by W. B. Yeats
Between 1916 and his death in 1939, Yeats wrote a dozen plays based on some ot the conventions of the Japanese Noh theatre. At the Hawk's Well (1916) and Purgatory (1939) are the first and last of these. At the Hawk's Well is much closer to the Noh conventions, in its chorus of Musicians, its folk theme (for the Young Man is Cuchulain), its supernatural quality, and its use of music for symbolical dance and to point the action. In Purgatory the two characters take upon themselves some of the choral function, but the legendary and supernatural elements are still there, expressed in verse that has the characteristic starkness of Yeats's later work.
' At the Hawk's Well'
Music by Edmond Dulac from the original production
' Purgatory '
Music by Max Saunders Orchestra conducted by Max Saunders
Production by Anthony Thwalte
.