Blight (play)
Blight: The Tragedy of Dublin is a play by
Background
A medical doctor as well as a writer,
John Wyse Jackson and Peter Costello have argued that
Plot
The story of Blight centres on the character of Stanislaus Tully, a
The third act takes place in the Townsend Thanatorium Boardroom and opens with a comic discussion between two medical students, Medical Dick and Medical Davy, and a charwoman; during the course of their dialogue, it is revealed that Lily Foley has contracted
Reception and influence
The play was highly anticipated by the theatregoing public and played to packed houses, with the Irish Independent commenting that "such an audience has not been at the Abbey since the night Shaw's Blanco Posnet was first produced [in 1909]." Critics commented on the play's grim efficacy in unveiling the horrors of slumdom, and Sir John Russell, speaking at a charitable dinner a week after the Blight's appearance, said that it exposed the plight of Dublin's poor as no play ever had.[9] Andrew Malone, writing a review of Irish drama in 1929, called it "undoubtedly the best play yet produced by an Irish dramatist dealing with a specifically Irish social problem" and observed that it "is marked by a critically ironic insight into social conditions."[7] Blight drew in a record £160 in profits for the Abbey, but was cancelled by Lady Gregory after ten days, possibly due to the controversiality of some of its content.[9]
Seán O'Casey was present at Blight's opening night, later stating that it was one of only two plays that he had ever gone to see at the Abbey.[10] It has been suggested that Blight may have had an influence on O'Casey's later drama, particularly Juno and the Paycock,[10][11] but O'Casey himself claimed that it "had no influence whatever on me."[12]
Sources
- ^ Carens, James (1979). Surpassing Wit. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 45.
- ^ Carens, p. 41
- ^ Jeffares, A. Norman (2001). The Poems & Plays of Oliver St. John Gogarty. Buckinghamshire: Colin Smythe Ltd. p. 506.
- ^ Jackson, John Wyse (1997). John Stanislaus Joyce: The Voluminous Life and Genius of James Joyce's Father. Dublin: Fourth Estate. p. 361.
- ^ Rodgers, William (1973). Irish Literary Portraits. New York: Taplinger Publishers. p. 34.
- ^ Carens, p. 43
- ^ a b Carens, p. 42
- ^ O'Connor, Ulick (1963). Oliver St. John Gogarty: A Poet and His Times. London: Jonathan Cape. p. 155.
- ^ a b O'Connor, p. 154
- ^ a b O'Connor, p. 155
- ^ Carens, p. 45
- ^ Murray, Christopher (2004). Sean O'Casey: Writer at Work. Montreal: McGill-Queens Press. p. 468.