TERESA DEEVY’S play Wife to James Whelan was rejected three times by the Abbey Theatre.
Completed by the Irish playwright in 1937, she pitched it to the theatre in 1942, where six of her previous works had already been performed and well-received, but it was turned down.
It is widely believed that the theatre, which was state subsidised, felt the topic – sexual equality in smalltown Ireland – was too political for the time they were in.
Set in 1937, Waterford-born Deevy’s protagonist in the play is Nan Bowers.
Fiach Kunz plays James Whelan in the productionWhen we meet her, she and her friends are waiting to hear which local lad has won a life-changing job in Dublin.
Soon enough James Whelan shows up triumphant and ready to celebrate with Nan, his sweetheart, only to discover that she has plans of her own.
The play was eventually broadcast via BBC Radio in 1945, but it did not find itself in a theatre until 2010 - when it was first performed by the Mint Theater Company in New York City.
Now the tale will be told at the Jermyn Street Theare in London, under the direction of the Mint Theater Company’s Artistic Director Jonathan Bank and with an “exceptional Irish cast”.
“Wife to James Whelan is a play that challenges theatergoers to hear the unspoken thoughts of its characters, and there is no better place for that than the intimate Jermyn Street Theatre,” Bank said this week.
“Having worked on Deevy’s plays since Mint Theater Company launched the 'Teresa Deevy Project' in New York in 2010, I now look forward to learning from an exceptional Irish cast - assembled by the brilliant casting director Sarah Jones,” he added.
“Thank you, Stella and David for the opportunity to continue this work in London.”
The cast has been revealed as Darragh Feehely as Bill McGafferty, Clíona Flynn as Nan Bowers, Eavan Gaffney as Kate Moran, Molly Hanly as Nora Keane, Fiach Kunz as James Whelan, Patrick McBrearty as Tom Carey, David Rawle as Apollo Moran and Benjamin Reilly as Tom McClinsey.
Clíona Flynn plays Nan Bowers“Unfairly forgotten playwrights and plays can have no better advocate than Jonathan Bank and Mint Theatre Company,” Casting Director Stella Powell-Jones said.
“And Wife to James Whelan is an extraordinary play - and asks a question we still can’t answer.
“How much of ourselves are we willing to surrender for the joys and comforts of partnership?”
She added: “London audiences have waited far too long to encounter Teresa Deevy’s remarkable writing, but this glorious cast makes the wait more than worthwhile.”
Wife to James Whelan runs at Jermyn Street Theatre from June 25 to July 25 July 2026. For tickets click here.
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