The Charm is a comic one-act Manx dialect play by Christopher R. Shimmin. It was first performed in 1912 by the Peel Players and it is considered to be one of the earliest and most frequently performed pieces in the Manx dialect repertoire.
The Charm is a comic one-act Manx dialect play by Christopher R. Shimmin. It was first performed in 1912 by the Peel Players and it is considered to be one of the earliest and most frequently performed pieces in the Manx dialect repertoire.
From 1908 Sophia Morrison had been producing Manx dialect theatre at Manx Language Society entertainments in Peel. [1] These had been written by Cushag and John Quine initially, but in 1912 Sophia Morrison commissioned Christopher Shimmin to write the plays. [2] Morrison plotted out the action of The Charm and Shimmin wrote it, before it was rehearsed in her home on Athol Street, Peel. [2] When it was produced in November 1912, it was a new venture for the Manx Language Society, in that it was their first event consisting solely of plays, without other items on the stage.
Jem and Kirrie Quilliam are unhappily married due to his unreasonable expectations of her. Kirrie mentions this to Pyee, a travelling beggar woman and dealer in charms, who suggests that she might be able to offer a solution. Kirrie follows her direction and puts a herb into Jem's tea, which brings them both to fall into a deep sleep. When they awake their roles are reversed, with Kirree asking unreasonable levels of work from Jem. Pyee returns and this time Jem asks for a herb to remedy the situation, which she provides. After another sleep, the couple awake happily in love again. The play closes with Kirree on Jem's knee.
The play was first performed in the Centenary Hall in Peel on 7 November 1912, alongside Illiam Kodhere's Will, also by Christopher Shimmin. [3] The event was organised by Sophia Morrison in aid of the Manx Language Society. The hall was 'packed' and the plays receiving an 'enthusiastic reception,' with The Charm being said to have 'caused great laughter, from start to finish.' [3] In the curtain call that followed the performance, Shimmin took to the stage and delivered a short speech. In this he emphasised the specifically Manx element of the production, which was important to the building of Manx identity underway at that time: [3]
Mr. Shimmin thanked the audience for their kind reception. He was a Manxman, and that was one of the few things he had to be proud of. There was one point he was very pleased of – the promoters, the players, Miss Morrison, and himself, were all Manx.
The actors involved in the production were: Tom Dodd, Annie V. Caine, John J. Joughin and Amelia Keegan. [4] Under Sophia Morrion's direction, they took on the name of The Peel Players ahead of their repeat performances. [5] After a performance in Ramsey, [6] the plays were produced at the Gaiety Theatre in Douglas in January 1913 - a performance referred to as 'a complete success.' [7] This performance had the distinction of attracting the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Lord Raglan, to attend. [8]
The Peel Players then took their production of Shimmin's plays to the David Lewis' Theatre in Liverpool for the Liverpool Manx Society, where it was reported (by Sophia Morrison) that "There was a crowded house. The Liverpool newspapers gave unstinted praise to both plays and players." [9]
Prior to this, in January 1913, the play had been published by the Manx Language Society. [10]
The Charm has remained a popular play to be performed for over 100 years. It has been performed a number of times by The Michael Players, the longest standing group of performers of Manx dialect theatre. Their most recent production was in January 2017. [11]
Manx English, or Anglo-Manx, is the historic dialect of English spoken on the Isle of Man, though today in decline. It has many borrowings from Manx, a Goidelic language, and it differs widely from any other variety of English, including dialects from other areas in which Celtic languages are or were spoken, such as Welsh English and Hiberno-English.
Sophia Morrison was a Manx cultural activist, folklore collector and author. Through her own work and role in encouraging and enthusing others, she is considered to be one of the key figures of the Manx cultural revival. She is best remembered today for writing Manx Fairy Tales, published in 1911, although her greatest influence was as an activist for the revitalisation of Manx culture, particularly through her work with the Manx Language Society and its journal, Mannin, which she edited from 1913 until her death.
Arthur William Moore, CVO, SHK, JP, MA was a Manx antiquarian, historian, linguist, folklorist, and former Speaker of the House of Keys in the Isle of Man. He published under the sobriquet A. W. Moore.
Fenodyree in the folklore of the Isle of Man, is a hairy supernatural creature, a sort of sprite or fairy, often carrying out chores to help humans, like the brownies of the larger areas of Scotland and England.
Cammag is a team sport originating on the Isle of Man. It is closely related to the Scottish game of shinty and is similar to the Irish game of hurling. Once the most widespread sport on Man, it ceased to be played around 1900 after the introduction of association football, though it has experienced a revival in the 21st century.
Mooinjer veggey is the Manx for little people, a term used for fairies in Gaelic lore. The equivalent Irish and Scottish Gaelic are Muintir Bheaga and Muinntir Bheaga.
John Joseph Kneen was a Manx linguist and scholar renowned for his seminal works on Manx grammar and on the place names and personal names of the Isle of Man. He is also a significant Manx dialect playwright and translator of Manx poetry. He is commonly best known for his translation of the Manx National Anthem into Manx.
Mona Douglas was a Manx cultural activist, folklorist, poet, novelist and journalist. She is recognised as the main driving force behind the modern revival of Manx culture and is acknowledged as the most influential Manx poet of the 20th century, but she is best known for her often controversial work to preserve and revive traditional Manx folk music and dance. She was involved in a great number of initiatives to revive interest and activity in Manx culture, including societies, classes, publications and youth groups. The most notable and successful of these was Yn Chruinnaght.
Josephine Kermode (1852–1937) was a Manx poet and playwright better known by the pen name "Cushag".
Christopher R. Shimmin (1870–1933), Manx playwright and MHK.
William Clucas Kinley (1866-1920), Manx journalist and playwright.
Mannin: Journal of Matters Past and Present relating to Mann was an academic journal for the promotion of Manx culture, published biannually between 1913 and 1917 by the Manx Society, Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh. It was edited by Sophia Morrison, with the assistance of William Cubbon.
William Walter Gill (1876–1963) was a Manx scholar, folklorist and poet. He is best remembered for his three volumes of A Manx Scrapbook.
The Peel Players were an amateur theatre group from the Isle of Man in operation during the 1910s and specialising in Anglo-Manx dialect productions.
Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh, also known as the Manx Language Society and formerly known as Manx Gaelic Society, was founded in 1899 in the Isle of Man to promote the Manx language. The group's motto is Gyn çhengey, gyn çheer.
The Michael Players are the oldest existing body of performers of Manx dialect theatre in the Isle of Man. They are centrally important to the continued tradition of Manx dialect theatre, both through their performances and in their unique collection of Manx plays.
Thomas Dodd (1883–1963) was a Manx dialect performer, a member of The Peel Players and a student of the Manx language.
Juan Noa was the pen-name of John Henry Cleator, a Manx dialect poet and playwright active from the 1920s to the 1960s in the Isle of Man.
Cyril Clague was the author of the popular Manx dialect poem, The Peel Manx Tay Party.
Edmund Evans Greaves Goodwin was a Manx language scholar, linguist, and teacher. He is best known for his work First Lessons in Manx that he wrote to accompany the classes he taught in Peel.