OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Lady Gregory 

• Setting

  The side of a quay in a port town.

• Synopsis

  Three policemen post a £100 reward notice for the capture of a criminal. One stays on guard as the other two continue on their way. Some time later, a ballad singer arrives and is questioned. He sees the notice about the criminal and tells the policeman that the man they are looking for has killed several officers. The policeman, stricken with fear, announces that the search would require a substantial part of the force and that married men should not be called on because of the danger involved. He persuades the ballad singer to remain with him on his watch. The ballad singer turns out to be the very man they are trying to apprehend, but he is unwittingly allowed to escape.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  One Act

Cast size

• Male

  4

• Total

  4

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  09 March 1907

• 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 the original production programme and Ireland's Abbey Theatre: A History 1899-1951 by Lennox Robinson, with additional information from press cuttings of the time.