Abbey Theatre press cuttings books

The subgroup contains a chronological sequence of 10 press cuttings books, compiled by AEFH, which fully document the history of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, from its inception to 1913, and chart selective events between 1913 and 1930. The cuttings are taken from a broad range of publications, both local and national. They consist of reviews of National Theatre Society productions, staged both at the Abbey Theatre and on tour - in other Irish towns, on mainland Britain (including their annual London season), and during 3 visits to the USA; also included are a wide variety of features, articles and reports, on such topics as the history of the Society and important events associated with it, individual figures involved in the theatre, and drama in general.

The scrapbooks provide ample scope for research into the history of the first repertory theatre in the UK and associated subject areas. The cuttings chart the reception of the Irish plays by various critics in different areas and countries, as well as the impact made by the players' new, more naturalistic, acting style. The company's changing repertoire is illustrated, revealing the extent to which the directors' own plays dominated their list of productions, as well as documenting the emergence of new playwrights and the fate of each play - some proving failures, others winning enduring success and enjoying repeated revivals. From the outset the Abbey Theatre was the centre of controversy, and all the major controversial events and issues are illustrated in the cuttings, such as the furore surrounding the first production of Synge's Playboy of the Western World, various other storms of protest at the portrayal of Irish peasants, and the censorship issues raised by the staging of Shaw's The Showing up of Blanco Posnet which had been banned by the English censor. The general mood and political climate in Ireland is reflected in the volumes, illustrating all too well the impossibility of divorcing the national theatre from politics, as AEFH had intended. The scrapbooks also yield information on playwrights, actors and managers connected with the theatre, such as Yeats and Lady Gregory, as well as other literary and dramatic figures. AEFH herself, however, does not figure as prominently in these cuttings books as she does in those documenting the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester, with which she was more actively involved.

A number of the volumes contain articles written in French and German.

AEFH leased the Abbey Theatre premises in 1904 in order to provide a home for the Irish National Theatre Society. The Society was formally established in February 1903, with the merging of two movements. The first, the Irish Literary Theatre, was formed in 1898 by W.B. Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory and Edward Martyn, with the aim of promoting the Irish literary revival; it staged Irish plays (using English actors) on an amateur basis in various locations in Dublin. The second was the Irish National Dramatic Company, founded by the brothers W[illie] G. and Frank Fay - an amateur group of Irish actors and actresses, who benefited from Frank's knowledge of acting techniques and his coaching in the spoken word. With Yeats as president, the new Irish National Theatre Society produced plays by Lady Gregory and Yeats himself at the Molesworth Hall in March 1903, and undertook a visit to London in May of the same year, where they were enthusiastically received. It was at the time of their next production in Dublin, in October 1903, that AEFH became involved with the Society, when she worked on the costumes for Yeats's play, The King's Threshold; the first cuttings in her Abbey Theatre scrapbooks date from this month.

AEFH withdrew from active participation in the company in summer 1907 after disagreeing with Willie Fay over the way the company was managed, but she continued to collect cuttings relating to the Abbey even after she severed connections entirely in 1910; the articles only become more sparse around 1913, and from 1918 onwards only selective events are documented in the scrapbooks.

Cuttings have been pasted onto the unnumbered index pages at the front of each volume as well as the main numbered pages. These pages have therefore been labelled with roman numerals by the archivist to distinguish them from the arabic numbering throughout the rest of the volume and to facilitate indexing. The item descriptions which follow give a brief outline of the period covered by each volume and mention any notable topics featured in the cuttings.

The Abbey Theatre press cuttings books were previously allocated the reference numbers I-X, and the former reference is cited in each case.

Any loose items have been placed in an envelope at the front of the volume from which they came.

The Abbey Theatre cuttings books were compiled by AEFH, whose handwritten notes give the date and place of publication for each cutting they contain. The volumes remained in her possession until she donated them to the John Rylands Library, where they were accessioned in June 1918. Correspondence held in the Library archives implies that in March 1918 AEFH sent some of the cuttings books to the Library for the use of a particular studentwho was engaged in research on the theatre; she commented that she would be willing to send the student any volumes required and that there was no urgency for their return. This informal arrangement appears to have led to the official presentation of the volumes to the Library as a gift 3 months later. She evidently continued to send Abbey-related newscuttings to the Library after this date, with the intention that they should be included in the final volume.