By the Bog of Cats
A 2004 revival of the play in London's West End starred Hollywood actress Holly Hunter in the role of protagonist Hester Swane.
At the beginning of the play, Hester is dragging a dead black swan across the snow and ice at the Bog of Cats.
"[2] During this conversation, the audience learns that Hester has been waiting on the Bog of Cats for her mother, Josie, since she was abandoned at age 7.
Hester reminds him that it was with her money that he bought his first land and accuses him of “sellin’ me and Josie down the river for a few lumpy auld acres and notions of respectability.
This act depicts the marriage of Caroline Cassidy and Carthage Kilbride, which is disrupted by various individuals, both real persons and ghosts.
Mrs Kilbride, Carthage’s mother, wears a white dress to the wedding and poses in pictures with her son like a bride and groom.
Hester lashes out in anger against the wedding guests and pleads with them, insisting: “I can’t lave till me mother comes.
"[2] When she is finally forced to leave the wedding, Hester swears revenge and yells: “You’re lavin’ me no choice but a vicious war against ya.
As her house blazes behind her, Hester talks with the ghost of her brother, Joseph Swane, and explains that she did not kill him for money; rather, she envied his relationship with their mother.
The Ghost Fancier performs a slow death dance with Hester before plunging a blade into her chest, killing her.
Before the action of the play, Hester, with the help of Carthage, murdered her half-brother Joseph Swane, out of jealousy for his life with their mother.
She is a generous, loving little girl who enjoys spending time with both her mother, father and mean-spirited, greedy grandmother.
She appears in a white dress at Carthage's wedding and interrupts the bride's father's speech to make her own toast dedicated to her son.
[3] By the Bog of Cats premiered at Dublin's Abbey Theatre on Wednesday, 7 October 1998, and ran for 45 performances until Saturday, 14 November 1998.
The production was directed by Kay Martinovich, and featured Tracy Michelle Arnold as Hester, along with Mark Montgomery, Mary Ann Thebus, and David Darlow in the principal roles.
Critical reception was strongly positive, with Chicago Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss writing "... the play is now receiving a riveting, brilliantly acted American premiere by Irish Repertory, in a production superbly directed-with chilling inevitability and unexpected humour-by Kay Martinovich."
"[5] Charles Spencer, in a scathing article for the Telegraph, states that Marina Carr "delivers little more than a ludicrously rich stew of over-heated tosh" in By the Bog of Cats.
[7] Hunter had prepared for the West End revival by starring in a 2001 production at the San Jose Repertory Theatre.
"[8] Additionally, reviewer Peter Crawley connects the Kilbride family to the newly rich Irish at "the crude beginnings of the Celtic Tiger years."
Crawley had several criticisms for the play, including finding Hester a less than interesting character and calling the second act "structurally unwieldy.
"[9] A recent production of By the Bog of Cats premiered at Chicago's Artistic Home Theater on February 15 and ran through April 15.
[9] Marina Carr, the author of the play, has acknowledged that By the Bog of Cats was inspired by the myth of Medea.
[10] In Euripides's theatrical adaptation, as in the ancient Greek myth, Medea is a sorceress and wife to the hero Jason.
The main parallel between Medea and By the Bog of Cats is the way Hester Swane, the heroine, enacts her revenge on her disloyal husband, Carthage Kilbride.
Her retaliation consists of setting fire to Carthage and his new wife's home and killing her own daughter, Josie, just as Medea punished Jason in the Greek myth.
[9] However, the heightened emotions and broad, existential themes of “love and hate, hope and despair, [and] grief and revenge” justify the comparisons of these two tragedies.
Finally, the Catwoman is acknowledged by the characters as a psychic: she speaks of the many visions she has had that came true, and during his wedding Carthage asks her for a prediction.
[11] The character of Hester has been interpreted as a witch by scholars and critics alike, though she does not explicitly practice witchcraft in the play.
[2] Though she says she doesn't know any “black art things,” her connection to the spiritual world is real, specifically marked by her ability to speak to ghosts.
