At the Coliseum Theatre, the show did not go on after 1916 rising

If ever a sign were needed of how — in the words of WB Yeats — all had “changed utterly” after the final week of April 1916, these images could fit the bill perfectly.

The Coliseum Theatre on Dublin’s Henry St only opened on Easter Monday, 1915. But by the end of the week following Easter 1916, it lay in ruins, never to open again.

On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a line-up of comedy and music acts were on the bill for 6.45pm and 9pm shows. The nearby GPO was occupied by armed rebels by lunchtime that day, marking the beginning of the Rising; the show did not, in this case, go on.