The Shaughraun

Robert Ffolliott, fiancee of Arte O’Neil, has returned to Ireland after escaping from prison in Australia. Robert, an innocent local gentleman, has been convicted as a Fenian fugitive but it soon becomes clear that he is no such thing. The villain Kinchela, Robert’s fake friend, tries to hunt Robert down and arrest him – his main motive being greed for Robert’s estate & his desire for Arte, Robert’s fiancee. With the help of Conn the Shaughraun Robert escapes various melodramatic cliffhanger situations.

Meanwhile, Robert’s sister, Claire, is in love with an English soldier, Captain Molineaux, who is tracking down Fenians in the area. She cannot decide whether or not to protect her brother or betray the Captain – her heart is torn in two – family loyalty or true love.

Written in 1874 by the Irish master of melodrama Dion Boucicault, the themes in this play still ring true – from vulture bankers, rising rents and homelessness, to Anglo-Irish relations and impending Brexit doom. But can love conquer all? That is the question… Smock Alley’s production is a modernisation of this melodrama, musically underscored and imagining ourselves in another post crash Ireland. Is history always destined to repeat itself?

A heart-racing, fast-paced, comedy of sorrows, incorporating hunger, greed, love, loyalty, and a fall off a cliff!