doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee


William Butler Yeats

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS  (1865 - 1939)

 Nationality:    Irish
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    A P Watt Ltd  


William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865  28 January 1939) was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

below is a list of William Butler Yeats's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

 At the Hawk's Well         Calvary         Cat And The Moon, The         Cathleen Ni Houlihan         Countess Cathleen, The         Death of Cuchulain, The         Deirdre         Dreaming of the Bones         Fighting The Waves         Full Moon In March, A         Golden Helmet, The         Herne's Egg, The         Hour Glass, The         King of the Great Clock Tower, The         King's Threshold, The         Land of Heart's Desire, The         Oedipus Rex         On Bailes Strand         Only Jealousy of Emer, The         Player Queen, The         Pot of Broth, The         Purgatory         Ressurection, The         Shadowy Waters         Sophocles' King Oedipus         Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus         Unicorn From The Stars, The         Words upon the Window Pane, The

At the Hawk's Well

William Butler Yeats
An old man has camped for fifty years by a well waiting for its miraculous waters to rise and give whoever drinks immortality

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    1916

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Yeats Reader" published by Scribner   978-0743227988

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Calvary

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Cat And The Moon, The

Synopsis:
Two beggars - one lame, one blind seek a saint who could cure them

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    21 Sep 1931

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Cuala Press 1924   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Cathleen Ni Houlihan

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Countess Cathleen, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Death of Cuchulain, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Deirdre

Synopsis:
King Conchubar discovers a young girl - Deirdre - in the woods. He gets a nurse to look after her. When Deirdre becomes a woman the King falls in love with her and they are to be married. On the eve of the wedding she is abducted

Notes:
Based on the story of "Deirdre" from The "Ulster Cycle"

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    24 Nov 1906

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
A H Bullen 1907   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Verse play

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Dreaming of the Bones

William Butler Yeats
The spirits of Dermot and Devorgilla from Irish folk tales urge a refugee from the Easter Uprising to help them

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    06 Dec 1931

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Two Plays For Dancers" published by Cuala Press 1919   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Fighting The Waves

Synopsis:
Cuchulain is full of despair after killing his son. He falls into a trance and is cared for by his wife Emer. The Goddess

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    13 Aug 1929

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Collected Works of W B Yeats volume Two" published by Simon and Schuster   978-1439105764

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  8            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Full Moon In March, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Golden Helmet, The

Synopsis:
A band of warriors argue over the ownership of a golden helmet

Notes:
Rewritten and retitled "The Green Helmet" in 1910

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    13 Mar 1908

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Golden Helmet and the Green Helmet" published by Cornell University Press 2008   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Herne's Egg, The

William Butler Yeats
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Macmillan 1938   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Hour Glass, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

King of the Great Clock Tower, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    30 Jul 1934

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Collected Plays of W B Yeats" Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

King's Threshold, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Collected Plays of W B Yeats" Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Land of Heart's Desire, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Collected Plays of W B Yeats" Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Oedipus Rex

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

On Bailes Strand

Synopsis:
Cuchulian - warrior prince of the Irish, son of a mortal woman and the Sun God

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    27 Dec 1904

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Verse play

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Only Jealousy of Emer, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Player Queen, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    09 Dec 1919

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Pot of Broth, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Purgatory

Synopsis:
To end a cycle of violence an old man murders his son

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    10 Aug 1938

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Ressurection, The

Synopsis:
Three learned men - a Hebrew, a Greek and a Syrian arrive at the scene of the resurrection and discuss the meaning of life

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Abbey Theatre, Dublin    30 Jul 1934

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "The Adelphi Journal" 1927   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Shadowy Waters

Synopsis:
The Sea God Forgael goes on a journey over the seas. Souls in the guise of birds tell him that if he follows them he will find love. His crew believe him to have gone mad. They capture a ship - on board is a Queen. They leave Forgael and her alone and sail away

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Molesworth Hall, Dublin    14 Jan 1904

Organisations:
Irish National Theatre Society

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays For An Irish Theatre" published by A J Bullen 1911   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Sophocles' King Oedipus

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan 1952   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Unicorn From The Stars, The

Synopsis:
A young man has visions which bring him into conflict with the authorities. At the Court he goes into a trance and the King calls for the police. They arrive and the young man is shot and killed

Notes:
written by Lady Gregory And W B Yeats

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in The Collected Plays of W.B. Yeats, Macmillan and Co, England, 1960   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
three act play

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Words upon the Window Pane, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Collected Plays of W B Yeats" published by Macmillan   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page