The Shaughraun

             Dion Boucicault was an opportunist, a plagiarist, and a living legend not only of the Irish, but the British and American stage of the nineteenth century. Irish-born, latterly established in England as an "adapter" of French plays, finally hitting the big time in the United States in the 1850s (where he was instrumental in the development of copyright law), Boucicault was, as writer Chris Morash describes him "Irish theatre’s first international superstar." His trio of "Irish plays," The Colleen Bawn, Arragh-na-Pogue, and The Shaughraun firmly established the stock characters and standard themes associated with "Irishness." Bringing the structuring force of the Victorian melodrama to bear on existing stereotypes and adding a touch of political agitation amid the safe boundaries of romantic comedy, he practically invented the theatrical vocabulary which still haunts the imagination of the world when it thinks of Ireland.
               The Shaughraun is the story of how a roguish poacher named Conn becomes embroiled in personal, social, and political struggles in County Sligo amid a plethora of comic situations while he aids Fenian escapee Robert Ffolliot. Dastardly magistrate and landlord Corry Kinchela has conspired with slimy informant Harvey Duff to have Ffolliot deported so Kinchela can seize his estate and move in on his bride-to-be, Arte O’Neill. Arte’s best friend is Robert’s sister Claire, a girl who has attracted the romantic attentions of well-meaning British Officer Captain Molineux under the watchful eye of local priest Fr. Dolan.