Juno And The Paycock by Sean O'Casey

Poster

The peacock said, 'What is the point of this silent beauty, if I am defeated by the sound of my own voice?' 'Your lot in life has been assigned by the decision of the Fates,' said Juno. 'You have been allotted beauty; the eagle, strength; the nightingale, harmony; the raven has been assigned prophetic signs, while unfavourable omens are assigned to the crow; and so each is content with his own particular gift.'

Do not strive for something that was not given to you, lest your disappointed expectations become mired in discontent (source: Aesop's Fables).

Juno and the Peacock, a searing, realistic drama about the everyday impact of the Irish Civil War that premiered on March 3, 1923 at the Abbey Theatre, was recognized as a classic instantly.

CAPTAIN BOYLE is "Captain" by virtue of a single trip made as a seaman on a collier bound from London to Liverpool. He is usually known to his neighbours, however, as the "paycock" on account of his strutting, consequential gait. He is a worthless toper and idler, but withal, possesses a certain rough eloquence of expression. He and his crony, Joxer, spend most of their time drinking in "pubs" or playing cards in the Boyle flat, where Joxer flatters him to his face and steals from behind his back. Boyle has nicknamed his wife "Juno" because she "was born and christened in June. I met her in June; we were married in June an' Johnny was born in June."

About "captain" Jack Boyle

He is a man of about sixty; stout, grey-haired and stocky. His neck is short, and his head looks like a stone ball that one sometimes sees on top of a gate-post. His cheeks, reddish-purple, are puffed out, as if he were always repressing an almost irrepressible ejaculation. On his upper lip is a crisp, tightly cropped moustache; he carries himself with the upper part of his body slightly throwsn back, and his stomach slightly thrust forward. His walk is a slow, consequential strut. His clothes are dingy, and he wears a faded seaman's-cap with a glazed peak (Sean O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock).

CHARACTER	ACTOR	CHARACTER	ACTOR
Directed by Howard Davies Designed by Bob Crowley Sound Ben Delaney Lighting James Farncombe Composer Anne Rice
Captain Jack Boyle	Ciarán Hinds	Juno	Sinéad Cusack
Maisie Madigan	Janet Moran	Joxer Daly	Risteárd Cooper
Johnny Boyle	Ronan Raftery	Mrs Tancred	Bernadette McKenna
Mary Boyle	Clare Dunne	First neighbour	Gillian McCarthy
An Irregular mobilizer	Kevin Murphy	Second Irregular	Kieran Gough
Charlie Bentham	Nick Lee	Second neighbour	Sophie Robinson
Jerry Devine	Tom Vaughan Lawlor