W. B. Yeats imaginative audience trained to listen by its passion for oratory ... & that freedom to experiment which is not found in the theatres of England, & without which no new movement in art or literature can succeed." The collective survived for about two years but was not successful. Working with two Irish brothers with theatrical experience, William and Frank Fay, Yeats's unpaid yet independently wealthy secretary Annie Horniman, and the leading West End actress Florence Farr, the group established the Irish National Theatre Society. Along with Synge, they acquired property in Dublin and on 27 December 1904 opened the Abbey
Susan Langstaff Mitchell first appeared in the holiday feature of the "Homestead" each year, entitled "A Celtic Christmas." Some of her lyrics were contained in "New Songs" (1904), a collection edited by Russell which also contained pieces by Padraic Colum and Alice Milligan. A ballad which she wrote in 1905, "The Ballad of Shawe-Taylor and Hugh Lane", dealing with a controversy involving Hugh Lane, was described by Thomas Bodkin as "a delicious comic ballad, which she sang herself, in a pleasant throaty voice, at many gatherings in Dublin drawing-rooms and studios." She became acquainted with William Butler Yeats, Padraic Colum, George Moore and