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Sometime in the latter part of the 18th century, Brian Merryman wrote a poem in Irish called “Cuirt an Mhean Oiche”. After Frank O’Connor translated it into English in 1945, the work was banned by the British Censorship Board. The forgetfulness of a tourist who left behind in a hostel I was care-taking a copy of a David Marcus translation led me to stage what was regarded as the hit of the Galway Arts Festival in 1992 when it was first produced by the Druid Theater Company. Since then, it has gone on to tour with more than 150 performances throughout Ireland. During an interview with Bernie Ni Fhlatharta of the Connacht Tribune after the first run, Bernie expressed a wish that some day I would have the courage to put it on as a one-man show. This will be my project for the next few months. I will have to start from the new because what worked for the big show with four women singers and two male singers will not sustain as a one-man show. In keeping with the past I will draw from the traditional repertoire and compose new music in different time signatures to keep the pace and variety that will keep the audience interest and best deliver Merryman’s story. The absence of a backing band will leave far more room for the lyric to speak for itself. It will not be confined by the strictures of time and can wander from spoken parts to the music and rhythms of varied music styles. The lyric will have room to breath, and as a result the humour far more accessible to the audience. The story is that of a poet, who falls asleep and dreams he has been put on trial by the women of Ireland. It is a very gutsy piece and bawdy in parts without being offensive. It has something for everybody. The story line carries the audience along, with loads of humour, earthy lyrics, and a very feminine message considering the lyrics and music were written by two men. In many ways, this poem will always be timeless and takes a swipe at celibacy and political corruption. It is as true today as when it was first written centuries ago. The scandal of Bishop Casey hit the headlines while the production was still in rehearsal so the timing seemed predestined. During a subsequent run in Galway beginning on Good Friday, the show was deemed controversial and was taken right out of the league of “just another show” when the national newspapers took up the Protestant ministers’ objection to its performance. The show was last performed throughout Ireland at the request of Cumann Merryman in 2005 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Brian Merryman’s death. The show runs about 1 hour and 30 minutes with an intermission. It can be performed acoustically or with sound equipment depending on venue and acoustics. What follows are some of the reviews of what has been said of the show in the past: “The poem was given a dramatic presentation with all the boost and blast-off that song and music and topical allusion can provide. The psychosexual demons were no longer at bay but rampant and fully recognized. Orpheus had been re-membered in Ireland” Seamus Heaney - Nobel Poet Laureate “Sean Tyrrell’s rich musical settings were a continuing delight, while he carried off the chief acting honors.” Paddy Woodworth - Irish Times “Sean Tyrrell plays Mandolin, Mando cello, Banjo, and Tenor guitar disguised it seems as Leon Redbone. The music a light mix of Celtic blues with an encompassing palette for pastiche.” Ian Hill - The Guardian “The best night I’ve had for years in or out of bed was in Flagmount in East Clare last summer. The pleasure out of bed came courtesy mainly of Sean Tyrrell. I motored down from Derry for the production of Brian Merryman’s classic The Midnight Court, set to music by Sean. It was boisterous, colorful, risqué, raunchy, hilarious, melodious, and was sexy.” Eamonn Mc Cann - HotPress “Tyrrell gives it an easy syncopated rhythm lulling us into the story. It’s like The Jerry Springer Show but sung in rhyme. Tyrrell is as irreverent as Merryman is with social mores and together they take us through a delicious litany of sexual scenarios sung in styles that veer from calypso to gospel, from Thin Lizzy to Clannad.” Colin Murphy – Village “This is, in fact, a musical, a sort of poetical opera given a definite dramatic shape and vividly counterpoised.” Fred Johnson - Galway Advertiser |
