OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Joseph Tomelty 

• Setting

  The village of Assagh on the County Down coast.

• Synopsis

  Molly Trainor and Michael Quinn are to be married, and Michael is keen to develop the family's fishing business by buying a bigger boat. While his father, John, seeks to help him get on, his mother, Kathrine, refuses to loan him the money. A tough woman from a hard upbringing, she is grieving desperately for her favoured son Stephen, who has drowned. With the coming of All Souls' Night, Kathrine's anguish at Stephen's death becomes ever-greater, as the background to his tragic death emerges. Meanwhile Michael goes to sea in poor weather to find salvage from a ship wreck, and as night turns to dawn, it becomes apparent that tragedy has struck again. John and Kathrine find themselves alone together, and now must try to find peace in this bitter home.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  5

• Female

  2

• Total

  7

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  16 April 1949

• 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 Ireland's Abbey Theatre - A History 1899 - 1951 by Lennox Robinson.