The Charm (play)

The Charm is a comic one-act Manx dialect play by Christopher R. Shimmin. It was first performed in 1912 by the Peel Players and it is considered to be one of the earliest and most frequently performed pieces in the Manx dialect repertoire.

From 1908 Sophia Morrison had been producing Manx dialect theatre at Manx Language Society entertainments in Peel. These had been written by Cushag and John Quine initially, but in 1912 Sophia Morrison commissioned Christopher Shimmin to write the plays. Morrison plotted out the action of The Charm and Shimmin wrote it, before it was rehearsed in her home on Athol Street, Peel. When it was produced in November 1912, it was a new venture for the Manx Language Society, in that it was their first event consisting solely of plays, without other items on the stage.

Jem and Kirrie Quilliam are unhappily married due to his unreasonable expectations of her. Kirrie mentions this to Pyee, a travelling beggar woman and dealer in charms, who suggests that she might be able to offer a solution. Kirrie follows her direction and puts a herb into Jem's tea, which brings them both to fall into a deep sleep. When they awake their roles are reversed, with Kirree asking unreasonable levels of work from Jem. Pyee returns and this time Jem asks for a herb to remedy the situation, which she provides. After another sleep, the couple awake happily in love again. The play closes with Kirree on Jem's knee.

The play was first performed in the Centenary Hall in Peel on 7 November 1912, alongside Illiam Kodhere's Will, also by Christopher Shimmin. The event was organised by Sophia Morrison in aid of the Manx Language Society. The hall was 'packed' and the plays receiving an 'enthusiastic reception,' with The Charm being said to have 'caused great laughter, from start to finish.' In the curtain call that followed the performance, Shimmin took to the stage and delivered a short speech. In this he emphasised the specifically Manx element of the production, which was important to the building of Manx identity underway at that time:

...
Wikipedia