i.m. Michael O'Neill
Lynx Theatre and Poetry were very sad to hear of the death of Michael O’Neill, the renowned scholar and poet, on 21st December 2018. He was also a wonderful friend.
Michael was supportive of the work of Lynx Theatre and Poetry and very encouraging about the work of William Alderson. He wrote a wonderful endorsement of William’s book, A Moment of Disbelief in 2017 and had a valuable exchange of views on poetry with both William and Jacqueline Mulhallen. He was interested in our play Rebels and Friends, as he had written on the poet, W.B. Yeats whose famous poem In Memory of Constance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth commemorates the two women who are the subject of the play, although perhaps we have a more positive view of their life work than Yeats did! He was also interested in William’s ideas for a production of a play by Percy Bysshe Shelley and we hope that we may be able to produce this play in his memory.
We wish that Michael could have seen our play Shadow of the Soul about Percy Bysshe Shelley as well.
We have heard from many people how Michael inspired and encouraged them, as scholars and it is jut as important for us as a theatre company to have had his interest and support, as he brought his keen critical eye to what he knew of our work in this as in so much else. We are planning a tour of Rebels and Friends in 2019, and although Michael is not here to see it, we will be dedicating a performance to him.
