''The Shadow of a Gunman'' is a 1923

tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a seriou ...

play by

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. ...

set during the Irish War of Independence. It centres on the mistaken identity of a building tenant who is thought to be an

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

assassin. It is the first in O'Casey's "Dublin Trilogy" - the other two being '' Juno and the Paycock'' (1924) and ''

The Plough and the Stars ''The Plough and the Stars'' is a four-act play by the Irish writer Seán O'Casey that was first performed on 8 February 1926 at the Abbey Theatre. It is set in Dublin and addresses the 1916 Easter Rising. The play's title references the Sta ...

'' (1926).

Setting

Dublin. May 1920. Each act takes place in Seumus Shield's room in a tenement in Hilljoy Square.

Synopsis

Donal Davoren is a poet who has come to room with Seumus Shields in a poor, Dublin tenement slum. Many of the residents of the tenement mistake Donal for an

gunman on the run. Donal does not refute this notoriety, especially when it wins him the affection of Minnie Powell, an attractive young woman in the tenement. Meanwhile, Seumus' business partner, Mr Maguire drops a bag off at Seumus' apartment before participating in an ambush in which he is killed. Seumus thinks the bag contains household items for re-sale. The city is put under curfew as a result of the ambush. The

Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

raid the tenement and, at that point, Donal and Seumus discover the bag is full of

Mills bomb "Mills bomb" is the popular name for a series of British hand grenades which were designed by William Mills. They were the first modern fragmentation grenades used by the British Army and saw widespread use in the First and Second World Wa ...

s. Minnie Powell takes the bag and hides it in her own room. The Black and Tans find nothing of note in Seumus' room, but arrest Minnie Powell, who is later shot and killed trying to escape.

Characters

*Donal Davoren (Dan)- a poet living with Seumus in the tenement. Some of the residents suspect he has an affiliation with the

. *Seumus Shields - a lazy pedlar of about thirty five disillusioned over the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

cause he supports who wishes the

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

will end. *Tommy Owens - a younger man of twenty five that is enamored with the Republican effort. *Adolphus Grigson (Dolphie)- an alcoholic resident of the tenement; a self-proclaimed " Orangeman", Grigson's

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

exemplified by his Bible and his picture of King William triumphant at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

hanging on the wall doesn't exempt him from being harassed by the

. *Mrs Debby Grigson - Adolphus's wife. *Minnie Powell - a woman of twenty three that fawns over Davoran by virtue of his supposed

connections; she is sardonically equated to Kathleen Ni Houlihan, the symbol of Irish nationalism. *Mr Mulligan - the landlord of the tenement. *Mr Maguire - an

volunteer and friend of Seumus. *Mrs Julia Henderson - a resident of a neighboring tenement and a champion of Mr Gallogher's plea. *Mr James Gallogher - a resident of a neighboring tenement seeking the

's help. *An Auxiliary - a soldier of the Auxiliary Division

Performances, adaptations and allusions

* The first performance in England was given in 1958 at the Progress Theatre in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

Television adaptations

* A 1972 televised version starred

Frank Converse Frank Converse (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor. Early life Converse was born in 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1962, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in ...

and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winner Richard Dreyfuss. * In 1973,

Alvin Rakoff Alvin Rakoff (born Abraham Rakoff; February 6, 1927) is a Canadian director of film, television and theatre productions. He has worked with actors including Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers, Sean Connery, Judi Dench, Rex Harrison, Rod Steiger, Hen ...

directed a televised version for BBC2 starring Stephen Rea, Sinéad Cusack &

Donal McCann Donal McCann (7 May 1943 – 17 July 1999) was an Irish stage, film, and television actor best known for his roles in the works of Brian Friel and for his lead role in John Huston's last film, '' The Dead''. In 2020, he was listed as number ...

. * In 1992

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

, Stephen Rea and

Bronagh Gallagher Bronagh Gallagher (born 26 April 1972) is an Irish singer and actress from Northern Ireland. Gallagher had her first acting role in the 1989 television movie '' Dear Sarah''. In 2020, she was listed at number 33 on ''The Irish Times'' list of I ...

starred in an adaption as part of the 1992 BBC2 ''Performance'' series.

In popular culture

* In the music video for

The Adventures The Adventures were a Northern Irish rock/pop band, formed in Belfast in 1984 who had a number of hits during the 1980s and early 1990s. The band moved to London where they signed to Chrysalis Records and released their first single in 198 ...

song "Send My Heart" (1984), the lead character is seen trying out for a version of the play.

External links

* The full text of
The Shadow of a Gunman
' at

HathiTrust Digital Library HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow of a Gunman 1923 plays Fiction set in 1920 Plays by Seán O'Casey Plays set during the Irish War of Independence Plays set in Dublin (city) Works about the Irish Republican Army