Lady Betty

Lady Betty

Written by Declan Donnellan
Performed in English
1989

The true story of Ireland’s only hangwoman. How she murdered her son. How she escaped the gallows and how she ended her days as Queen of the long drop in Roscommon Gaol.

Set in the West of Ireland around the time of the French Revolution, this visceral tale is beaten out in words, music and dance.

Written by Declan Donnellan, with music by Paddy Cunneen. Produced by Cheek by Jowl. The first performance of Lady Betty was at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds on 18th September 1989.

“A dark dance of survival presented with refined wit and audacity”
The Observer

Cast

Name	Character
Sally Dexter	Betty
Tim McMullan	John / Oliver / Captain Mills
Gerard O’Hare	Father Malloy / Michael Flynn
Catherine White	Night / Bridie O’Byrne
Lawrence Evans	Silence / George / Reverend Blakeney
Phil McKee	Cold / Liamog Hanrahan
Roy McBride	O’Leary / Liam Hanrahan
Charlotte Medcalf	Mrs Mills / Peggy Hanrahan
Patrick Toomey	Dunno / Christie O’Flaherty

Creative Team

Role	Name
Director	Declan Donnellan
Designer	Nick Ormerod
Musical Director	Paddy Cunneen
Movement Director	Jane Gibson
Lighting Designer	Ben Ormerod
Company Stage Manager	Louise Yeomans
Dialect Coach	Sally Grace

Previous Performances

Date (first performance)	Location	No. of performances
28 November 1989	London, Almeida Theatre, UK	27
6 November 1989	Chichester, Festival Theatre, UK	6
30 October 1989	Basildon, Towngate Theatre, UK	6
24 October 1989	Scunthorpe, Civic Theatre, UK	5
16 October 1989	Winchester, Theatre Royal, UK	7
9 October 1989	Taunton, Brewhouse Theatre, UK	7
3 October 1989	Bracknell, Wilde Theatre, UK	5
25 September 1989	Cambridge, Cambridge Arts Theatre, UK	7
18 September 1989	Bury St Edmunds, Theatre Royal, UK	6

Reviews

“A drama which will haunt the memory of those who see it for a long time to come…Donnellan’s play and his own atmospheric staging, has the haunting power of a myth.”
Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph

“Narrative links are condensed in song and terse dialogue, so that concentration is fierce of the crucial flash points in the story…Of the highest class.”
Michael Coveney, The Financial Times

“A dark dance of survival presented with the refined wit and audacity of the company’s style.”
Michael Ratcliffe, The Observer

“Declan Donnellan’s first play is a wild, poetic piece of Irish drama as earthy as the peat bog, as sharp as the smell of smouldering sod and as vigorous as a fiercely danced jig… challenging and exhilarating, this is powerful stuff.”
Time Out

Production photo — Photograph: Simon Annand

“A wild, poetic piece of Irish drama as earthy as the peat bog, as sharp as the smell of smouldering sod and as vigorous as a fiercely danced jig… challenging and exhilarating, this is powerful stuff”
Time Out

The majestic egalitarianism of the law, which forbids the rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

Anatole France, Le Lys Rouge, 1894