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The Arts Council Playography Na Gaeilge

Plays

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Sweeping the Country

OVERVIEW

  • Playwright

    William Paul 

  • Setting

    Oldtown, a typical country town in Ulster.

  • Notes

    The cast and character lists for this entry are drawn from reviews of the premiere productions. As such, they should be taken as approximate.

  • Synopsis

    The Earl of Glasnevin decides to sponsor an Irish National Regeneration Society to unite all parties on a common platform. Attempts to put the Society into practice turn sour as the town's two opposing factions, led by Paddy Doyle and Albert Barr, come to loggerheads. The best efforts of newly appointed chair James McKay prove fruitless, as the factions rapidly condemn the new society's efforts, and those of McKay himself, to failure. McKay eventually manages to find an excuse to renounce the entire project, and does so with relief.

  • Play Type

    Plays General

    Number Of Acts

    Full-Length

  • Cast Size Male

    6

  • Cast Size Female

    3

Original Production

Original Cast  
James McKay Gerald Macnamara
Mrs. Gray Mary Crothers
Andy Cunningham J.M. Harding
Arthur Vincent Jackson Grahame
Charlie Moore C.J. Abbey
Molly McKay Kathleen Lawrence
Mrs. McKay Evelyn Fitzgerald
Paddy Doyle Alan Whitley
Albert Barr John Field

Rights Information

  • Not Found

Source Of Information

Information for this entry has come from reviews of the premiere production, and from Margaret McHenry's 'The Ulster Theatre in Ireland'.