{{Short description|Play written by W. B. Yeats}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{use Hiberno-English|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox play | name = On Baile's Strand | image = In the Sevens Woods by W. B. Yeats, Dun Emer Press, 1903.jpg | alt = | caption = '''''On Baile's Strand''''' was first published in the 1903 poetry volume ''[[In the Seven Woods]]'' (cover pictured) | writer = [[W. B. Yeats]] | chorus = | characters = {{unbulleted list|[[Cuchulain]]}} | mute = | setting = | premiere = {{Start date|df=yes|1904|12|27}} | place = [[Abbey Theatre]] | orig_lang = English | series = | subject = Irish folklore | genre = | web = }} '''''On Baile's Strand''''' is a play written by [[W. B. Yeats]] and first printed in ''[[In the Seven Woods]]'' published by [[Dun Emer Press]] in 1903.<ref name="jeffares">{{cite book|last1=Jeffares|first1=Alexander Norman|last2=Knowland|first2=A. S.|title=A Commentary on the Collected Plays of W. B. Yeats|date=1975|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=0-804-70875-4|pages=99–100|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeWeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA99}}</ref> The play was first performed at the grand opening of the [[Abbey Theatre]] on 27 December 1904.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Welch|first1=Robert|title=The Abbey Theatre, 1899-1999|date=2003|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=0-199-26135-0|page=32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=64kGuhailksC&pg=PA32}}</ref> The play is based around the Irish mythological hero [[Cuchulain]].<ref name="jeffares"/>
==History== The story is based on the early Irish folk story ''[[Aided Óenfhir Aífe]]'', but with significant changes to the tale, including the addition of a comic subplot. The play received significant revision in 1905.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Owens|first1=Cóilín|title=Irish Drama, 1900-1980|date=1990|publisher=[[Catholic University of America Press]]|isbn=0-813-20705-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/irishdrama19001900owen/page/41 41]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/irishdrama19001900owen/page/41}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishplayography.com/play.aspx?playid=32034|title=On Baile's Strand|website=www.irishplayography.com|access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref>
=== 1938 production === The play was performed again on 4 April 1938. W. B. Yeats's daughter [[Anne Yeats]] designed for this second production, taking responsibility for the setting and costumes. Anne Yeats was 19 when she produced the second performance of ''On Baile's Strand''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Abbey Theatre programme|publisher=Abbey Theatre|year=1938|location=Dublin}}</ref> Anne Yeats designed many character sketches in a number of notebooks she kept, which are held at the archives of the National Gallery of Ireland; these sketches include designs for ''Cuchulain'', played by [[Liam Redmond]].{{fact|date=February 2026}}
Other characters include:
* A Blind Man (William O'Gorman) * A Fool ([[Cyril Cusack]]) * [[Conchobar mac Nessa|Conchubar]] (John Stephenson) * A Young Man ([[Wilfrid Brambell]]) * Young kings and Old Kings (Malachi Keegan, Denis O'Neill, J. Winter, F. Webster, Frank Carney, Patrick H. Considine) * Three Women (Ann Clery, Gertrude Quinn, Kathleen O'Byrne) * Servant ([[Peggy Cummins]])<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{wikisource|On Baile's Strand}} {{Gutenberg book|no=41102|name=On Baile's Strand}} ** [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41102/41102-h/41102-h.htm#ON_BAILES_STRAND ''On Baile's Strand''], direct HTML link, at [[Project Gutenberg]]
{{W. B. Yeats}}
[[Category:Plays by W. B. Yeats]] [[Category:1903 plays]] [[Category:Works based on the Ulster Cycle]]