the 1980s. He played the lead (Leontes) in the 75th anniversary production of The Winter’s Tale (see below) and contributed an invaluable service to the Society with the publication of his No Great Shakes? 1907- 1982. The work is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the first 75 years of the Society’s history.
Another feature of the 1970s was the large input from women Directors working with the Society. The late Eilis Mullen made her directorial debut in 1970 and would go on to direct a further 17 productions (at least) up to the late 1980s. She was also a distinguished President of the Society and subsequently made her mark at national level in the world of youth theatre. Her love of Joyce’s work was the impetus for a number of adaptations of that great writer’s work staged by the Society, such as ‘Dear Dirty Dublin’ – which was first presented in Sept. 1977 and is still in the Society’s repertoire.
Other women directors from this time were Celia Harte (now a distinguished bilingual poet writing under the name Celia de Freine), Phyl Herbert and Anne O’Reilly. The late William Byrne also made his directorial debut with the Society in 1976 and would be a distinguished actor, director and President of the Society, before moving on to the professional theatre in the early 1990s. Willie played most of the great Shakespeare leads including Lear, Macbeth and Othello and gave many other memorable performances in leading roles. His Juno and the Paycock (O’Casey) in 1983 was one of his most celebrated achievements as a director and was revived in 1984.
The 1980s
The 1980s was a phenomenal decade for the Society, with a total of 51 productions presented, 16 of which were full productions of Shakespeare plays. The Society celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1982 under the Presidency of Jack Brereton, another stalwart of the Society, who brought his unique talents as musician, actor and raconteur to many of the Society’s shows and entertainment before ‘emigrating’ to Donegal in the late 1980s.
An ambitious programme of 6 productions was presented during the 1982 anniversary year. It included The Winter’s Tale, directed by Jim O’Malley in March and a memorable adaptation by Celia Harte (de Freine) of Brian Merriman’s famous Irish language poem The Midnight Court, in May. Music was composed for the production by Fergus Johnston, who would establish himself as a leading Irish composer. Among the supporting musicians was a young Liam O Maonlai – later of the Hot House Flowers. Liam father, Sean Manley, was an active member of the Society for many years, and President at one time.
The decade saw the arrival of three new directors :
Gerry Stembridge, Pat Burke and Paul Maher.
Gerry showed all the signs of the imagination and innovation he would bring later to the professional stage (and to film) in memorable productions such as Henry IV, Part I and Part II – generally regarded as one of the best productions in the Dublin theatre in 1984. His perambulating production of Richard III in 1988 brought the audience literally to their feet, by making use of the entire basement area of the studio space, including the back yard. Gerry would show another side of his many talents playing the lead part (Frank Hardy) in Pat Burke’s production of Friel’s Faith Healer in May 1987 – his first with the DSS.
Pat has brought his array of talents as an actor, director, tutor and lecturer to the service of the Society since 1987, and he occupies the position of President in the Society’s centenary year. Pat has a particular empathy with the plays of Ireland’s foremost contemporary playwright – Brian Friel. He has directed four of the author’s works for the Society over the years, as well as a number of other plays, including four by Shakespeare.
Paul Maher’s first production for the Society was the 1987 production of Julius Caesar at the Damer Hall. Since then he has helped to widen the range of the Society’s offerings to include classics of the modern theatre (e.g. Eugene O’Neill, Camus, Athol Fugard and his own translation of a work by the distinguished post-war Spanish playwright Antonio Buero Vallejo ). Paul has also paid attention to work from the classical Spanish theatre (Calderon and Tirso de Molina). Paul’s collaboration with John Flood as designer has been one of the most fruitful artistic collaborations in the Society’s recent history. Other established members remained very active through the decade too.
David O’Brien, another Past-President of the Society, made his directorial debut with Miss Julie in 1979. He also contributed memorable productions such as Equus (1986) and A Man For All Seasons (1988) and remained active with the Society into the 1990s, before moving to the professional theatre. Equus involved a rare acting appearance by Dorothy Dennis, who joined the Society in 1978/9 and was a long-serving Secretary of the Society during the 1980s.
Many others members who were active during the decade, such as Liam Cunningham, Veronica Coburn, Joe Kelly, Anthony Brophy, Deirdre Kinahan, Derek Reid, Martin Maguire, Brid Ni Chumhail, John Morgan, Brenda Larby, Padraig Denihan, Anto Nolan, moved on to make their mark in professional theatre. Mention should also be made of Pat Moylan who featured in a number of the Society’s productions, before embarking on a very successful career as a theatre producer, and manager of the Andrews Lane theatre.
The decade ended with a severe blow when the Society was forced to vacate its long – held studio premises at 50 North Great Georges St. in 1988. The final production in the studio - Gerry Stembridge’s Richard III (referred to above) - took place in November 1988.
A temporary spell at 41 North Great Georges St. followed, and in an intensive period between May 1989 and October 1991 no less than 13 productions were presented in the new studio there. These included productions from established directors such as The Iceman Cometh (1989) by Paul Maher, Conversations on a Homecoming (1990) by Pat Burke, Twelfth Night (1990) by Gerry Stembridge and Mrs Warren’s Profession (1989) by Eilis Mullan. The latter production was the last involving the design talents of Martin Dorgan, who contributed many notable set designs to the Society’s productions.
But sadly, the Society found itself without a permanent home from the end of 1991, when it had to vacate its last exclusive studio. The final production was by a new name on the roll of directors – Savio Sequira’s production of An Enemy Of The People, in Sep/Oct 1991. An achievement of that last tenancy was the imaginative use made by the various directors of the challenging spatial dimensions of the studio location.
The 1990s
Not surprisingly, the loss of a permanent home resulted in a curtailment of the activities of the Society in the 1990s. 21 productions (8 of them in the last North George’s St. studio) were presented altogether during the decade, including 6 Shakespeare plays. Outside venues used for major productions from 1992 included Andrews Lane Studio, City Arts Centre, the Dagg Hall (in the Royal Irish Academy of Music), the Crypt (Dublin Castle), and the ( short- lived) Olivians Theatre at Belvedere Place. In addition to Savio Sequira, we find new directors such as Joe Jordan, Antoinette Duffy, Yvonne Robins and Victor Wheatly working with the Society, and contributing their acting talents as well in various productions.
The New Millenium! : The first Decade
The Dublin Shakespeare Society entered the new Millenium after almost a century of experience in presenting productions of Shakespeare’s plays on the stage, and in debating many of the literary issues that have arisen - and will no doubt continue to arise - in connection with his work.
A full historical account of the current decade is, of course, premature, but over half - way through the decade, there are encouraging signs that it will turn out to be another memorable one for the Society.
First of all came a turn- around in the fortunes of the Society – and in the dire position of other city community theatre groups who had lost their permanent premises during the 1990s – casualities to the economic ravages of the so-called ‘Celtic Tiger’. In 2002 a new small theatre was opened at the premises of the Teachers’ Club, at 36 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. In the short period since then it has become a virtual ‘headquarters’ for a number of established and new theatre groups associated with the city centre. The Society, some of whose members have long-established links with the Club, was among the first drama groups to make use of the new Theatre, presenting its production of Don Gill of Green Breeches (Tirso de Molina), directed by Paul Maher, in the Theatre @ 36 in November 2002
Since then, almost all major productions of the Society have been presented at the same venue. Between 2002 and 2006, 17 full productions were presented, 5 of them plays by Shakespeare.
The Teachers’ Club also kindly provides rehearsal facilities and the Club’s premises has become the location for most of the Society’s social activities and formal meetings.
The Society continues to be popular with established theatre people and with younger members, some of whom regard working in plays presented by the Society as a stepping - stone to the professional theatre. It is gratifying to see references to ‘Shakes’ productions in the CVs of actors being included in the programmes of professional productions.
The centenary year
Of course, a highlight of the decade is the centenary of the Society’s foundation, which occurs in 2007. Naturally, many of those who made notable contributions over the century have passed on to their eternal reward, which no doubt includes a more intimate acquaintance with the Great Bard than was possible in this world.
Happily, some of the senior members of the Society who were
active members in 1982, when the Society celebrated its 75th
Anniversary, remain active in the Society’s centenary year.
The doyen among them, John Flood, made his debut with the Shakes in 1977. Since then he has trodden the boards in at least 40 productions of the Society and contributed his various musical talents to many of these. John is credited in at least 54 of production programmes in the areas of set design, set building, costume design and supply, sound and lighting, and other support capacities. He also directed the Society’s production of O’Casey’s The Hall of Healing in 1985.
Acknowledgement
The above monograph was prepared by Val O’Donnell, a member of the Dublin Shakespeare Society, in connection with the Society’s centenary year. The following sources were used in compiling it.
- No Great Shakes? 1907-1982, by Myles Dungan ( 1982)
- The Dublin Shakespeare Society - Dead Again?, by Eileen Sheridan (May 1983)
- The‘ Shakes’, by Seamus Hosey; article in Theatre Ireland/5, January 1984
- Records of productions presented by the Society
- Recollections of members of the Society.
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