The Old Lady Says No! Or Who Wounded Maud McCutcheon? - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Denis Johnston's first play took Dublin by storm and laid the foundation of the worldwide reputation of the Dublin Gate Theatre. It takes place in the mind of an actor who is playing the Irish revolutionary Robert Emmet in a traditional ...See moreDenis Johnston's first play took Dublin by storm and laid the foundation of the worldwide reputation of the Dublin Gate Theatre. It takes place in the mind of an actor who is playing the Irish revolutionary Robert Emmet in a traditional patriotic drama. The actor is knocked unconscious by accident and in his reverie he imagines he is Emmet walking the streets of present-day Dublin, confronting the jarring contrast between the myth of Ireland and modern day reality. Among the populace he encounters latter-day rebels, empty-headed youth, the self-satisfied middle classes, and the statue of the parliamentarian Henry Grattan come to life. Yeats's heroine Cathleen ni Houlihan, the symbol of Ireland, is transformed into a foul-mouthed hag of a flower seller. Emmet finds himself fighting the very people he would redeem. The play parodies the sentimental martyrdoms in Irish literature, and brings in the voices of the great Irish writers who have bequeathed so much to the world's knowledge of itself. Despite its satirical tone the play in the end eloquently presents the revolutionary's cry, "I will take this earth in both my hands and batter it into the semblance of my heart's desire." The director of this TV adaptation missed the point. The whole idea is that Sarah Curran and the Flower Woman are played by the same actor. Written by Rory Johnston See less