Oliver Cromwell landed at Ringsend, Dublin on the 15th August 1649 with orders to pacify the country. He had the might of the English Parliament and his New Model Army behind him, and he was still fresh from his success in the English Civil War, where one of his last acts was to oversee the beheading of King Charles. He stayed in Ireland a mere nine months, but such was the savagery of his onslaught that his name is still reviled there four hundred and fifty years later. We see his journey through Ireland through his own eyes, those of his Puritan soldiers, and of two girls, Emir and Eithne, who, having been captured at the battle of Drogheda, are now being forced to work in the kitchens before being shipped off as slaves to the West Indies. Emir is hiding a big secret, she is a spy for Owen Roe O'Neill's army, the one great hope that Ireland has of defeating Cromwell. She plans to poison Cromwell, little knowing that his agents have already succeeded in doing likewise to O'Neill. When Eithne is raped by one of the Puritan soldiers, both plan to escape and join the defenders at Limerick, where O'Neill's Ulster army is making a last desperate stand.| 3 Nov 10 to 21 Nov 10 | Courtyard Theatre Inner London, Greater London Performance Details => Venue archive |
