OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Con O'Leary 

• Setting

  A lodging house.

• Synopsis

  Forced out of her home as a result of her son's heinous crime, Mary the Roads seeks refuge in a local lodging house. Here she finds Matthew, a balladeer, rehearsing the song he is to sing at her son's execution. Fenton, the innkeeper wishes to turn them out as he does not want his brother to find them there; indeed, when his brother does eventually appear he accuses Fenton of disgracing the house. The chapel bell tolls and Mary, believing her son to have been executed, dies of a broken heart.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  One Act

Cast size

• Male

  3

• Female

  1

• Total

  4

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  23 September 1914

• Producer

  Produced by Abbey Theatre/Amharclann na Mainistreach

• Original Venue

  Abbey Theatre/Amharclann na Mainistreach
  

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was taken from the original production programme and Ireland's Abbey Theatre: A History 1899-1951 by Lennox Robinson, with additional information from press cuttings of the time.