Observatory
By: by Daragh Carville
Contributors: Abbey Theatre
Series: The Abbey Theatre playscript series; Abbey Theatre playscript series
Publisher: Methuen
Published: 1999
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] /
Number of pages: 65
Subjects: Drama; Armagh Observatory
Description: A gothic science-fiction thriller, 'Observatory' details the entangled lives of four people across two centuries. The play is set at the Armagh Observatory and Museum for Astronomy and Natural Philosophy, in both 1799 and 1999. Historian and archive cataloguer Jon McKenna finds his life becoming entangled with that of assistant astronomer Nicola McLoughlin. Together they work to uncover the 200-year-old story of astronomer Archibald Hamilton and his assistant Robert Hogg - man of science, man of God, and revolutionary. The Observatory, a symbol of both science and religion, becomes the setting for a powerful exploration of nationhood and revolution, love and betrayal. 'Observatory' was first performed in 1999 at the Peacock Theatre, Dublin.