OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Thomas Carnduff 

• Setting

  The Sandy Row district of Belfast

• Notes

  The extant script is incomplete, with Act I missing. Hence, the cast and character lists for this entry are drawn from reviews of the premiere production. As such, cast size details should be taken as approximate.

• Synopsis

  Susan, a working-class girl, endures a difficult marriage to shipyard worker John Waddell, an alcoholic wife-beater. After much persuasion, she decides to leave him for Jim Bowman, her former sweetheart and Waddell's fellow-worker. At her point of departure, Waddell is seriously injured at the shipyard and Susan decides her ultimate duty is to stay by his side.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  7

• Female

  2

• Total

  9

• Cast Notes

  9

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  14 October 1932

• Producer

  Produced by Belfast Repertory Theatre Company

• Original Venue

  Abbey Theatre/Amharclann na Mainistreach
  

• Irish Premiere Notes

  Though premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, as indicated here, the play was subsequently given a Belfast premiere almost immediately afterwards at the Empire Theatre, on November 22 1932, and was thoroughly reviewed by the local press in both locations.

Source Of Information

Information for this entry has come from the play typescript, and from press cuttings held at the Linen Hall Library Theatre and Performing Arts Archive, Belfast.