Plays

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The Throwbacks

A supernatural comedy in three acts

OVERVIEW

  • Playwright

    Gerald Macnamara 

  • Notes

    The cast and character lists for this entry are drawn from reviews of the premiere productions. As such, they should be taken as approximate. Kathleen Danaher Parks states that this play was later presented in a rewritten form in December 1922.

  • Synopsis

    Publican, grocer, and amateur historian John McArt is convinced that he is descended from a great king. Offered a magic potion to send him to ancient Ireland, he and a friend depart in great anticipation to the year 256 AD and the royal household of King Cormac McArt. While their twentieth century bodies are submitted to a coroner's inquest and made ready for burial, in the past, John McArt is being treated miserably. There, chiefs from North, South, East and West quarrel both amongst themselves and against their monarch, while McArt himself is made a slave. Finally, he decides to return to his present, and determines to content himself with his lot.

  • Play Type

    Plays General

    Number Of Acts

    Full-Length

  • Cast Size Male

    6

  • Cast Size Female

    3

Original Production

Original Cast  
Rosie Marion Crimmins
Dan Harte Rutherford Mayne
Mr. Coffey Jackson Grahame
Denis Smith Norman Gray
Shamus Burns Lawrence McLarnon
Mr. McGrath Walter Kennedy
John McCart Joseph Roney
Kitty Magee Muriel Woods
Queen Bodega Oonagh O'Hagan

Rights Information

  • Copyright Expired

Source Of Information

Information for this entry has come from reviews of the premiere production, from Margaret McHenry's 'The Ulster Theatre in Ireland', and from Kathleen Danaher Parks' 'Gerald Macnamara: Ulster Playwright'.