Ennis, Niamh
(2010)
W.B. Yeats,
1904 Popular Theatre and the Politics of
Cuchullain.
Masters thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
Abstract
“Last night the new theatre which the Irish National Theatre Society has...was opened
under the happiest auspices…Long before the curtain rose the pit and gallery were
packed…On Baile’s Strand is one of the best acting plays that Mr Yeats has
written…there is less of the mystical and more of the human element in the
composition than in most of Mr Yeats dramas [and] the characters are virile and
actual” (1976, 128-9).This quote, from the Freeman’s Journal, illustrates the initial
success and relevance of The Abbey’s opening play, Yeats’ On Baile’s Strand.
However, what one doesn’t get from this review, is the reality of the mundane Abbey.
In 1904, as the first chapter of this thesis shall illustrate, The Abbey Theatre held one
of the smallest crowds in Dublin, and its success on opening night was nothing in
comparison to the audience Queen’s Theatre just over the River Liffey held the very
same night. Yeats’ brand of theatre was by no means popular in comparison to the
melodramas of J.W. Whitbread. Yet, as will be illustrated in chapter two, Yeats set
out to prove that his ‘Theatre of Art’ was to go against that very commercial and
political type of Irish play that theatres like Queen’s performed, not to mention the
horribly materialistic types of entertainment at the other main Dublin theatres. He was
going to do it by blending “the simplicity and responsiveness to the supernatural and
the esoteric that he associated with the west of Ireland peasantry” (2005, 12). Also he
was going to add the elegance of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy which he related to a
premodern time of “chieftains and kings” that was, in his words, “noble” (2005,
160&158).
But against popular belief, he was going to present it in English. This is the
reason many thought he was not fulfilling the job he set out to do; to create a
‘national’ theatre. Yet before this point, “all Irish nationalist popular political
movements” had reverted to the use of English in their “propaganda” (2005, 44).
However, as regards the furious debate as to whether Yeats was an active republican,
it appears he was never seriously aligned with any of these political movements.
Rather, as he stated in Samhain countless times, he thought propaganda and the use of
it in plays was not a viable solution to the Irish question. He instead chose symbolism
to demonstrate his own political beliefs, refusing to force politics on anyone. His main
aim was to present the living speech of the people and the character of the Irish person.
Yet, with On Baile’s Strand, Yeats only achieved some of him aims. His political
ideals were kept under the guise of tension between Cuchullain and an added
character Conchubar, yet his aim of living speech was seriously undermined by his
occult associations and the chanting used in these groups. The final chapter shall
illustrate how On Baile’s Strand both fulfilled and undermined the playwright’s
attempts at creating a New Ireland, where politics were not at the forefront of art,
where they would force people to “tare each other’s character to pieces” (1997,189).
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