This week, U of M theatre students are bringing The Shaughraun to life, promising a night of fun, laughter and Irish shenanigans.
Written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault in 1874 and set on the west coast of Ireland, this melodrama follows the tale of Robert Ffolliott. Robert is deported to Australia after being falsely accused of being a Fenian — a member of an Irish movement fighting for independence from Britain. While he is away, Corry Kinchela tries to take Robert’s fiancée, but Robert escapes and finds his way back to Ireland with the help of Conn the Shaughraun (meaning “wanderer” in Irish).
Bill Kerr, the director of the play and instructor of the theatre course producing it, explained that The Shaughraun is subversive in how it celebrates Irish identity during a time when it was not viewed favourably, particularly due to Irish retaliation against the British Empire.
“It’s mentioned in the play that for the first time, the Fenian brotherhood, who are the precursors to the IRA (Irish Republican Army), have taken the battle to English soil […] There had been bombing and police officers killed [in England], and yet Boucicault was able to make this play, which celebrates the Irish and the Fenians and make it popular in England,” said Kerr.
“What Boucicault did is he took the figure of the stage Irishman, who was always seen as the fool and an idiot and the butt of all the jokes, and made him the instigator of all the jokes and the winner.”
The actors and production team have been hard at work and in rehearsal since the first week of September. Clifford Emelumba, who plays Robert, explained he focused on getting the accent and emotions of his character down.
“I have put in so much work […] to make sure that I have an Irish accent when saying my lines, and also just trying to develop the emotion I think Robert has. I’m trying to […] bring that out and make sure the audience also feels that the same way I feel it,” he said.
Sam Fergus, head of props, had to make many of the props from scratch, including a gun holster, curtains and a massive barrel.
“I had to build this crazy five-foot-tall barrel, so [there was] a lot of woodworking and a lot of painting for that project. Shane [Stewart], one of the faculty advisors, came up with the design, but in terms of all of the cuts and of attaching everything together, that would have been me.”
For Kerr, a special aspect of The Shaughraun is that, unlike other plays, he wants the audience to be a part of the viewing experience.
“There’s lots of music, there’s lots of laughs. We get to interact with the audience, and in fact, we want the audience to come and boo the villain […] The roots of melodrama are interactive, right? The audience is supposed to not sit quietly in their seats,” said Kerr.
“When you go to a movie and people are talking back to the screen and you’re like, ‘I wish people wouldn’t do that,’ but here we wish people would do that, so we’re looking forward to that experience.”
The Shaughraun runs from Nov. 26 to 29 at the John J. Conklin Theatre in the Taché Arts Complex. For tickets ($10), visit eventbrite.ca/e/the-shaughraun-by-dion-boucicault-tickets-1708750481689.
