Ask not what you can do for Shakespeare but what Shakespeare can do for you. That, according to researcher Humphrey Twomey, might well have been the motto of Father Christy O'Flynn.
The Cork Shakespearean Company was founded by Father O'Flynn in 1924 after the nuns of St Vincent's School in Peacock Lane asked the priest to stage a scene from The Merchant of Venice and he hit upon the idea of establishing classes for the study of Shakespeare's plays.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the company (popularly known as the Loft following its move to rented premises over a sweet factory in John Redmond Street) there's a fascinating exhibition in the Vision Centre in Cork.
Included are old photographs, reviews and posters, including one for a series of six plays performed in one week in the old Cork Opera House in May 1927 which, according to the veteran Loft actor, Pat Gunn, was "the making of the company in Cork". Among those to pass through the Loft's ranks were Abbey actor Eddie Golden and RTE actors Chris Curran and Joe Lynch. Father O'Flynn once advised film star Eddie Mulhare to concentrate on musical comedies rather than Shakespeare.
Not that Father O'Flynn's theatrical talents were above debate. Frank O'Connor and the cleric clashed when O'Connor founded the Cork Drama League, while Niall Toibin lauded him more for his knowledge of sean nos singing than Shakespeare.
The actor Pat Horgan joined the Loft three years before Father O'Flynn died. He recalls the priest's great ability to extract superb performances from people who might otherwise have never stepped upon a stage and come to love Shakespeare.
"If anyone had any difficulty with a particular piece of text, he would translate into Corkese and then get them to say it with feeling. And then when they had that feeling, he would revert back to the original Shakespeare, and it worked."
Pat Gunn agrees: "He had a great understanding of human nature, and a huge number of people, often people with low self-esteem, benefited from their involvement with him in the Loft." He could instil a great sense of self-confidence in people. "Gus Healy, for example, who was crippled with an infirmity, played Richard Crookback with the Loft and he went on stage and never thought about his infirmity and he went on to become a TD and lord mayor of Cork. "
Corkonians wishing to catch a glimpse of Father O'Flynn's ebullient personality can do so thanks to a video-recording of a 1961 BBC TV documentary on the priest, which is included in the exhibition. The exhibition runs until the end of the month and admission is free.