In the Shadow of the Glen

In the Shadow of the Glen is a one-act play by J.M. Synge ()[].

Also known as The Shadow of the Glen

The original text

Set in an isolated cottage in County Wicklow in what was then the present day (c. 1903), the play

It was the first of Synge's plays to be performed on stage, opening at the Molesworth Hall, Dublin, on October 8, 1903.

Published in Collected Plays by John M. Synge (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books) in 1952.

Translations and adaptations

Ugandan playwright Erisa Kironde's English play The Trick[1] is based on Synge's play, transposing the action to an African setting.

A free Afrikaans translation and radical adaptation of Synge's work called Onder die Brandberg (lit: "Under the burnt mountain"), was done by Temple Hauptfleisch in the late 1970s, transferring the time to the 1970s and the setting to an isolated farm the Karoo.

Performed by Pretoria Teachers' Training College, directed by Thea de Kock : 1980, 1981)A free Afrikaans translation and adaptation of the play The piece is unpublished, but was performed in the Pretoria Kleinteater by students of the Pretoria Teachers' Training College, directed by Thea de Kock.

Performance history in South Africa

1976: Performed as part of a double bill of plays by J.M. Synge (along with Riders to the Sea), directed by Beth Dickerson in April 1976, featuring Ian Roberts and others.

1980/81: Onder die Brandberg, the Afrikaans adaptation, performed in the Pretoria Kleinteater by students of the Pretoria Teachers' Training College, directed by Thea de Kock.