When I stood on the road between Kinsale town and Charles Fort, looking at the latter’s manmade wall above the River Bandon, I wasn’t thinking at the time whether a fall from that height would kill you.
That idea came later.
A year after my visit to Ireland, I wrote the first draft of “Banshee,” setting the play on that wall. Several key events happen on that manmade cliff that are crucial to the story. I should note that “Banshee” takes place in two timelines: the present and the 18th century.
It wasn’t until I had a quibble with the blocking — the directions for the actors that determined where they stood, moved and gestured — that I realized the giant plot hole in the play.
Let me explain: If you stand facing the river, the town of Kinsale is on your right. The director had the actors gesture to the town on the left. Given the staging, that was necessary. Besides, what are the odds someone from Kinsale will come to the play?
Still, it bothered me. So I started reconsidering the location.
That’s when I realized: I had it all wrong.
The ruins of Fort Charles are impressive, and the view from the wall is stunning — in 2026. In 1798, when most of the action takes place, however, it’s not a ruin. It’s a real military installation. People like the characters in my play — a priest, a farmer, a landowner — would not casually stroll through a military barracks talking of love, literature and the supernatural.
At this point, I’m starting to understand why the great Brian Friel invented Ballybeg as the setting for all his plays.
I set out on a search (via Google Maps and the Internet Archive) for other plausible locations. The main requirements were that it be near Kinsale (to avoid a complete overhaul) and have a cliff high and steep enough to kill a man.
Fortunately, I found one. The Old Head of Kinsale is a peninsula a few kilometers south of the town with the requisite geography and a signal tower. The new location made it necessary to change a few lines of dialogue and some stage directions. One key direction remains intact:
The town of Kinsale is to the left of the cliff. We may think of land masses as immovable, but a stage set is even more so.
Adam-Richter.com 