Presented by
Cecily O’Neill
    
​2022 is the centenary of the death of the Irish artist and writer John Butler Yeats, who died in New York on February 3rd, 1922.

In December 1907, he travelled to America with his daughter Lily and stayed there for the rest of his life. In his struggle to make a living as an artist and writer, he was supported financially by John Quinn, the American lawyer and art collector. In 1911 Quinn gave him a commission for a self portrait.

 During his years in New York, John Butler Yeats (JBY) wrote countless letters to his family and friends. JBY also wrote regularly to Rosa Butt, daughter of the Irish politician Isaac Butt. He and Rosa had agreed that they would read and immediately destroy each other’s letters.  But Rosa carefully saved every letter from her ‘dear old lover’. These intimate letters were only released to the public in 1982, and are stored in the Bodleian library in Oxford. Extracts from these unpublished letters are a feature of this presentation.

John Butler Yeats died in his lodging-house at 317 W.20th Street, aged 82, New York, still working on his self-portrait. It was February 3rd, 1922, exactly eleven years to the day since John Quinn had commissioned the painting.

The presentation will happen at the Gregory-Yeats  Autumn Gathering at Coole Park, 24 & 25th September, 2022, with the presentation happening both days. Cecily is joined by local Galway actor, Gerry Conneely, in the role of JB Yeats.

Rachel O'Neill, MD of 2Time Theatre, has had her 10-minute play, 'They Comes', selected to be part of horror playwriting festival, The Fright Before Christmas.  All the plays will be be performed at Space Arts in London and hosted by Harpy Productions on 11 December.

'They Comes' is a disturbing account of how a man's longing for a baby becomes twisted and malevolent.

Cast:
Sara - Tallulah Wrey
James - David McCulluch

Written and directed by Rachel O'Neill

Tickets and more information here.

'Pies and Prejudice' - an original and delicious entertainment - presented by Winchester's local professional theatre company, 2TimeTheatre, this is an amusing look at the place of food in Jane Austen's books and letters.
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'Pies and Prejudice' is an entertaining exploration of the significance of food, based on the letters and novels of Jane Austen. Two characters, Jenny the new cook and Charlotte, the lady of the house, share opinions on food, health, gardening and marriage in a piece written by 2TimeTheatre's Artistic Director, Cecily O'Neill (Meeting Miss Austen, Keats: A Fruitful Season, Lewd Women and Female Felons),

Cecily O’Neill said: “Food is always cropping up in Austen’s work and correspondence. It was clearly both a pleasure for her and also a way in which she could indicate status in the social occasions in her books. She also uses an over-indulgence – or under-indulgence - in meat and drink to show a character’s weakness or hypocrisy. Remember Mr Woodehouse’s obsession with soft-boiled eggs?"

Performed by professional actors, Jilly Bond and Stacy Hart, 'Pies and Prejudice' will be staged in the gracious reception room of Abbey House, the Mayor's Residence, Winchester on the 10th and 11th September at 11.30 am and again 2.30 pm on both days. Admission is free, but you will need to register via the Heritage Open Days website.

Absolutely no one needs reminding what a rubbish year this has been work-wise for creatives.

However, our Managing Director (and one of our writers), Rachel O'Neill, had some encouraging successes in the past year.  She was Runner-Up Best Original Monologue for The Studio, Salisbury Monologue Competition (and final five for best performance, about 4 mins in) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgBb6DI6-3Y (trigger warning: implied violence), 'Sir Walter's Women' was performed by The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, Brixham in November.

Rachel's original audio drama made the final five of the RAF Benevolent Fund's competition with 'Eager for the Air', based on the founding of the all-female branch of the ATA, and her 10-minute piece 'Kit-Kats and Cider' was read by the Writing Doesn't Have To Be Lonely team.

She has been invited to be part of Theatre Royal Winchester's new writing group, and was a Finalist in the recent monologue competition for Green Curtain Theatre with 'Oona' which will be filmed later this year.

Links to reviews:

Sardines Magazine - Lewd Women and Female Felons and The Fasting Girl

Scene 1 Plus - Lewd Women and Female Felons

Scene 1 Plus - The Fasting Girl

This is just a selection of the responses to Lewd Women and Female Felons
A powerful performance about the criminalization of poor women with illegitimate children in Georgian England. The use of ballads: brilliant! This research material was woven together in Lewd Women, which turned the tragic history of women and their children incarcerated in the County Bridewell into an extraordinarily poignant acknowledgement and tribute, in the very palce some of them were buried in unmarked graves.
I’ll never forget the beautiful ballad solo sung by Eleanor Marsden! As a member of the audience said  - ‘if you make a CD of the music from the show, there’s a guaranteed audience’.
Emma Clery

Another triumph, so deftly humanising a historical subject with skilful touches despite the scantiest of available information...
Wonderfully done and beautifully produced!
Plaudits, bouquets and five-star reviews...
Philip and Lizzie Glassborow

Thanks to you and the cast for presenting such a striking preview of the new drama. As you saw from the audience reaction, to have the story presented in dramatic form was extraordinarily powerful.
Steve Marper

What a fabulous, intimate, thought-provoking and resonant production it was today- amazing voices, both spoken, but particularly sung and so poignant and political, especially when you drew attention to the parlous state of UK prisons today. I so  look forward to seeing the themes expanded and evolving over the next few months. ...The solos were incredibly moving, added greatly to each characterisation and definitely affect the audience on another level.  I was reminded of West Side Story and how some of the really tricky urban deprivation messages in that script are communicated so effectively with song and dance. Mixed media adds so much vibrancy and throws the awful, inhuman constraints of normative "justice" into sharp relief.
Kate Watkins

Your play made a deep impression on me. Of course one knows as a fact how these girls suffered, but you really brought them to life. Congratulations!
Alys Blakeway

I was utterly utterly absorbed by your drama. There was a time-slip just as if a door to the 18th and 19th centuries had opened.  Everyone around me was riveted. I felt particularly overcome with emotion when Fanny and baby Rebecca Oliver were mentioned. It was as if I knew them so it was personal. The cast were so convincing...the lewd women were wonderful and their singing too. How clever of you to intersperse the dialogue with authentic songs of the time and to write new ones in the same vein. It must be presented to the wider public.
Norma Goodwin

Beatrice Shilling was a pioneering engineer in Britain’s race to dominate the skies at the start of WWII.   Obsessed with speed, she raced motorbikes and gained an MSc in Electrical Engineering, marking her out as an unusual woman from the start.   Working at RAE, she invented the solution to the design flaw that caused the deaths of British pilots when their Spitfires lost engine power and spiralled out of control during dogfights with the Luftwaffe.

Her simple gadget was cheekily known as ‘'Miss Shilling’s Orifice’. This small object was fitted to the Merlin engine, allowing the Spitfire to engage on equal terms with German planes thereby helping the RAF to gain dominance in the crucial aerial conflicts of the war.
 
Rachel O'Neill, writer, said: "This is a one-act play which was first staged at Nuffield City Space Studio as  a 'work in progress' as part of the Make It SO Season, featuring emerging writers and artists from Hampshire. This is the next iteration of the play and features professional Hampshire actors, Stacy Hart and Francesca McCrohon.  It’s directed by Dan O’Neill, whose work was most recently seen as the movement director for the Channel 4 series, Humans. and upcoming TV shows Alex Rider and Worzel Gummidge. This play is in stark contrast to my previous play, Sir Walter's Women, but both deal with the unseen and personal lives of their protagonists."
 
Tilly and The Spitfires aims to tell the story of Tilly’s groundbreaking discovery, of her intimate relationship with her friend Muriel, and her frequent clashes with those in authority as she strives to make her voice heard in a war run by men. ​

The performance takes place at Winchester Discovery Centre, 21 September, 8pm. Admission is free but booking in advance is advised.