Design for a Headstone

Summary

1962 BBC production, ‘from Wales’, of Design for a Headstone, Seamus Byrne’s play about the IRA, set in a Dublin prison.

Theatre play

Design for a Headstone by Seamus Byrne [more information]

Play synopsis

'Members of the IRA, on remand in a Dublin prison, plan to escape. Their leader hunger-strikes against criminal status for political prisoners. Innocent and guilty people alike are involved in the consequences of pitiless dedication.'

Production history

The Radio Times of 10 May 1962 states that when this play was first staged in Dublin, it caused a riot.

Date of transmission

Friday 18 May 1962

Time

9.25-10.40pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

David J. Thomas

Playwright

Seamus Byrne

Adapted for Television by

Harry Green

Designer

David Butcher

Cast

Roger Bale
Alan Barry	Michael Breathnach
Andrew Brown	Warder ‘Mouth’ Phelan
Larry Burns	Warder Pat Gerachty
John Cairney	Jim O’Shea
Manuel Chetcuti
Terry Ellis
Howell Evans	Joe Fitzpatrick
Chris Gannon	Muscles Rogan
Desmond Jordan	Tommy McGovern
Paddy Joyce	Bill Dunne
David Blake Kelly	Ructions McGowan
Glyn Kernan
Witold Kuszya
Dermot MacDowell	Warder Charles Grimes
James McLoughlin	Conor Egan
Bill Meilen	Butcher Healy
James Neylin	Aidan O’Leary
Roger Nott
Ronald O’Dare
Arthur O’Sullivan	Jakey
Alan Parsons
Lionel Seaton
Harry Towb	Kevin Shields
Gordon Whiting	Father Maguire
Norman Wynne	O’Sullivan

Additional details

Play tags

IRA (Irish Republican Army); prison; Republic of Ireland, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 10 May 1962 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article and image, p. 51; listing, p. 53