Sword Against the Sea

Sword Against the Sea is an adaptation of William Butler Yeats’ six one-act plays and some of his most stirring poems about the Celtic hero Cuchulain. Arranged in the chronological order of Cuchulain’s life and drawing exclusively on Yeats’ own magnificent poetry, this two-act play presents the hero’s failed attempt as a young man to achieve eternal life at the Hawk’s Well; his tragic slaying of his own son and the realization that drives him in despair to fight the sea; his wife Emer’s noble sacrifice to save his life by renouncing her love; and Cuchulain’s death and spiritual transcendence as an aged warrior. Like the original Yeats’ Cuchulain plays themselves, this adaptation calls for collaborations among different kinds of artists in the creation of masks, the use of dance and the possibility of including instrumental and sung music. These Cuchulain plays and poems are compressed, simplified, and reshaped for a rich, uplifting evening of theater.