George Bernard Shaw and "Caesar and Cleopatra", Shaw's counterblast to Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra", seen in New York in 1906 and in London the following year. Now prosperous and established, Shaw experimented with unorthodox theatrical forms described by his biographer Stanley Weintraub as "discussion drama" and "serious farce". These plays included "Getting Married" (premiered 1908), "The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet" (1909), "Misalliance" (1910), and "Fanny's First Play" (1911). "Blanco Posnet" was banned on religious grounds by the Lord Chamberlain (the official theatre censor in England), and was produced instead in Dublin; it filled the Abbey Theatre to capacity. "Fanny's First Play", a comedy
Constance Markievicz Michael Davitt, John O'Leary and Maud Gonne. In 1906, Markievicz rented a cottage in the countryside near Dublin. The previous tenant, the poet Padraic Colum, had left behind copies of "The Peasant" and "Sinn Féin". These revolutionary journals promoted independence from British rule. Markievicz read these publications and was propelled into action. In 1908, Markievicz became actively involved in nationalist politics in Ireland. She joined Sinn Féin and Inghinidhe na hÉireann ('Daughters of Ireland'), a revolutionary women's movement founded by the actress and activist Maud Gonne, muse of W. B. Yeats. Markievicz came directly to her first meeting from a