SOURCE: Flannery, James W. “W. B. Yeats and the Abbey Theatre Company.” Educational Theatre Journal 27, no. 2 (May 1972): 179-96.

In the following essay, Flannery considers the political context in which the Abbey was established, focusing particularly on conflicts about the artistic vision the Abbey was to follow.

1902-1905: the Politics of Creating a Theatre

From the very outset of his dramatic endeavors Yeats was determined to have his own theatre. After unsuccessful attempts to produce his plays in London during the 1890s and in Dublin with imported English professional actors at the Irish Literary Theatre (1899-1901), he set out to achieve his original intention with a plan of action that was as skillful as it was bold.¹ Yeats turned his attention in 1902 to a politically motivated Irish company of amateur actors under the direction of Frank and William Fay. Within a year Yeats secured a certain measure of control...