Samuel Johnston

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Abbey Theatre, Dublin, opened in 1904 as the permanent home of the National Theatre Society (see IRISH NATIONAL DRAMATIC SOCIETY). Funds were supplied by Miss Horniman, who also gave the theatre an annual subsidy. The first directors were Lady Gregory, Synge, and Yeats. From the first the theatre was under pressure from the nationalists, within the company and outside, to conform politically. Yeats, for example, defended Synge's The Playboy of the Western World (1907) with a passion equal to that of audiences who condemned it as a betrayal of national ideals. In 1910, however, he refused to close the theatre during the funeral of Edward VII according to Miss Horniman's wishes, and her subsidy was withdrawn. By now the Abbey had achieved an international reputation, chiefly for its naturalistic acting style, largely the work of the Fay brothers who had been impressed by the Théâtre Libre in Paris. Although Yeats had hoped to encourage poetic drama, plays analysing provincial life in the manner of Ibsen became the staple repertoire, as in the work of Lennox Robinson and T. C. Murray.

Foreign tours, organized by Lady Gregory from 1911 to 1914, brought fame if not fortune to the Abbey, though Irish-American audiences took violent exception to several of the plays, and in Philadelphia the entire cast of The Playboy of the Western World was summoned on a charge of obscenity. The actors made a considerable impression on discerning playgoers, including the young Eugene O'Neill. The Abbey's repertory system influenced the emerging theatres in Europe and the USA. In 1925 an annual subsidy was provided by the newly formed Free State Government. The plays of O'Casey brought back dwindling audiences helped by the publicity engendered by his treatment of the 1916 rebellion in The Plough and the Stars (1926), and new playwrights such as St John Ervine, George Shiels, and Brinsley Mac-Namara came forward with lively comedies. Shaw's plays were also produced frequently. In 1925 the Peacock Theatre was opened for poetic and experimental productions and was made available to other companies, the Gate Theatre having its beginnings here in 1928. The late 1920s saw a resurgence at the Abbey, with an excellent company which included F. J. McCormick, Barry Fitzgerald, Maureen Delaney, and Sara Allgood in plays characterized by colourful language, exuberant characters, a deft mixture of comedy and tragedy, and a realistic urban or rural kitchen setting.

After the death of Yeats in 1939 a new phase began. The Abbey was managed from 1941 to 1967 by Ernest Blythe (1889–1975), who saw its function as being ‘to preserve and strengthen Ireland's national individuality’. The cultivation of Gaelic drama became a priority. In 1947 there was a public protest in the theatre over a decline in production standards. The Abbey was destroyed by fire in 1951 and the company moved to the much larger Queen's, which imposed a mainly commercial quality, though notable plays by Brendan Behan, Paul Vincent Carroll, Denis Johnston, and others were produced. The new Abbey and Peacock Theatres were opened in 1966; the building also contains the Society's fine art collection. New plays by Brian Friel, John B. Keane, Thomas Kilroy, Tom Murphy, and many others were presented. The work of Samuel Beckett also enjoyed a special place in the repertoire, and plays by Irish dramatists of earlier centuries, such as Farquhar, Goldsmith, Sheridan, and Wilde, were more frequently revived, as well as British, European, and American classics. More recently, the work of a younger generation of playwrights has been introduced, and extensive foreign touring has been resumed. At least 10 new plays by Irish authors are produced annually. Since its inception, the Society has presented over 800 new works, probably a world record among state theatres.

Abbey theatre, Dublin, created in 1904 as a successor to the Irish Literary theatre founded in Dublin 1899 by littérateurs (including Yeats, Lady Gregory, and Edward Martyn (1859–1923)) and amateur actors wishing to produce an Irish national drama in opposition to commercial theatre. Initially envisaged as a poetic theatre, the Abbey became dominated by easily stereotyped forms of ‘realism’. Much of its history has been dominated by conflict between its rival inspirations, patriotism (often linked to puritanism) and artistic excellence. This was exacerbated by a need for financial support due to its non‐commercial nature. Two of the Abbey's most generous private patrons, Edward Martyn and Annie Horniman, were alienated by political and religious disagreements, and the theatre survived on a shoestring until the new Irish Free State government in 1924 made it the first state‐subsidized theatre in the English‐speaking world. This brought fresh constraints, at first limited by the reputation of Yeats. The founding directors also displayed a certain unresponsiveness to new forms of stylistic experimentation; Sean O'Casey was defended against nationalist protests over The Plough and the Stars (1926), but alienated by the turning down of his Expressionist‐influenced play The Silver Tassie (1928).

O'Casey's departure is seen in retrospect as a major landmark in a process of artistic decline exacerbated by the demise of the founders and seen as reaching its nadir in the 1940s and 1950s under the direction of Ernest Blythe. Since the late 1960s Abbey standards have improved but it is still frequently criticized as unadventurous.

Patrick Maume

Samuel Johnston 1733–1816, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Dundee, Scotland. He emigrated as a child to North Carolina, where his uncle, Gabriel Johnston , was royal governor. After being admitted to the bar, he was a member of the colonial assembly (1759–75) and of its standing Committee of Correspondence after 1773. He was elected to the four provincial congresses (1774–76), presiding at the third and at the fourth, which passed the Halifax Resolves declaring for independence of the colonies; served in the new state senate; and represented North Carolina in the Continental Congress (1780–82). Johnston was governor of North Carolina (1787–89) and presided over the convention that rejected the U.S. Constitution (1788) and over the one (1789) at which North Carolina finally ratified it. He was one of the state's first U.S. Senators (1789–93), a judge of the superior court (1800–1803), and one of the first trustees of the Univ. of North Carolina.

Abbey theatre. First permanent home of the Irish National Theatre, founded by Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and W. B. Yeats to foster native drama. Yeats's verse play On Baile's Strand was the opening production in 1904 but more dramatic scenes came four years later with riots at the first night of J. M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World. Controversy also surrounded the staging of plays by Shaw and O'Casey, though the latter's The Shadow of a Gunman marked a decisive shift from Celtic twilight to Dublin tenement. The original building, on the corner of Abbey Street, was destroyed by fire in 1951.

John Saunders

Abbey theatre First permanent home of the Irish National Theatre, founded in 1904 by Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and W. B. Yeats to foster native drama. Dramatic scenes came four years later with riots at the first night of J. M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1951.

Abbey Theatre. See International Theatre Companies Visiting America.