OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Lewis Purcell 

• Setting

  Set in the sixth century within the enclosure of Crimall Ruadh, on the slope of the Cave Hill, Belfast.

• Notes

  In accordance with the ULT early practice of not listing performers' names in programmes, no cast names are available. This play was produced for the first time on December 4, 1906 at the Examination Hall of Queen's University Belfast by the Ulster Literary Theatre. This was under the auspices and in aid of of the Queen's College Literary and Scientific Society, with the performance being reviewed by the local press. It was then subsequently played in general performance for the first time from December 17-19, 1906.

• Synopsis

  In the sixth century enclosure of Crimall Ruadh, and the tribe of Ui Nial, Nuala, daughter of Crimall Ruadh, finds herself torn between old and new. Her instincts are with the old warrior ways, and she is wooed by a man who follows them, but she is also a professed Christian. A play focusing on the struggle between Christianity and Paganism at a time of transition between the two.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  One Act

Cast size

• Male

  7

• Female

  1

• Total

  8

• Cast Notes

  8

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  04 December 1906

• Producer

  Produced by Ulster (Literary)Theatre

• Original Venue

  Examination Hall
  

• Irish Premiere Notes

  Appears to have been produced privately as part of a double-presentation with The Turn of the Road, for the first time on December 4, 1906 at the Examination Hall of Queen's University Belfast by the Ulster Literary Theatre. The two plays were then apparently played in public performance for the first time from December 17-19, 1906.

Source Of Information

Information for this entry was taken from Sam Hanna Bell's 'The Theatre in Ulster'; from Wolfgang Zach's 'Selected Plays: Rutherford Mayne'; and from contemporary press reviews.