PMThis collection of papers from a meeting of the International Association for the study of Anglo-Irish Literature provides a comprehensive survey of the Irish theatre. Contents: Acknowledgements; Introduction. Jacqueline Genet; The Dangers and Difficulties of Dramatising the Lives of Deirdre and Grania. Richard Allen Cave; Actors in Barrels: Views on Vivid Words in Yeats's Plays. Margaret Rose; Beckett's Irish Theatre. Katharine Worth; The Image of Ireland in Nineteenth-Century Drama. Heinz Kosok; 'Nothing was Decided': Louis Macneice's Treatment of Irish History in R They Met on Good Friday. Maureen S.G. Hawkins; 'The Heartbreak's Relevant': Dramatic and Poetic Qualities of John Hewitt's R The Bloody Brae. Britta Olinder; Ireland and the Caribbean. Two Caribbean Versions of J.M. Synge's Dramas: Derek Walcott's R The Sea at Dauphin and Mustapha Natura's The Playboy of the West Indies. Paul F. Botheroyd; James Joyce's Italian Translation of R Riders to the Sea. Joan Fitzgerald; The Masks of Language in Translations. Lucia Angelica Solaris; The Worlds of Brian Friel. Patrick Rafroidi; Three Irish R Antigones. Christopher Murray; The Theatre of Thomas Kilroy: Boxes of Words. Denis Sampson; Field Day's Fables of Identity. Patrick Burke; Language and Act: Thomas Murphy's Non-Interpretive Drama. Joseph Swann; Notes; Notes on Contributors; Index R. Irish Literary Studies Series No. 3

This book addresses the notion posed by Thomas Kilroy in his definition of a playwright’s creative process: ‘We write plays, I feel, in order to populate the stage’. It gathers eclectic reflections on contemporary Irish theatre from both Irish theatre practitioners and international academics. The eighteen contributions offer innovative perspectives on Irish theatre since the early 1990s up to the present, testifying to the development of themes explored by emerging and established playwrights as well as to the (r)evolutions in practices and approaches to the stage that have taken place in the last thirty years. This cross-disciplinary collection devotes as much attention to contextual questions and approaches to the stage in practice as it does to the play text in its traditional and revised forms. The essays and interviews encourage dialectic exchange between analytical studies on contemporary Irish theatre and contributions by theatre practitioners.

Drawing on major new archival discoveries and recent research, Patrick Lonergan presents an innovative account of Irish drama and theatre, spanning the past seventy years. Rather than offering a linear narrative, the volume traces key themes to illustrate the relationship between theatre and changes in society. In considering internationalization, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Celtic Tiger period, feminism, and the changing status of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Lonergan asserts the power of theatre to act as an agent of change and uncovers the contribution of individual artists, plays and productions in challenging societal norms. Irish Drama and Theatre since 1950 provides a wide-ranging account of major developments, combined with case studies of the premiere or revival of major plays, the establishment of new companies and the influence of international work and artists, including Tennessee Williams, Chekhov and Brecht. While bringing to the fore some of the untold stories and overlooked playwrights following the declaration of the Irish Republic, Lonergan weaves into his account the many Irish theatre-makers who have achieved international prominence in the period: Samuel Beckett, Siobhán McKenna and Brendan Behan in the 1950s, continuing with Brian Friel and Tom Murphy, and concluding with the playwrights who emerged in the late 1990s, including Martin McDonagh, Enda Walsh, Conor McPherson, Marie Jones and Marina Carr. The contribution of major Irish companies to world theatre is also examined, including both the Abbey and Gate theatres, as well as Druid, Field Day and Charabanc. Through its engaging analysis of seventy years of Irish theatre, this volume charts the acts of gradual but revolutionary change that are the story of Irish theatre and drama and of its social and cultural contexts.

This book contains the proceedings of the Seventh Triennial Conference of the I.A.S.A.I.L. held at Coleraine in July of 1988.

The Irish Times called Thomas Kilroy "one of the most significant playwrights of modern Ireland", while The Sunday Times has described him as "one of the outstanding living Irish playwrights and, perhaps, the most complete". The winner of numerous honors including a special tribute from the Irish Theatre Awards in 2003, he has written fourteen plays. This appraisal of the works of Thomas Kilroy focuses on the common themes and methodology of his plays, including an unusual alliance between serious theatrical complexity and varied but demanding forms of comedy. A separate chapter is devoted to each play with the exception of The Death and Resurrection of Mr. Roche and The MacAdam Travelling Theatre, whose complementary themes are discussed together. Reflecting on the essence of theatre, Kilroy's works combine meditations on humanity with references to Irish history, generally using historical reality as a dramatic starting point. Plays discussed include Kilroy originals such as Talbot's Box, The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde and Blake as well as adaptations of well-known works such as The Seagull, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Henry. Interviews with stage directors (L. Parker, M. Stafford-Clark, P. Mason, A.S. Paul) and the playwright himself contribute to this in-depth analysis of Kilroy's dramatic art. Photographs of staged plays and a list of premieres of Kilroy's works (plays and adaptations) are also included.

The Irish Theatre in Transition explores the ever-changing Irish Theatre from its inception to its vibrant modern-day reality. This book shows some of the myriad forms of transition and how Irish theatre reflects the changing conditions of a changing society and nation.

This book provides a critical assessment and examination of the prose and poetry of Ireland's Samuel Ferguson. It presents a clear understanding of the shape and purpose of Ferguson's career as a writer, which extended over half a century. The scholarly sources from which Ferguson extracted many of his themes are carefully examined, as are the times during which Ferguson lived and wrote. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Irish literature, and the politics and history of nineteenth century Ireland. CONTENTS Introduction; Early Periodical Writings; Hibernian Nights' Entertainments R and Other Fiction; The 1840s: A New Beginning; Lays of the Western Gael and Other Poems I; Lays of the Western Gael and Other Poems II; Congal; Poems; Passing On; Notes; Samuel Ferguson: A Chronology; A Checklist of Samuel Ferguson's Published Writings; Bibliography; Index R. Irish Literary Studies Series No. 39.

This work provides an overview of Irish theatre, read in the light of Ireland's self-definition. Mediating between history and its relations with politics and art, it attempts to do justice to the enabling and mirroring preoccupations of Irish drama.

Austin Clarke is widely regarded as one of 20th-century Ireland's most important poets. In this selection of nearly fifty essays and reviews written over Clarke's long career, he demonstrates that he is an astute and provocative literary critic as well. Having grown up in Dublin when the excitement of the Irish Literary Revival was still running high, Clarke knew many of the principal figures of that movement personally, and his readings of Yeats, Joyce, Synge, O'Casey, Lady Gregory, George Moore, and others enjoy the advantages of an insider's point of view. A selection of Clarke's writings on Yeats is followed by his writings on other Irish writers and the Irish Literary Revival, and on Modern English and American literature. Included as an appendix is an exhaustive list of Clarke's literary criticism published in periodicals.

This book delves into how playwrights, whether canonical or less frequently discussed in the academic sphere, have critically and creatively engaged with the Anglo-Irish War, the Irish Civil War, the Easter Rising, the Northern Ireland Troubles and other conflicts. It not only approaches their plays—some of which have not been subject to much study—in relevant historical contexts, but also explores how Irish dramatists have observed humanity and resilience in war and given their insights into republican, unionist and denominational divides. It also reveals the dynamic mechanism connecting playwrights, performing venues, critics and audience members. As a whole, this book will be of interest to Irish studies scholars, theatre practitioners and historians, and people who would like to have a systematic understanding of twentieth-century Irish drama focusing on nation formation, war, revolution and humanity.