OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Patricia O'Connor 

• Setting

  The living room behind the Conovan's shop in the little town of Gleneden. The present.

• Synopsis

  Obsessive, controlling teacher Rosina Sweeney exercises rigid authority over her primary school pupils in a small town Catholic school, believing that the sins of the father should be visited on their children. When Nellie Donovan, daughter of a Catholic convert, inadvertently breaks Miss Sweeney's rules over the length of a confirmation dress, the incident becomes the catalyst for a series of far larger events, spiralling until the whole community is involved in the dispute. Only when the local bishop is called can the situation be resolved.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  5

• Female

  8

• Total

  13

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  25 February 1959

• Producer

  Produced by Ulster Group Theatre

• Original Venue

  Group Theatre
  

Source Of Information

Information for this entry was taken from the published script, from press cuttings, and from the original production programme held at the Theatre and Performing Arts Archive of the Linen Hall Library, Belfast.