Plays

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Lady Spider

OVERVIEW

  • Playwright

    Donagh MacDonagh 

  • Synopsis

    Based on the tale of Deirdre from the Ulster Cycle without the lyricism of Synge or Yeats Deirdre plays. In this version Deirdre has now become the Lady Spider, the creature that consumes her mates, a Deirdre who, when Naoise is treacherously slain, is prepared to live so that she can suck the marrow from Conor's brittle bones. The action takes place in a forest in Ulster, near Armagh on an early spring morning, near the Court of King Conor MacNessa, among sandhills on the coast of Scotland on an Autumn afternoon and at Conor MacNessa's hunting lodge, near Dundalk.

  • Play Type

    Plays General

    Number Of Acts

    Full-Length

  • Cast size

  • Male

    12

  • Female

    4

  • Total

    16

Original Production

  • Date of First Production

    15 September 1959

  • Producer

    Produced by Orion Productions In association with Dublin Theatre Festival

  • Venue Notes

    First presented at The Gas Company Theatre, Dunlaoghaire, Co. Dublin

Original Cast  
Fergus Martin Dempsey
Courtiers & Warriors Patrick Bradley
Courtiers & Warriors Maurice Lacey
Courtiers & Warriors Sheila O'Hagan
Trendorn Lorcan Gogan
Courtiers & Warriors Gerry Kiernan
A Crier Patrick Gardiner
Naoise Maurice Good
Courtiers & Warriors Ruth O'Mara
Courtiers & Warriors Michael O'Rourke
Ardan Derek Young
Ainnle Gerry Sullivan
Conor Ronnie Walsh
Leabharcham Marie Conmee
Deirdre Maureen Toal
Art Brendan Cauldwell
Courtiers & Warriors Tom Rafferty
Production Team  
Director Jim Fitzgerald
Settings by Robert Heade
Producer Phyllis Ryan
Stage Director Denis Hoey
Stage Manager Ruth O'Mara
Assistant Stage Manager Gerry Kiernan
Set Construction Sean Bolger
PR Dahna Davis

Rights Information

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was taken from the original production programme and contemporary press cuttings.