Ian Hutton THE 390 Presentation Overview

The Irish audience who saw BBOC at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1998 came to see the production with a specific worldview. Their worldview was based on what was happening to Ireland at this time, which is what has been referred to as the Celtic Tiger Era. This was a period of rapid change during the 1980s and 90s in Ireland: o The highest growth of per capita income of any nation in the European Union o When the century ended, 3000 farmers a year were leaving the land. (Foster, 26)

o The nightly rosary was slowly being displaced by the impact of television on family life (Foster, 37) o The role of Catholicism was changing dramatically As late as 1990, it could be claimed that 85% of the Irish adult population attended church once weekly; but by 1997this had fallen to 65%, and far lower than that among the urban young. (Foster, 57) Land Ownership o One of the most important parts of rural Irish society o Referred to time and time again in the play o Thomas OHanlon underscores the importance of land to the Irish when he says: Land has been to the Irish what hidden gold was to the hard-rock miners of the Klondikethe mother lode (OHanlon, 45). o Represents power, status, and family continuity o What makes Xavier important in the community and what Carthage wants by marrying Caroline o Large part of the struggle between Hester and Carthage o Regarding the conflict between Old Ireland (and its traditions) and Celtic Tiger Ireland, land seems to represent both aspects. In terms of old, traditional Ireland, nothing is more important in the rural areas than land and the family preservation of land.

Ian Hutton THE 390 Presentation Overview

The very greedy approaches by Carthage and Xavier, however, seem to refer more to Celtic Tiger Ireland, where the acquisition of money and property was so important. o In an interview I read, Carr emphasized the importance of land in the play, equating it with being another character I feel strongly that we need to be sure to relate to this in our production Livestock o Almost as important as land to rural Irish people o Many references to cattle throughout BBOC o In The Irish Countryman, Conrad Arensberg explains that worth of Irish farmer is measured by how many cows he has or how many his property can support o Hesters slaughter of Carthages cattle is important because it destroys what is of value to him, just as it is important to all other Irish farmers o Again, we need to make sure that we include this in our staging and make this importance clear to our audience o One way we could do this is by actually hearing the distressed sounds of the cattle as we enter Act Three Community Structure and Outsiders o This is a very small farming community, even the town seems like a strange and faraway place o Outsiders are not welcomed Hester considered outsider because of her Tinker roots Tinkers represent old Ireland According to Lawrence Millman: o Hatred of the Tinker, I think, is hatred of the past. The more violent it is, the greater the need to blot out past images, to lie about origins, to sever the connections between history and ones own person For Tinkers are like survivors from past generations of rural Ireland (Millman, 88) Another example of how Hester represents old Ireland in this play

Ian Hutton THE 390 Presentation Overview

I think that the best way to emphasize who the Tinkers are to our American audience is to write a program note explaining their origins and status in Irish society

Role of Women o Hester A complicated character, but most Critics generally agree that as a woman, she represents old, rural, traditional Ireland This quote explains this well: Carrs play is about isolated, rural, Pagan Ireland, as represented by Hester, and its struggle to maintain its traditions against the new conventions of universal modernity, as represented by her community. As the majority of the characters try to separate themselves from this older conception of the space in which they live, Hester embodies all the outmoded traditions that they are working against. By the Bog of Cats therefore illustrates the struggle between the traditions of Ireland and the recent national movement towards the European normalcy. (Kader, 167-8) o Caroline She represents the new Ireland, whereas Hester represents the old Ireland Caroline shows little interest for the farm or the land, or in anything of substance All she talks about is how disappointed she is in how her wedding with Carthage turned out, and how it was not what she had wanted: o and the weddin was goin to be in this big ballroom, with a fountain of mermaids in the middle (Plays 1, 336) It is important that Caroline represents modern Ireland in our production Possibly have props/accessories that embody this modernity (WalkMan? Cell Phone?)

Ian Hutton THE 390 Presentation Overview

Family and Marriage o Three families represented in the play: Cassidys Seem to be the pillars of their small society (at least on the surface) because of amount of land and money they possess Kilbrides Attempting to become what they see the Cassidys to be They understand that to be a laborer, and not a land owner, will keep them at the bottom of the social hierarchy Land means power and the more land one owns, the more power that he or she hasthats what the Kilbrides want and Cassidys have Swanes Seems like the dysfunctional one, but she really has more love and care and strong ties to her family than either of the other two families Religion o No institution of more historical importance to rural Ireland than religion, and more specifically the Catholic Church o Carr specifically attacks Catholicism through the wedding and references to Communion Wedding Father Willow Three different people showing up in wedding dresses the wedding scene is a direct attack on all traditional institutions of the Symbolic Order: church, state, family, and marriage are all parodied and presented by Carr as false icons (Sayn, 84) Communion (occurs in Ireland at 7) Hester left by her mother while wearing Communion dress at age 7 Josie killed by Hester while wearing her Communion dress at age 7 o Could possibly have some symbol to Catholicism in scenery (i.e. Celtic Cross)

Ian Hutton THE 390 Presentation Overview

Folklore and Superstition o Catwoman is personification of superstition vs. religion Though she is as much of an outcast as Hester, she is accepted on many levels within the community Acceptance partly due to the fact that many members of community are scared of repercussions of not including her in social functions o Important to somehow emphasize difference between Catholicism and superstition in our production, while also taking Carrs mockery of Catholicism into account Conclusion o Although not an integral part of the play, the scene between Catwoman and the Waiter in the PowerPoint sums up one of the main conflicts in the playthe conflict between old, traditional Ireland and the new, modern Irelandand the stress that this puts on the social world of the plays characters. I have found in my research that the social world of rural Ireland is in the process of being destroyed. In fact, R. F. Foster says in his book Luck & The Irish: the Ireland of 1949 might have existed on another planet when compared to the country at the turn of the millenniumit is the rate of change in the last thirty years of the twentieth century that is most bewildering. Partly because of the archaic nature of life in Ireland up to then, the shock of the new could only be all the more radical. (Foster, 3) o The Irish audience that originally saw By the Bog of Cats understood and felt this shock. While an American audience does not have this perspective, it is important that our production conveys this tension between old and new Ireland. The social world of the characters in By The Bog of Cats can best be understood with this knowledge.