A Review of Allegiance By Scott Anthony Kelly

A Review of Mary Kenny’s Allegiance - By Scott Anthony Kelly 29/09/2013.

The Context and setting of the play is London 1921 during the treaty negotiations. Winston Churchill and Michael Collins meet to discuss peace after the Irish war of Independence. On many levels the play works, Collins the Revolutionary played by Rory Moran Jr, who cries out for freedom on his own terms, is the embodiment of Ireland. England the Old Empire is incarnated on stage as Churchill played by Rory Moran Senior, the father, ready to defend the realm at all costs. As I sat in the audience it was clear that these two historical figures are unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. I am entertained, The players a father and son team, no strangers to sipping brandy across a room together I’m sure, may have played this game again and again over Christmas and family gatherings. History, family, mothers, fathers, duty, and destiny bind both men together. 
After an initially frosty meeting the men begin to bond. They are warriors, soldiers, politicians and outlaws in their own time. They guzzle Napoleonic brandy, they smoke cigarettes and cigars, which of course have been rolled on the thighs of young Cuban virgins. They move from being sworn enemies to become something a lot closer to comrades perhaps even father and son. Churchill weeps telling of the death of his young daughter and its enormous effect on his life. Both men begin to crack with weariness and buckle under the pressure of the impossible situation that they are in. An agreement must be reached. Collins reveals his conception and discusses his beloved father, a seventh son of a seventh son, the healer, a farmer and a scholar. Churchill is a mans man, in the vein of Hemmingway, a lover and a warrior. He laughs in wonder as he admires, the vigour of Collins’s father, and his ability and enthusiasm to produce a child at an age when most men have descended into senility. 

Churchill is portrayed as a retiring melancholy figure, haunted by the past and unsure of his place in history. Collins as the dashing revolutionary genius, a scarlet pimpernel on his bicycle, a talented rogue whose genius, the empire wanted to keep for itself. Inside the play we have a microcosm of England and Ireland and of a dramatic and violent period in our history. The intriguing part is Collins. How does one reconstruct a ghost? Collins was an Invisible man, the head of the Irish Intelligence network, there are only a handful of photo's and some letters from which to reconstruct him. Our Collin's is a lively one, a big man, like Muhammad Ali. He is a graceful dancer whose feet shuffle like the boxer as his voice floats and stings with hints of West Cork. Rory Moran channels Collins as we first meet him, howling down a telephone which is the only detail in a sparse office consisting of a simple tiny table and chair off stage right. Collins fierce personality shoots fire down the line as he swears and screams like a crazed war corresponded, reporting from the front line of battle. Churchill in contrast has a vast office, a butler and an impressive cellar, which he and Collins thoroughly plunder. 
By the conclusion of the play they are not father and son, not Winston Churchill not Michael Collins, they are simply two old friends. Collins, a candle that burned too brightly, like James Dean or Bruce Lee. Churchill the warhorse, who eventually got a chance at a second life, knew not on that night in Hyde Park that his finest and darkest hours, were yet to come. The drama suggests, that his meeting with the Irish hero was more significant then anyone could imagine. There are no flashing lights, no gunfire, no pools of blood and no women although there is much talk of them. The writer Mary Kenny portrays Collins as a bit of a player rather unlike Meda Ryan’s “no sex please we’re Irish’, interpretation. These are men who smoke, drink, kill people and eat cream buns. There is a heroic amount of drink taken on stage, between the whisky, the brandy and the Pol Roger Champagne. Churchill is a fine and charming host, full of pomposity and raconteur. The play speeds along tightly written and if I may say so, excellently executed. I can imagine, an American tour would be a very successful venture for these accomplished players. A fine play!

Pre-theatre at the Tannery

Allegiance has teamed up with Paul Flynn of the tannery dungarvan. The Tannery, has long been regarded as one of Ireland's top restaurants. Here is the pre-theatre deal! You can really make a night of it, eat three courses of delicious food prepared by one of Irelands very best chefs and have a great night of theatre for €45. That's the 9th and 10th May in Dungarvan.

Allegiance By Deirdre Morrissey

Allegiance by Deirdre Morrissey


My fella and my best friend, has been leading a double life for the last year. One day he’s Rory Moran a photographer in Dublin and the next he’s Michael Collins the rock-star gunman from west Cork. No, he isn’t loosing his marbles; he’s an actor who is touring the country playing the part of the Irish Revolutionary hero in a play called ‘Allegiance’. His Collins is not a happy man; he knows that he’s backed into a corner with these treaty negotiations, it’s 1921, he’s stuck in London and he really doesn’t like all these English aristocrats that he’s supposed to be making peace with, ‘Lord London Derry, Birkenhead and Winston Bloody Churchill’.
Allegiance is a play written by Irish legend journalist/feminist Mary Kenny. It’s an imaginative reconstruction (drawing on historical sources) of an encounter between Michael Collins and Winston Churchill, during the treaty negotiations (1921-22) in London. Michael Fassbender and Mell Smith played the two historical giants in Kenny’s play during the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. At the moment, a collaborative effort between writer Kenny, director Jason Byrne (staff director at the Abbey Theatre from 1988 to 2000) and the father and son acting team Rory Moran Sr. & Jr. in the roles of Churchill and Collins, is touring the country with this unique show. They started with St. Johns Hall in Listowel on 31^st August 2012 and by now this guerilla theater company have visited much of the country, in a romantic throwback to the old days of the traveling fit-up shows.
This very fine play is yet to be seen by the Irish masses, even though it is of major significance to anyone with even a vague interest in Irish history. Irish politics up until recently was dominated by the pro/anti treaty question. Collins, a hero to many and a traitor to others, found himself in the tightest of squeezes, during the treaty negotiations in London, which followed the truce and the War of Independence. Collins was in effect outgunned by Churchill who was the Colonial Secretary in charge of Ireland at the time and the elder statesman in the relationship. At a point when the treaty talks seemed to be in stasis, Churchill and Collins spent a night drinking together, talking, arguing, even singing and reciting poetry. The two men emerged from this session fascinated by each other. After this, Churchill’s attitude towards Ireland softened, and he gave Collins and the Irish Free State every support he could. We all know that the outcome of the Treaty led us into the saddest period of our nations short history. Could the Civil War have been avoided? Did his friend and leader, de Velara, send Collins on a kamikaze mission to London?

The play takes place in one night in Churchill’s private residence in Hyde Park when the two great men crossed swords behind closed doors. Mary Kenny reconstructs what may have gone on that fateful night, from historical sources and documents. The fact that it’s a father and son team playing the two great men, adds a whole new dimension to the drama.
Rory G, a veteran actor of 40 years and his son have no problem tearing chunks out of each other on stage as they’ve had plenty of practice in the real world! Acting is in the Moran blood, as Terrance Moran, the Grandfather, was a celebrated actor on the Irish amateur circuit in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
I first saw the show in Omagh, in the north of Ireland. It was a sell-out and the atmosphere in the theatre was so intense, you could hear a pin drop. I loved it from start to finish. It’s an opportunity to be a fly on the wall and observe in detail this conversation, which was so important to our nations history. I would recommend anyone to go, it’s brilliant and I’m not biased, not much!  Even if you’re not a regular theatre goer you’ll find this fascinating because it explores our history in an exciting, sexy way. I felt much closer to Collins and developed a greater understanding of Churchill after watching Allegiance. 
The play isn’t funded by the arts counsel, which would usually have to be the case before someone could undertake a tour like this. Sásta Productions, which was set up specifically to get this show on the road is doing it all by themselves.
The subject matter of the play is still controversial after all these years and theatre is a fantastic way to both reveal and enliven our history for all Irish people, especially students. Edel Ni Loingsigh, Muinteoir Staire agus Gaeilge, Colaiste Daibhaid, Corcaigh said, “The Treaty Negotiations are a Case-Study for the Leaving Cert History Paper for 2013-2014 and Leaving Cert students are currently about to undertake an in-depth analysis of this topic. As I watched your play I realised that it would be a perfect way to allow students develop and deepen their understanding of the motivations and personalities of the characters involved. I am a member of HIST (History Teachers' Association of Ireland) and will be recommending it to my colleagues".
The director Jason Byrne who is more familiar with the works of Chekhov, Shakespeare and Becket, claims that  “It’s a well written play and we’ve found a way to make a dead story, come alive. Even though we all know that the story ends sadly, with Civil War and Michael Collins’s tragic assassination, each night on stage there are moments when it looks like Churchill is rattled and that Collins’ argument is so strong, so true and so compelling that history might just be changed.”
The play itself is a historical document. It's about two very charismatic historical characters, republican and imperialist: and it’s about something, which must continue to be done in our world today, whenever political negotiations arise from conflict.
Rory S, that’s my fella, concludes that, “The theme of the play is just as relevant today as ever because countries all over Europe are negotiating their future with a European super-state. Our leaders are now exchanging sovereignty for the promise of economic stability. Our national politicians are outgunned and outranked by continental, super politicians. We can only hope that our leaders will try, like I believe Collins did, to get the best deal they can for our country within the boundaries of real politics.”

Allegiance will be performed at The Waterside Theatre in Derry on Friday the 26th April and The Town Hall theatre in Dungarvan on Thursday 9^th and Friday 10^th May. Tickets are available at Forde’s Topaz garage on the Cork Road and The Lady Belle in Grattan Square.

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