OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Rutherford Mayne 

• Notes

  This play was rewritten by Rutherford Mayne as 'Neil Gallina' and produced again as such in 1916. The given character/cast list is taken from reviews of the premiere production and, as such, should be taken as approximate.

• Synopsis

  Neil Gallina, a dabbler in literature, is diagnosed with consumption and given six months to live. Seeking relief initially through drinking with fair-weather friends, he meets Barbara, daughter of an evangelical mission worker. Through her efforts Neil is reformed to become an ardent mission supporter, but Barbara herself begins to find the life into which she has been born quite stifling. She announces she is leaving the mission and Neil for a year, to test both his resolve and her own. After her departure, he reverts to his old ways, and by the time Barbara returns to declare her love for him, she is too late: Neil is in the grip of the captain of the hosts of death.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  7

• Female

  3

• Total

  10

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  08 March 1910

• Producer

  Produced by Ulster (Literary)Theatre

• Original Venue

  Grand Opera House
  

Source Of Information

Information for this entry has come from reviews of the premiere production; from Margaret McHenry's 'Ulster Theatre in Ireland'; and from Wolfgang Zach's introduction to 'Selected Plays: Rutherford Mayne'.