The Old Lady Says ‘No!’

Old Lady Says ‘No!’, The

    Alternative Title: Shadowdance

    Author: Denis Johnston

    First Performance: 1929, Dublin

    Published: 1932

    Genre: Drama in 2 parts with choral interludes; prose with some verse and songs

    Setting: Dublin, 1803, and 1920s

    Cast: 10m, 10f

A Speaker representing Robert Emmet on the night of his failed rebellion of 1803 gives stirring speeches about Irish nationalism and delays his escape while he bids farewell to his fiancée. He is arrested by English soldiers, in the course of which the Speaker is wounded in the head. A doctor is called from the audience to attend to him. The Speaker begins to dream of mustering his men, who whisper jumbled phrases in rhythm. He then meets the 18th-century nationalist politician Henry Grattan, interspersed with...

[The entire page is 346 words long]

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