Theatre History Podcast # 24
Exploring Plays About Urban Ireland with Dr. Elizabeth Mannion
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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This podcast aims to introduce listeners to the artists, scholars, and archivists who are working to bring the history of performance to life. We hope that, by listening to this show, you’ll learn about exciting new performances, fascinating books, and valuable repositories of knowledge, all of which will help you better understand theatre’s history.
Comments
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I'm currently reading "Sacred Play: Soul-journeys in Contemporary Irish Theatre", by Anne F. O'Reilly because it is one of the few books on theater which considers the spiritual aspects of plays. This has required me to read a lot of plays by unfamiliar Irish playwrights. My favorite so far has been Marina Carr who writes very dark plays. She gets an entire chapter in the book.
I share your enthusiasm for Carr. Which of her plays have you read so far?
I've read The Mai, Portia Coughlan, and By The Bog Of Cats.
How wonderful to hear such insight into the tension between the urban and the rural worlds of Ireland. And with references to so many other Irish plays that were groundbreaking and/or representative at that time. Much food for thought. Thank you Dr. Mannion and Michael Leuger for this nugget of gold podcast.