Skip to main content
My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

THE TAILOR AND ANSTY Returns to The New Theatre

By:

Following its sold out national tour, The Tailor and Ansty return for 9 performances only.

The Tailor and Ansty by Eric Cross was first published as a book in 1942 and banned in Ireland shortly afterwards. The banning, on the grounds of alleged indecency and obscenity, was to lay bare once again the absurdity that was Irish censorship. In the ensuing four-day debate in The Senate, one Senator, who claimed to have read all authors "from Rabelais down", said he had never read a "finer collection of smut".

The Tailor, Timothy Buckley,(Ronan Wilmot) was a great seanchi (storyteller) and he and his wife Ansty (Ena May) used to hold court in their cottage near Gougane Barra in West Cork, welcoming all to their fireside. The Tailor never travelled further than Scotland, yet the breadth of the world could not contain the wealth of his humour and fantasy. His stories on marriages, inquests, matchmaking, wakes and their black cow were told to a nightly packed cottage.

The subsequent banning of the book led to the Tailor and Ansty being visited by three of the local clergy, who forced him to burn his copy of the book in his own fireplace. Tragically the couple were then ostracised by some of their own community. Many of the tailor's stories reflected his own love of nature and had a raw vitality, humour and sexuality out of step with the mores of the time. The Tailor, Timothy Buckley (1860-1945) and his wife, Ansty (died 1947), are buried in the small graveyard by the lake in the beautiful valley of Gougane Barra, West Cork.

This latest production by The New Theatre played for three highly successful summer seasons at Gougane Barra in 2005/6,/8 followed By its UK premiere at THE OLD RED LION ISLINGTON,LONDON in the summer of 2008 for 4 weeks. It had a successful run at Fota House, Cork last summer.

THE TAILOR AND ANSTY by Eric Cross, adapted by P J O'Connor

Feb 18th - 27th @ 8pm

No show on Sunday
Tickets: €15 / 10 (concs)

BOX OFFICE

TEL: 01-6703361
Email:info@thenewtheatre.com

For more information, click here.





Don't Miss a Ireland News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...


BroadwayWorld TV


Heathers the Musical in Ireland Heathers the Musical
Bord Gais Energy Theatre (11/17-11/21)
Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage in Ireland Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage
Bord Gais Energy Theatre (3/02-3/13)
Give My Head Peace in Ireland Give My Head Peace
Vicar Street (4/04-4/04)
Cana Talks: Optimal Horizons in Ireland Cana Talks: Optimal Horizons
Opium (10/08-10/08)
Disney Princess: the Concert in Ireland Disney Princess: the Concert
3Olympia Theatre (4/21-4/22)
Murder Trial Tonight V - Death in the Family in Ireland Murder Trial Tonight V - Death in the Family
3Olympia Theatre (3/08-3/08)
Steve Steinman''s Bat! Bat Out of Hell 50th Anniversary Tour in Ireland Steve Steinman''s Bat! Bat Out of Hell 50th Anniversary Tour
3Olympia Theatre (10/20-10/20)
Through Irish Eyes in Ireland Through Irish Eyes
The Everyman (7/01-7/04)
Cats in Ireland Cats
Bord Gais Energy Theatre (3/16-3/20)
Two MR PS In a Podcast: Live - Let That Be a Lesson in Ireland Two MR PS In a Podcast: Live - Let That Be a Lesson
Ambassador Theatre (2/27-2/27)