OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Denis Johnston 

• Setting

  Set in a cafe in Dublin during Easter Week of 1916.

• Synopsis

  Johnston wrote this play about the Rising of 1916 as an alternative view to O'Casey's pacifism in The Plough and the Stars - hence DJ's parodic title. It takes place in a cafe overlooking O'Connell Street where the rebels seize the General Post Office. An Irish officer with the British troops sent to suppress the rebellion is confronted by one of the rebel leaders, modeled on Patrick Pearse. Together they spar over the destiny of Ireland and the British Empire, and the clash of ideals that lay at the heart of the conflict. A young rebel and the cafe waitress present very different views of the populace towards the rebellion. Another character, a doctor, who is present by chance and serves as an observer to the action is modeled on Oliver St John Gogarty.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  9

• Female

  2

• Total

  11

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  14 March 1958

• Production Notes

  Produced by the Poets' Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• Venue Notes

  Premiered at the Poets' Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• Irish Premiere Notes

  Subsequently produced in the Queens Theatre, Dublin by the Abbey Theatre on 19th May 1958.

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was taken from the published playscript and other published material.