The Field at 50: John B Keane’s legacy rests in good hands

Hands — first nights are all about hands. Hands for shaking, sweating, hugging, backslapping, pint-holding, but mostly clapping.

Wed, 29 Apr, 2015 - 01:00

Conor Keane, Dublin

First nights of John B Keane plays are special, not just for family members, who are here in strength, but for our extended theatrical family and the Kerry diaspora.

The Gaiety — the Grand Old Lady of South King St — has hosted Keane plays for half a century or more of its near century and half existence. It’s home from home for the Keane clan in Dublin — we have always been welcome here, no questions asked.

Like all great theatres, it’s full of ghosts and John B is one that has haunted the Gaiety in life and in death. John B loved the place; sure they even named the bar after him. He was with us last night as we celebrated yet another incarnation of the Bull McCabe — perhaps John B’s most unforgettable creation.

The place was alive with a full house, packed with cousins, cute hoors, Dubs, and country folk who know that this patch of Dublin was Kerry’s for the night, just as the field called after Bishop Croke on the city’s north side has so often been.

There have been good Bulls and bad Bulls. The late, great Ray McNally was the greatest of these. He was the first actor to inhabit the soul of the Bull on stage and now, 50 years since the play first hit the stage, no one has surpassed McNally’s Bull.

Richard Harris’ portrayal of the Bull in Jim Sheridan’s film of The Field gripped audiences around the world and others, too, have given tremendous Bulls, such as Niall Tóibín, Joe Lynch, Brian Dennehy, Tom Honan and, more recently, John Kenny.

Last night’s, 50th anniversary production of The Field introduced another new Bull — Michael Harding. My instincts told me this could be a match made in heaven.

My instincts were right — Harding is a mighty Bull and he gave it his best, his almighty best. John B would shake his hand if he was around but it’s more than 12 years since he left us.

The Field is far more that the Bull McCabe, but he’s the one who sticks in people’s heads for days after they have seen the play. Harding was well matched by the rest of the cast under the careful guidance of director Padraic McIntyre on Kate Moylan’s evocatively brilliant set.

Did I mention hands? Hands are special when it comes to Gaiety. On the street outside, there are bronze casts of the handprints of the greats who have been associated with the old theatre. The first of those to be planted into the pavement were those of John B. He has been joined over the years, some gone others still with us, such as Niall Tóibín, Anna Manahan, Maureen Potter, Luciano Pavarotti, and his great friend Ronnie Drew.

Many leaving the theatre last night with sore hands from giving a deserved and rapturous standing ovation to the wonderful cast will walk over John B’s hands, barely realising that he held them spellbound in the palm of his hand for the previous two hours.

This is how first nights should be and this is how it was. Thanks Dad for being with us, on and off the stage.

Conor Keane is John B and Mary Keane’s middle son, an award-winning journalist and former business editor of the Irish Examiner. He works as a media and communications consultant