Burgh Quay, Dublin, 11pm, The Entertainer

Programme for Gaiety Theatre Dublin, July 1878

Programme for Gaiety Theatre Dublin, July 1878

© The Gaiety Theatre

Programme for Gaiety Theatre Dublin, July 1878
© The Gaiety Theatre

Programme for Gaiety Theatre Dublin, July 1878

Programme for Gaiety Theatre Dublin, July 1878

© The Gaiety Theatre

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Adele Gascoigne, or, as she was known to the denizens of her home town of Thurles, May Murphy, was preparing to take her last turn on the stage as part of the chorus at The Tivoli Theatre at Burgh Quay. Her legs were ready to collapse from under her after the evening's exertion, but she did not care. The performance had been a huge success, the audience more than appreciative. While they had reserved their loudest applause for the mysterious Lilith, the excitement of seeing a lady floating through the air under the influence of hypnotism had put them in excellent form, more than ready to cheer the rest of the performances. Adele had been asked by her friends as to whether it was really hypnotism or just well-disguised wires that kept Lilith in the air. Although she performed at the very back of the chorus, Adele was a professional, and kept the secrets of the profession. She no longer lamented the fact that she had not been successful in her audition for the Empire. They might have a good show, with their jugglers, comediennes, musicians, lady mimics, duetists and dancers; but they did not have Lilith.

Programme for the Theatre Royal (front cover), January 1906

Programme for the Theatre Royal (front cover), January 1906

© Dublin City Public Libraries

Programme for the Theatre Royal (front cover), January 1906
© Dublin City Public Libraries

Programme for the Theatre Royal (front cover), January 1906

Programme for the Theatre Royal (front cover), January 1906

© Dublin City Public Libraries

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Adele's dream was that after a while in Dublin she would move on to London, and become a star of the stage. She had certainly come further than anyone could have imagined from a farm outside Thurles - a life of pure slavery, milking cows and cleaning out sheds. There was, after all, the example of Lily Langtry before her; people said she was not unlike her from the side view...

And while she had not managed to catch anyone's eye during the recent royal visit, despite having made her way all the way out to Punchestown in the hope of that happening, she was twenty-one and pretty, and the future looked bright.

© Dublin City Public Libraries