Seán O'Casey’s The Plough and the Stars provoked some of the most visceral theatrical controversies in Ireland in the mid-1920s, and Barry Fitzgerald found himself at the center of the storm. The play’s 1926 Abbey Theatre performances infuriated nationalist and religious factions in Dublin—what began as vocal protests escalated into riots and sustained public outrage. One night in February 1926 the fury turned specifically toward Fitzgerald: three gunmen turned up at his mother’s house with the apparent intention of kidnapping him to halt the production. They were unable to find him, but the incident encapsulated how a piece of theatre could ignite violent social and political backlash and place actors’ personal safety at risk.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1920s
Gunmen, Riots and a Kidnapping Plot: The 1926 Backlash to The Plough and the Stars
The Plough and the Stars (play) / Barry Fitzgerald / 1920s
Seán O'Casey’s The Plough and the Stars provoked some of the most visceral theatrical controversies in Ireland in the mid-1920s, and Barry Fitzgerald found himself at the center of the storm. The play’s 1926 Abbey Theatre performances infuriated nationalist and religious factions in Dublin—what began as vocal protests escalated into riots and sustained public outrage. One night in February 1926 the fury turned specifically toward Fitzgerald: three gunmen turned up at his mother’s house with the apparent intention of kidnapping him to halt the production. They were unable to find him, but the incident encapsulated how a piece of theatre could ignite violent social and political backlash and place actors’ personal safety at risk.
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