Sean O’Casey’s powerful anti-war play The Silver Tassie was set in Ireland during World War I and told the story of the dashing Harry Heegan who, after leading his football team to victory, arrived home in swaggering celebration before grabbing his kit and heading to the trenches.
Told with acrid wit and dark vaudeville humour, the play saw Harry enter a nightmare world where men were reduced to cannon fodder and spoke in mangled incantations. Months later when Harry returned home and attended the football club party, everyone, apart from the shattered veterans, danced and forgot.
Mary Sheen was a key member of the artistic team at the newly established Half Moon Theatre on Alie Street in the 1970s, performing in many plays. She talks about The Silver Tassie, which was put on at the last minute when a commission fell through. Interviewed by Toni Tsaera.