OVERVIEW

• Playwright

  Peadar O'Donnell 

• Setting

  An isolated island off the Irish west coast.

• Synopsis

  A group of poverty-stricken islandmen decide to take advantage of fair weather to put to sea and catch herring, in so doing ignoring the dark premonitions of one of the more elderly islanders. When a viscious gale blows up out of nowhere, the old woman's visions come to pass and the boats are wrecked.

  A play about the devastating power of the sea over the lives of those who live from and depend upon it.

• Play Type

  Plays General
  

  Number Of Acts

  Full-Length

Cast size

• Male

  7

• Female

  4

• Total

  11

Original Production

• Date of First Production

  21 November 1932

• 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.