W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and the Abbey Theatre's Irish Players Perform in Western Mass in November, 1911
In fall, 2011, esteemed Irish poet William Butler Years and fellow writer Lady Gregory came to the United States to promote Ireland's new theater movement with the Irish Players of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, where they performed in 30 venues from September through November. As part of its tour, the Irish Players performed at the Court Square Theater in Springfield, MA on Thursday, November 9, 1911. The plays included "Kathleen Ni Houlihan,' by William Butler Keats, "The Building Fund" by William Boyle and "The Rising of the Moon' by Lady Gregory. On the previous day, November 8, the Irish Players performed two shows at the Northampton Academy of Music, a matinee and evening performance. "The company has been in the United States for the past six weeks, five of them in Boston, where crities and public were fascinated by the art of the dramatists, but more by the singularly simple and effective acting of the players," wrote the Springfiel...