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refused to close the theatre during the funeral of Edward VII according to Miss Horniman's wishes, and her subsidy was withdrawn.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.
