Most stereotypes of Ireland have more to do with idyllic rural scenes than busy city life. But, as Beth Mannion points out in her book, The Urban Plays of the Early Abbey Theatre: Beyond O’Casey, there’s an entire sub-genre of plays depicting life in major cities like Dublin in the early 20th century. The most famous of these are the plays in Sean O’Casey’s trilogy (The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, and The Plough and the Stars), but O’Casey was just one small part of a much wider and richer body of work by Irish playwrights who reflected what it was like to live in urban Ireland.

Links:

• Visit Beth’s website to learn more about Urban Plays and her other published work.
• Find out more about Beth’s upcoming appearance at The Drama Book Shop with former Theatre History Podcast guest Fiona Coffey on March 16 at 5 P.M.
• Explore the Abbey Theatre’s digital archive at NUI Galway.
• Search a comprehensive database of Irish plays published since 1904 at http://www.irishplayography.com/

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