Plays

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The Plot is Ready

OVERVIEW

  • Playwright

    Austin Clarke 

  • Setting

    Cletty, by the River Boyne; November 3, 534.

  • Synopsis

    Two monks dig a grave for the high king, Muireadach Mac Erca, who is ill and being nursed by his mistress, Osna, for whom he has cast out his wife and children. The king rejects the commands of the local abbot to abandon Osna. In delerium, he rushes out and is killed by falling into his own grave. His spirit rises triumphantly and takes Osna into the supernatural realm.

  • Play Type

    Plays General

    Number Of Acts

    One Act

    • Cast size

  • Male

    14

  • Female

    3

  • Total

    17

Original Production

  • Date of First Production

    1943

  • Original Venue

    Abbey Theatre/Amharclann na Mainistreach

  • Irish Premiere Notes

    Performed on the Peacock Stage by the Dublin Verse-Speaking Society. Repeated by the Lyric Theatre Company at the Abbey Theatre in 1944.

Original Cast  
Muriadach Mac Erca Seamus Forde
Grave Digger G. Sullivan
Grave Digger E. Jacob
Monk Arthur Mahon
Monk T.J. Nolan
Monk Daniel Connelly
Brother Malachi Ruaidhri Roberts
Crede Marjorie Williams
Monk J McEntee
Osna Eve Watkinson
Murna Patricia Clancy
First Narrator George Green
Second Narrator Frank Prenton Jones
Old Monk Frank Prenton Jones
Abbot Cairnech Gerard Healy
Young Monk Liam Gannon
Fergus Richard O'Sullivan
Production Team  
Producer Ria Mooney
Set & Costume Designer Victor Brown

Published Scripts

  • Title

    Collected Plays by Austin Clarke

  • Year

    1963

  • Published By

    Dolmen Press

  • Address

    Republic of Ireland

Rights Information

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Source Of Information