The world of theatre and political activism has lost one of its most formidable and uncompromising voices with the death of Margaretta D'Arcy at the age of 91. A playwright and campaigner of profound conviction, her life was defined by a radical commitment to politically engaged art, often placing her in direct conflict with the theatrical establishment.
A Partnership Forged in Political Theatre
Born in Whitechapel, London, in 1934, D'Arcy's political instincts were, as she might have said, in her bones. Her father, Joseph D'Arcy, was a Dublin-born civil servant and former IRA member, while her mother, Miriam, was a Jewish refugee from Odesa. This heritage of resistance and displacement shaped her worldview from the start.
Her creative and personal life became inextricably linked with that of playwright John Arden, whom she married in 1957 after meeting in London in 1955. While Arden earned early acclaim for works like Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, their collaborative efforts from 1960 onwards marked a bold new direction. Together, they authored plays including The Happy Haven (1960), a masked farce set in an old people's home, and The Ballygombeen Bequest (1972), a satirical attack on British military action in Northern Ireland.
The Picket Line as a Stage
The defining rupture with mainstream theatre came in 1972 with The Island of the Mighty, an Arthurian trilogy produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at London's Aldwych Theatre. Disputing drastic cuts made during rehearsals, D'Arcy and Arden took the extraordinary step of disowning the production. They picketed the stage door of their own play, effectively going on strike and withdrawing from the British theatrical establishment.
This was not an isolated incident. They had previously picketed a chaotic production of The Hero Rises Up at London's Roundhouse in 1969. Their militant stance, however controversial, was instrumental in the later formation of the Theatre Writers' Union in 1976. For D'Arcy, politics in theatre always came before theatre as mere entertainment.
Her activism extended far beyond the stage door. She was a committed campaigner at Greenham Common against cruise missiles and served two prison sentences in Armagh jail for protests related to the treatment of Republican prisoners. She documented her harsh prison experience in the book Tell Them Everything (1981).
A Legacy of Unyielding Conviction
After moving to Galway in 1968, D'Arcy immersed herself in Irish civil rights and political life, though she was expelled from Sinn Féin in 1972 over political differences. With Arden, she created the monumental 26-hour play The Non-Stop Connolly Show in 1975, chronicling the life of the Easter Rising leader.
Even in her final days, using a walker, she was brandishing pro-Palestinian placards and campaigning in Irish politics. Tributes have hailed her as "a woman of extraordinary conviction and radical honesty."
John Arden died in 2012. Margaretta D'Arcy was predeceased by two of their five sons, Gwalchmei and Jacob. She is survived by her three other sons, Finn, Adam, and Neuss, and six grandchildren. Her life stands as a testament to the power of art as a weapon for change, and the courage to stand on the picket line for one's beliefs, even when the show in question is your own.
