OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Denis Johnston 

• Synopsis

  A schoolboy who is growing despondent over academic knowledge is led into an unexpected wedding with a mysterious Masked Lady. The latter disappears during the night, setting the hero on a life-long search for his lost love. His schoolmates enroll along with him just as the Argonauts assisted Jason in Greek myth, and the hero’s quest is presented as a station drama in which he is allowed to observe and comment on his frustrating social life, as well as to express his deeply repressed aspirations and fears. The challenging theatrical devices Johnston experiments with in order to portray man’s progress through life nonetheless suggest that life, and drama as well, have more to do with the search itself than with its result.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  16

• Female

  5

• Total

  21

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  09 May 1933

• Producer

  Presented by Edwards-Mac Liammoir Gate Theatre Productions

• Original Venue

  Gate Theatre/Amharclann an Gheata
  

• Irish Premiere Notes

  A revised version of the play was performed in 1935.

Source Of Information

The information for this entry was taken from the published script (Jonathan Cape, 1935)