SOURCE: Saddlemyer, Ann. “J. M. Synge on the Irish Dramatic Movement: An Unpublished Article.” Modern Drama 24, no. 3 (September 1981): 276-81.

In the following essay, Saddlemyer discusses an unpublished essay by John Millington Synge that demonstrates Synge's commitment to Yeats's artistic principles and the ideals of the early Abbey Theatre.

During the last week of April, 1906, the Irish National Theatre Society visited the north of England for the first time, performing in the Midland Theatre, Manchester, on April 23 and 24 before proceeding to Liverpool and Leeds. As the only Director based in Dublin, Synge had been taking increasing responsibility for Abbey Theatre business, and he arranged to accompany the players on tour. He appears to have written the following article¹ while on the road or immediately after his return to Dublin, intending it for the Manchester Guardian. During the preceding year he had published two travel essays for the Guardian, and...