The ABBEY THEATRE Company

and RONAN W ILMOT present .

May19 • •

. ... ,,,,,,,11 ,,,,11,'11111 1.' '. ' 11111(1

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'

'

by ERIC CROSS

The ABBEY THEATRE _Company

adapted for the stage by P. J . 0 1CONNOR by ERIC CROSS

The Tailor EAMON KELLY

An sty- his w ife MAURA 0 1SULLIVAN

Director MICHAEL COLGAN Designer WENDY SHEA

EAMON KELLy wi r f be verv fami II ar with everybody in I rei and for he was. for many years The Seanaghaj (the storyteller) on Radio Eireann and In this play he tells of the Tailor's stories In the same way as he did on Radio. This is one of the great art i stic creations on the Irish stage and a lovely r>erformance.

MAURA O'SULLIVAN It Is an amn:z ing col n<;ldr-ncC' thut Maura is in fRet Eomon 1s wife In rl'"<tl l i fe. Meuro will be a lso very f<~m lli or. with R<1dlo Eireann lis ten~r!> ns she w«s a mcmbe1· of thP. Radio EirP-Hnn nl<~ycrs for many years. Mauril has ncted in many Ahbey .Theatre o roduct ions over th.e fast few years.

MICHAEL COLGAN is a director of plays wi th thl." Abbey T heatre and WENDY SHEA designed the very successful 11 Joseph and the Amazing Technicofour Dreamcoat".

COMING MONDAY JUNE 2

• THE DUBLIN COMEDY THEATRE

presents K evin llk:Hugh & Leslie- Lalor

in a comedy by

Ernest Gebler 'Call Me Daddy'

from 11 THE IRISH TIMES11 23-4- 1975

lJITERL Y CONVULSED. and convtnced that Erne>t Gebler's every dnastat1na kne mu\t wrefy prove unroraeltable. One·~ memMy is w1prd clean by· the next sharp onsla"ught from a direction quite be~ond antic1patum.

"Call Me Daddy". directed at the Project bv Eamon ~torm.<ey and immaculately set by (ierr)' Sullrvan. mu't be "rhe funniest. the most htlanous play to hot to"n -le~ alone have metamoq,ho~ed itself through •o many earlie r Forms· -since onl> JJ F. know< when.

A< middle-aged employer appar­entlY bent upon blackmailing iono· cent young typiSt mto a week"5 debauch. Kevin McHugh touche~ almost llawle~ly urion an under· lying theme - to analyse which would be to $poi! another's enjoy• ment - that i~ ~ketched in mo>t lightly. even amb1~uou<l)'. bv the dry contrast ~tween the word~ he utters and the delivery he lend< them. Le.tve it that amid the exnfosiom of helples• taughter hides somethiAJt unetpected -''There's not much time. there's not

by Kdnc Archer

. much time" ·- delicate and ll&htly remod. Neither author. actor nor dire<:tor o,·ersteptl; nor do they for· get.

Leslie Lalor. to.o. brin~s ach1n.11 laughte r. though " llh le-. ~ure a tom:h If tlus " w. it 1s b} 'om· pansun with a trUI)· suoerb pcrf(H· mance. and 11 may be, 100. '"th.n the contctl of what is essent1ally a man·s pia)'·

Hoffman is it.< subject. and" the pia) L< gra<ped so brilliantly anti underplayed so flatly by M ~­McHugh •• to show the "oman\ role u foil to the other. Vecnn& towards a one-man play for t"O -no, actually, it is three - actors. it pre.;cnts a 5\ICCC$\lOn of obstacles that Miss Lalor surmounts " ith credit.

Be prepared, then. for a comedy amon~ comedies. and let no critic's searchinas detract from what u nothin~ le,; than a n i~ht of del ighted laughter - and a aood deal more besides.

• front FRANK 0 1CONNOR 1S Introduction to

the 1964 edition of 11 The Tailor and Ansty 11 •

When I wrote the introduction to the original edition of 'Fhe Tailor and Ansty the models were still alive. They were a remarkable old c;ouple who lived in a tiny cottage on the mountain road up to the lake at Gougane Barra. On fine days you found the Tailor sitting by the roadside,...!!standing to the cow", as his wife called it. I should, perhaps,"'Say The Cow, for like everything else about the Tailor it had a tendency to turn into capital letters. He was a small, crippled man with a round, merry face. Neighbours, visitors and students would paur for a chat with him; students because he spoke beautifu Irish, visitors because they found his English conversation entertain· ing enough. It was, though it was not as good as his Irish conversation. In Irish he had a whole field of folk stories and songs to fall back on, with the elegance of an older world about it; in English he had no such models for style. At the same time, English extended his mind over a wider range of subjects, and. in spite of his lack of worldly experience, he had a good mind, shrewd and inquisitive. He was, as I described him in life, a rural Dr Johnson.

Ansty was a beautiful woman who looked like the Muse of Tragedy but tallced like a quite different muse. For a long time · she was a pin-up girl, made famous in Christmas cards and calendars by a photographe~ who showed her in her West Cork cloalc, bringing in the yule log. She wanted to know at once whether or not you were married and how many children you had, and if you failed. to come up to her standards of sexual performance offered you "the loan of my ould shtal's breeches". To her, aU men were "shtals" - stallions - including her husband, and it offended her nice sense of p;ropriety to see a young woman who was not in the way of l¥eeding. She and the Tailor both regarded sexual relations as the most entertaining subject for general conversation; a feature of life in Irish­spealcing Ireland even in my youth, but which began to die out the moment English became the accepted language. The Tailor's comment on the rise of Fascism was that "There wouldn't be half this trouble if more people fell to breeding" - in which he may have been wiser than we know. He·never changed the tone

of his conversation before women or children, and I noticed that hi had a genuine dislike of anything mealy-mouthed. One night, I was recording a beautiful love song from his friend, Batty Kit, and, because Father Traynor was with me, Batty boggled at a verse. "Go on! Go on!" the Tailor snapped in Irish. "You didn't write it or compose it" To him, a song or story was something that had been transmitted with a purpose, and it was great impertinence on anyone's part to alter it Nancy MacCarthy overheard a conversation between himself and another old man afltr the banning of my translation of Merriman's "Midnight Court''. Both of them knew that very long poem in Irish, and the neighbour argued that "There were many things in it. he wouldn't like little boys and girls to be reading" - the Purttan whine'. The Tailor grew angry. " You ·can't "know a man and ltnow only half of him. If you want to know a man you must know the whole of him, and it should never have been banned -all of it must go in." Ansty's tongue in particular was dreaded by respectable women in the neighbourhood. "Oh, ~ she's aaful; she'd shame 'oo!" one respectable woman wd to me about her. The old couple were virtuous; they were not respect· able, an~. ~y paid dearly for it.

CORPORATE MEMBERS Mejor contributions towards the cr.pital ~st of m~terials hive been made o•,.r~sly by the foUowing comr:.ni•s and institutions :

Allted lnsh Bank$ L.td Ashboume Hous~ Ho1el J BaH)' & Son Ltd 8arry s Tea limlted R BtshOp, Aucuoneetr Casey'$ Decorators Commerct~J & Agucuhur;,t;l

Tyte Serv1Ct L.ld Co.: k Gas Consumers Company

E G Penlt & Co J. A. Wood Ltd 8eamtsh & Crawfor-d Llmued James J Murpl\y & Co Ltd

FOUNDER MEMBERS

Otneen Ufe & Pensions ltd. Harco Ftoonngs ltd. ~ H Harte & Sons Ltd. Had11 Bey et Co~ Ltd The Mun•ter Arcade The Pfizer Chemtcal Corporation Tuamm wE Wtlhams Oavld Prendergasl Irish Reftning Co ltd Rohan GrOISP Ltd. W H Feny and Carol Bernstein Ferrt Tho a.ntt ollrolond

tndlviduel cttizent who hive mMie ••cephonalty oe~rous 10ft9·term con--trlbutioM Include : M•ltlt, Mr. & Mrs Harvey S. Anem, J. Murra) , Pacrtck 8Jr~>er. James 0 hhtaHhe, Oeaglan Birry, J.ames o ·Kane. la-chlann Cort Or & M•s J G O'Connor Eugene F Conn.ey, Hugh 0 Ooooghue Mr & Mrs Tony Oevhn, L1am St John 0 Fartelt Atchard F. Ohugatn, An t·OII~mh laotse Nt 0 Lttary Mr & Mrs J 0 Oowdall, Mrs J 0 Regan. Joe Oowdall. Tltomu F 0 Shea A•doo Brendiln ~nd Rosemoilry Fthtly Ouam Mr & Mr$ Ch~rlo Goldberg. Aid Gerald Y Shaw, Angela & Peter Hutch•nson . Edwt.n Sh•nkwtn Mr & Mrs Joseph Jcnktns Roy Sttllwell Or & Mrs George Kearney Or 4 Mrs J 8 Jhomp$01,, Ale)!. Ktrk, Ow~n Twomey MIChH1 F McCutcheon. ~am .1nd Satbro Underwood Mr A MacSweeney s l>t\oto Shop Ltd W11tsh . Pa1rt~k J Ger1rd Jones J P Oavts 0 Herhhy Mlchoel O'Sitoa E P O"Flynn Mory Evon

Henry Ford ond SOn

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Past Seasons

• FJAST ,E.t.SON

The. Co11ntty Citl tA.mPf!t.:a f ThJ4Yit~ C•miwal 'Fi"Af'l•·•• I Corp E~haln Ut Shu.lleabhiin tfi ,e) Ouerttt l V'-'r40U51 fid1ngs Brought lo M•ry tr •u•••,. I Sergeant MutqtiYt' s Oanee f( ·,.ll .. ndl

* SECONO SEASON

Cwne on Coat Island t 11.1 1 The Faerie Oue•n I Fml'·thrll The 8Uthdav P~rt'f t£..unl<l•\·H AnCittll ffncl The fireteJsers (5 .... i11vol. ' tl j Th• lilatnrrlaktr lAmel'll .t)

If THlRO SEASON

Poml of O•p~rture I FI".U\o .. t!)

Blot tE.reJ Bell, Book at~d C~dle 't f nql.inc.l I Come Bad1. lmle ShttN I·Aole(·r ,•l llood Wedding ISt);\•n • Summ~r and Smoke f Aul.•ror.al

* FOURTH SEASON

Sutnmer1inut •l!;.ly J Ghosts (NOfwJy) Tyc.oo.n tfue) C•ll;t~J• II • iii"W:~ t Oreemlng Oust t ht•J.•ud' t<.tng end Cbuntty fSCOI'.t• -dJ

• FIFTH SEASON

The C•r~laker :r'tQt~~td) The Che.rry Orch11d Plh'$S,,II Jud.as lseariut ajlus * 81\e.n IEue) A Sc•nt ol Flower• ttnqf.tmJ) Hedda Cabfer tNt~rwa\ t fhe Seduction ffran~~;el

* SIXTH SEASON

Wamng lor Codol l ltt•l,,•,dJ Hotel P.ar.adtso Cf ' '''lt'(' I OuCha$ 1$.1Solll,l I Two for the See.uw tO SA I ' A Oay in th-e Death 01 J :toe Egg •f , ~t ;fa,td) l:.ngo ,p.,,,, h!)

* SEVENTH SEASON

Yot.1 Newer C<tn leU I t '··"•II The P1omuie 1 Hn ..... ; Thto: Cv,kt•ll Pa,iv 11 •·f .• .,,;~ Oeau fro~~;am~ a ' n;, S.-i).tol Og~ I( ""t!l Stelo)hen 0 IIH:J .• ,.h ffre Waitt ol t l'lt foreadou (ft._. ....

*- (ICHTW SEASON

S.o!de"r (f11 1 .. til

C.tt on a Hoi Ttn Aoe.f ' .... '\ End9•me ;(r~pp s L~~~ h·pe CrMT~es ot Pass10n An 8cat 8ocht t. c.·

Poor Bicos IF•.:'"· ...

tl NIN1H SEASON

An Ideal Husband I In .u•d) Luther 1 ~nSJio~nd)

F•iry TaJu of New \'ork tJ .., A Who s •friltd of V~rgem• Woolf~ '1; S ~ ! l he Fe!htr 15wt:t!e.to t

Agg•ornt•mertto 1Let11 flus•nc.nntz and C utldel't$1trn I re Dud

En;;t,uHil

• TENTH SEASON

Arms and lhe Ma1l ft•c l,, •dl Ntght o f the tgvana 1 U S ..-~ \ Tl,e R(!storet•on of Arnold Mtddleton ;(1:tJ'oJn<!) The Pohce 'p, w ;I The Dea th & Resurrcc tiot) ot Mr Roche l !r••J,mrl l Na h·Atthreacha ::r• l .• r.(.l)

* £U.VE.NTH SEASON

lhe Plou9h and the Stau l lre ,;wd~ the t<.nder 1franc.eJ A Man for all St .. ona r£nu:nnd) Arunic and Old Uee (US A ) Oe•th of il Sale•m•n CU S A J Unete Vanya rRuH1a)

Everyman Playhouse·

General Manager; ($prlr>g Season) : MICHAEL McCARTHV Resident Stage Manager : FllANK O'BVANE Promotion : JENNI and TONY WREDOEN

Members of the Voluntary Staff presently maoage th'e Theatre on a rota basis.

Management Committee : Brian Bolingbroke (Chairmarr). Raymond Casey. Frank Fitzgerald. Susan Milch. Eoin Nolan. Pat Martir1, Dolores Callanan

Front of House Staff: Ann Archer. Mary Ahern, Elsie Ahern. Judy Bolingbroke. Dolores Callanan. Breda Cllfford, Maura Corr, Raphaele Heaslip, Niamh Henderson. Paula Joy, Patrocoa Malton, Geraldine McCarthy, Nellie Murphy. Pat Martin, Susan Milch. Gerry Mcloughlin, Marie Neville. Kay O"Fiynn, Betty O'Regan. Betty 9'Shea, Frances O'Sullivan. Anne O'Leary. Lilian Parker. Margaret Power, June RooR~y. Elaine Stephens. Margaret Walsh, Ann White, Frank Hanrahan. ~at Lynch. Dave O'Brien.

'Satisfaction'

proc:lced by

Smithwick's~

~ Spring Season 1975 ~ MARCH 31st

BERNARD POWER presents .

"HALF .WAY UP THE TREE" A comedy by Peter Ustlnov

APR IL 16th

EVERYMAN THEATRE presents

"BILLY LIAR" . by K eith Waterhouse andWiflis Hall

APR I L 28 I h '

The IRISH THEATRE CO. (ON TOUR} present

''LEAVING HOME" A new Canadian play by David French

MAY 12th (O.ne Week only)

L.W. PROMOTIONS present

" MAIDEN OF SORROW" by Brian 0 1Reilly The new FOLK-OPERA

~

MAY 1.9-th

THE. AB~EY THEATRE and RONAN WI L MOT MSUt

"THE TAILOR AND AN STY" adapted for the stage by P. J. O'Connor from the famous book by Eric Cross

JU N E 2nd

DUBLIN COMEDY THEATRE CO. presents

"CALL ME DADDY" by Ernest Gebler

with Kevin McHugh and Leslie Lalor ...

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance giverr by The Arts Councif (An Cho~hairle Ealain).

Contrary to popular ~~lief,

regularv1s1ts · · to your local

c·an·.save you money

There's 3 great co11omunoty sp1ro1 down at your local Bani< of Ireland oflocj! .

Tht! Manager there can S)rOvld.~. you w1.th a cheque· £Jook and h~lp on your d;.ly to rl~v financral management. For tnstancc. h~ can

• pay your regular btlls. auangt~ tu'lnncc lor your now car and· even help vow !'tOns and daughters · pay the or w~y tl>rou\jh collcgo! And wher1 all that's done, he cao1 look alter any spate cash. you hilppen to have

·So make 1t a h.1h11 Nrp out to vour local soon And make f11cnds.

~ ~

BanK.IFlrelana The bank of a iifetime

5 c " ~ 0 % .. " i ~ .. "