An open national identity: Rutherford Mayne, Gerald MacNamara, and the plays of the Ulster Literary Theatre

Eire-Ireland:Journal of Irish Studies, Spring-Summer, 2004 by Karen Vandevelde

By playing for wounded members of the army, the Ulster company indirectly endorsed Irish participation with the allied forces--an endorsement that the Gaiety spectators did not seem to criticize. Possibly, the outbreak of World War I had more impact on this audience's horizon of expectations than the Easter Rising had, although the response of Irish nationalists to the 1916 Rising and the timing of their growing support for republicanism is "a matter still in debate." (53) On the occasion of the 1916 revival of Suzanne and the Sovereigns, the Irish Times supported the play's potential to reconcile Irish opposition. "If the Government would send the Ulster players on tour with this clever piece through Ireland," the critic argued, "they might perhaps solve the Irish question more easily for 'Suzanne and the Sovereigns' provokes Orange and Green to laugh heartily at themselves and each other." (54) The climate for political satire changed again after World War I. Purcell's and MacNamara's play was never again produced on a major Irish stage. The success of the Sinn Fein party, the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921, ongoing sectarian violence, and increased anxiety associated with loyalist iconography and republican identity made a production of the play a greater risk, both north and south of the new border. No further productions of the play could be traced.

MacNamara's Thompson in Tir-na-nOg enjoyed more long-term success after it was first performed at the Belfast Opera House in December 1912. (55) The play introduces the audience to legendary heroes in Tir na nOg, the Land of Eternal Youth. One day, Finn MacCumhail, Cuchulain, Queen Maeve and Grania discover they have lost their ability to speak Irish. A spell has been cast over everyone replacing Irish by English, "the bark of dogs," because a newly arrived stranger refuses to speak Irish (9). His name is Thompson, a staunch unionist and victim of the Battle of Scarva. The legendary heroes assume that Thompson's heroic act has earned him eternal life in Tit na nOg. Thompson, however, is convinced he is in a lunatic asylum:

   CUCHULAIN: O, how I fought for Ulster. (excitedly.) When the great
   Battle fury was on me.

   THOMPSON: Now don't get excited, Mister--I know what the battle fury
   is--I've had it often--every Twelfth--and Thirteenth.

   CUCHULAIN: Whose hosts lay dead and bleeding at my feet.

   THOMPSON: NOW if you keep talkin' like that, they'll never let ye
   out. (19)

The absurd presentation of Irish heroic history is followed by a swipe at loyalist celebrations. This sets a dynamic that is sustained throughout the play, avoiding partisanship while maintaining a satirical impact. Home Rule, too, is the object of scorn: when Thompson tries to discuss the topic with Cuchulain, the latter counters his comments with the question, "Are you too lazy to rule yourselves?" Ulster unionists, then, are shown to be ignorant of Irish history:

   KING: Do you know aught of your country's history save that of this
   Battie of the Boyne?

   THOMPSON: I know that King Charles was beheaded.

   KING: Was Charles an Irishman?

   THOMPSON: No.

   KING: What more do you know?

   THOMPSON: I know that King Henry VIII was a 'Roman' till he was
   converted. (33)