THE RISING OF THE MOON
by Lady Gregory, 1906 (online edition updated 2021)
Welcome, teachers!
Lady Gregory’s classic black comedy first debuted on Dublin stages in 1907, yet its themes of police repression and cultural identity remain hauntingly relevant today.
Today in 2021 America, we struggle with how and when to broach sensitive topics around policing and power. The simplistic narrative of "good police, bad prisoner" prevents students from developing critical thinking around important issues they encouter in the news, in popluar culture, and in their daily lives.
A gentle play in one act, The Rising of the Moon contains no profanity or explicit bigotry. Violence is threatened, but no blood is shed. While these are sketches of characters, existing only for a short play, Lady Gregory takes care to give both the policeman and the revolutionary their humanity. Importantly, both characters work at seeing the humanity in each other, even as their professions and creeds cast them as enemies.
This micro-site within Bicycle Comics will remain up and free of charge until March 25, 2022. Enjoy the play.
Front Cover & Frontmatter
Introduction to the Play
Epigraph & Cast
Script of the Play
Playwright's Notes from Lady Gregory
Glossary of Irish Gaelic Terms
Educational Materials
Backmatter & Back Cover
Answer keys for the classroom excercises are available below.
Answer Keys
Scavenger Hunt Questions
1. Our community and family will be mad at us for catching him, even though that's our job.
Policeman X: And if we get him itself, nothing but abuse on our heads for it from the people, and maybe from our own relations.
Sergeant: Well, we have to do our duty in the force.
2. I shouldn't claim a reward, because it helps my job if people think of me as poor.
Man: Is it a poor man like me, that has to be going the roads and singing in fairs, to have the name on him that he took a reward? But you don’t want me. I’ll be safer in the town.
3. Someday, people like me will be running this country, not you.
Man: Well, good-night, comrade, and thank you. You did me a good turn to-night, and I’m obliged to you. Maybe I’ll be able to do as much for you when the small rise up and the big fall down…when we all change places at the Rising of the Moon.
Reading Comprehension and Discussion Questions
1. Nobody in this play has a name. What's up with that?
Several answers possible. The characters have "everyman" archteypes so that the audience sees them as representations of state power (the Sergeant and Policemen) and of the common people (Ragged Man).
Also, giving the ragged man a name would invalidate a major plot point: his secret identity. He does reveal the name "Jimmy Walsh," but presumably that isn't his real name, as the Sergeant doesn't recognize it from the poster. (Surely the poster has the fugitive's real name on it.)
2. What names would you give the characters if you had the option? Why?
(Many answers possible.)
3. The specific crime the fugitive has been gaoled for is never stated in the play. What do you think he did? Why do you think so?
It is almost surely a political crime. The idea that the common people will be dismayed at the fugitive's recapture (…nothing but abuse on our heads for it from the people, and maybe from our own relations.") bars the possibility that he was arrested for purse-snatching, forgery, or assault. Plus, the Ragged Man sings songs about “Granuaille,” the Irish rebellion leader. He'd be unlikely to invoke her if he were a common thief. When the Sergeant decides to protect and free the fugitive, it is partly in response to the fugitive's declaration that the Sergeant is a “friend of Granuaille.”
“Jimmy Walsh” lists numerous crimes committed by the fugitive—all of them crimes against state power such as killing a policeman or even attacking a police barracks. These claims might be truthful, might be extravagant, but they mesh neatly with the Sergeant's own fears about the fugitive.
4. Why does the Sergeant allow the Ragged Man to escape?
This is a key point, perhaps the main point, of the play. The Ragged Man is willing to use force to escape if he needs to. Stage directions clearly suggest he is reaching for a weapon as he says "I thought to do it with my tongue." Crucially, however, it is the common cultural and musical background that the Ragged Man has invoked which evoke sympathy in the Sergeant. The Sergeant's change of heart is voluntary and sincere, even if it may only be temporary.
View the complete play online