OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Gerald Macnamara 

• 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. Kathleen Danaher Parks states that this play was later presented in a rewritten form in December 1922.

• Synopsis

  Publican, grocer, and amateur historian John McArt is convinced that he is descended from a great king. Offered a magic potion to send him to ancient Ireland, he and a friend depart in great anticipation to the year 256 AD and the royal household of King Cormac McArt. While their twentieth century bodies are submitted to a coroner's inquest and made ready for burial, in the past, John McArt is being treated miserably. There, chiefs from North, South, East and West quarrel both amongst themselves and against their monarch, while McArt himself is made a slave. Finally, he decides to return to his present, and determines to content himself with his lot.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  6

• Female

  3

• Total

  9

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  03 December 1917

• 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 'The Ulster Theatre in Ireland', and from Kathleen Danaher Parks' 'Gerald Macnamara: Ulster Playwright'.