It is admissible if you do not know the name Sean O’Casey. Understandably, we have rarely identified any work (so far) as Irish Theatre (although Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, and George Bernard Shaw are Irish playwrights.) However, the tradition of Irish Theatre follows a different system of roots back to Stratford-on-Avon and even Ancient Greece.
Irish Theatre dates back to the descendants of the Norman Invasion and was one of the ways that the Gaelic language has been kept alive. The first theatre built in Ireland dates back to 1637. Dublin’s Werburgh Street Theatre quickly rose to prominence before falling prey to the Bubonic Plague. Losing so many actors (including four who left for The King’s Men) and the breakout of the English Civil War in 1642 sent the players to Kilkenny where they took on several English performers. When the monarchy returned to holding power over Ireland, the stage became largely emblematic of politics.
In 1899, after more conflict over “home rule” and more theatres disappearing, Dublin’s The Abbey finally gave Irish Literature and Theatre a lasting home. The Abbey was partially supported by the Irish Free State (a self-governing dominion of the British Empire) and middle class theatre enthusiast Annie Horniman. While Theatre all over Europe suddenly catered to the common people, Irish Theatre plays were specifically for them. This strategy was not without conflict, as Irish Nationalists objected to the lack of political content and rioted outside.
As World War I raged on, England considered conscripting Irish citizens to fight for the Empire. This factor (among numerous others) contributed to a shift in Irish politics that led to such violence (“The Troubles”) and uncertainty, its elaborate web of issues needed to be told from the stage.
Sean O’Casey led the hardscrabble life you associate with Irish Literature. Born to Protestant parents, O’Casey was moved all over Dublin (think Sandra Cisneros) even after his father died when he was six. His mother, Susan took care of Sean and his twelve siblings, until they had to go to work. Despite awful eyesight, Sean taught himself to read and write just in time become a railwayman at age 14. In the O’Casey home, Sean and his older brother staged Shakespeare plays until Sean followed in his Gaelic lineage. As a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Irish Citizens Army, his writing blossomed around composing ballads for fallen members.
In 1918, Sean’s mother and sister passed away and he began writing plays hoping for acceptance by The Abbey. His life in the slums of Dublin and the numerous parties exercising their political muscle through violence and job control made a realistic backdrop to tell tales. Questioned later in life about his writing, O’Casey still claims that he “has no idea what realism means.”
O’Casey’s “Dublin Trilogy” is the essence of realism. The middle play, 1924’s “Juno and The Paycock” is revolutionary in its continuing use of the vernacular during the play and O’Casey’s ability to frame his characters as strong in this world where there are no jobs or money. As the Irish Civil War breaks out, the Boyle family seems to be content to go on living. The daughter Mary is striking. The son Johnny lost his arm in the Irish War of Independence. Mary is a pillar of strength, able to take care of herself even in this “man’s world.”
“Captain” Jack Boyle is not quite as resilient. He complains about the pain in his legs. Yet has no trouble springing from the table to meet his “butty” Joxer Daly at the pub — rather than find a job. Like O’Neill’s Tyrone family patriarch James, the illusion of control is Captain Jack’s method of steering their ship toward stability. Nonetheless, Captain Jack can survive the slings and arrows of those he owes money to and those who come to him for jobs that might cross the picket lines. With fellow former merchant seaman Joxer as his liege, they dream about a far larger world than most toiling away under these harsh conditions.
An’ as it blowed an’ blowed, I often looked up at the sky an’ assed meself the question — what is the stars? what is the stars ... An’ then, I’d have another look, an’ I’d ass meself, what is the moon?
The only Boyle family member able to work is Juno, the wife and mother. Her unhappiness with Jack’s wayward ways leads to her branding him “the paycock” as he chooses to appear to live a life unfettered, while his family and everyone around him struggle against the tide of bad news. As you would expect (given O’Casey’s life,) Juno is the strongest character here always corraling her brood and keeping them all in motion against her greatest fear — chassis, O’Casey’s reformulation of the word “chaos.” Juno is making breakfast for Jack, and late for work. She is also dealing with Mary’s impasse over dumping Union Leader Jerry Devine, and Johnny’s growing fear that the IRA could be seeking him as an informant. Finally, when Jack is politely refusing job offers while she holds off those to whom they owe money — Juno is steamed but never overwhelmed.
All along as you read (or watch,) O’Casey is slipping these problems and events into the context of his play without heavy dramatic pronouncement. Unlike O’Neill, O’Casey flourishes when his characters seem to have no established path. There are no true moments of reflection or time to pause. The overarching message of O’Casey is that for those in the middle class — life must go on whether you are beneath its wheels or successfully ready to ride them out of the slums — if you are lucky.
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Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
New music this week
twentyonepilots - CLANCY [RED SPLATTER LP/CD/CS] (Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic) • At this point, the Ohio duo has made a career out of concept albums. "CLANCY" wants to be the realization of all the threads of the most recent albums and the record that establishes twentyonepilots as stylistic leapers (not dabblers.) Choruses need to flow in and out like dreams, and this one works hard to remove the business of "structure" in favor of music that is free-flowing at its best ("Routines") and throwing to their Hip-Hop/R&B leanings at its worst (the soon-to-be-debated 'Lavish.")
WALLOWS - The Model [ORANGE/PURPLE LP/CD/CS](Atlantic) • What once appeared to be a vanity project for actor Dylan Minnette, Wallows has quietly grown into the prototypical Alternative/Pop band. If the chart hits dried up, you still cannot tell because of their consistency. "Tell Me That It's Over" was a surprising refinement of their songwriting capabilities with Vampire Weekend's secret weapon Ariel Rechtshaid. So they went back to John Congleton (who manned their debut) with a batch of songs they saw as "all killer, no filler."
Their confidence shows so far with four pre-release singles that capture the New Wave pulse of the previous album ("Calling After Me") and the ongoing modern fascination with sounding like The Strokes (the stellar "Your Apartment.") Having sold everyone on one-third of the album already - our hope is that they are not playing it safe.
LENNY KRAVITZ - Blue Electric Light [BLUE 2LP/CD] (BMG Rights Mgmt) • While age has not affected his excellent voice, it has not helped his songwriting. Now on album thirteen, Kravitz's borrowing from here and there is more obvious (especially in a modern world where playlists regularly cross boundaries.) Sonically, "TK421" is a synth funk circa 1988. As a whole, Kravitz is again trying to spin a vamp into a song like Prince - and in turn sounding too close to His Royal Badness. (You thought the James Brown sax solo was a stretch? Eric Leeds laid down those with the late great Prince for years.) The Modern Rock/Soul hybrid "Human" fares a little better musically, but lyrically is repetitive (three separate portions are repeated?) and pedestrian ("I'm gonna live my truth in this life/I'm not gonna live a lie.") Happy Sixtieth.
LA LUZ - News Of The Universe [ORANGE CRUSH LP/CD](SubPop/AMPED) • On their sixth album, La Luz sheds their Surf-y Rock sway for a late-Sixties Psychedelic Haze. The harmonies have always been there. However cast in this gauzy production of twirling guitar lines, "News" is a dreamy return to Sunshine Pop ("I'll Go With You") and the haunted musings of the dulcet female singers like Karen Dalton. Working with Spacemoth's Maryam Qudos, this "Universe" is a wide-open panoply of sounds all bathing in that slightly harsh mellow of 1968.
GIRL AND GIRL - Call The Doctor [WHITE LP/CD](SubPop/AMPED) • One of the coolest debuts of the 2024 have been the singles of this uptempo but never overbearing Australian band. Girl and Girl needs no angular breaks, the amphetamine jangle and insistent drums are often all the power necessary. Each jittery blast echoes like Folk/Rock and sticks to your teeth like Bubblegum. The bullet train hook on "Hello" is still thrilling after months of play. Kai James' gargly vocals and Auntie Liss (really a relation) pounds away behind the simplest and spikiest riffs they cobble together. "Mother" is a little more organized and therefore more catchy in how the members volley the riff around each other. As James paces them through the song, Girl and Girl layer their parts and dropouts to let it sink in. Yet another Aussie band that is reformulating Rock to move into the next iteration.
DIIV - Frog In Boiling Water [GREEN LP/CD] (Fantasy) • Now that Shoegaze is everywhere again, it is fitting that DIIV makes its glorious comeback. Not as electrifying as their lost classic "Doused" (from 2012's "Oshin,") "Frog" is a controlled burn. The title cut wants to build slowly and methodically like both BritPop and Nineties Shoegaze. With excellent production from Chris Coady, Zachary Cole Smith's double-tracked whispers are mixed to trade places with soaring guitars. The effect is entrancing especially when they push the fantastic single "Brown Paper Bag" every skyward without you ever feeling the volume shift.
