A Critical History of Modern Irish Drama 1891–1980
A Critical History of Modern Irish Drama 1891–1980
$41.99
USDThis is a detailed, critical history of Irish drama from the founding of the Irish Literary Theatre to the eighties. Professor Maxwell pays special attention to the fortunes of the Abbey Theatre, home of the best-known Irish playwrights, but also takes account of the Gate Theatre in Dublin and the Group, Arts and Lyric Theatres in Belfast. The main focus of the book is on the dramatists. At appropriate chronological points Professor Maxwell gives extended critical assessment of the work of the major writers: Yeats, Synge, O'Casey, Denis Johnston, Samuel Beckett, Brian Friel. He comments also on other dramatists who have given Irish drama its distinctive voice, from George Fitzmaurice and St John Ervine, to Thomas Kilroy and Graham Reid. While arguing that Irish drama has a deeply indigenous nature, the book also evaluates its dealings with the European drama of Ibsen, the Symbolists and the Expressionists. A useful chronology, select bibliography and production photographs complement the text.
Product details
November 1984Paperback
9780521295390
272 pages
229 × 152 × 16 mm
0.4kg
Available
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- Chronology
- Acknowledgement
- Introduction
- 1. Dreams and responsibilities:
- 1891–1904
- 2. Possible forms: the early plays
- 3. Difficult, irrelevant words: W. B. Yeats and J. M. Synge
- 4. An art of common things:
- 1905–1910
- 5. A painted stage:
- 1911–1929
- 6. Plays and controversies: Sean O'Casey
- 7. The mill of the mind: Denis Johnston
- 8. The plays, the players and the scenes:
- 1930–1955
- 9. Explorations 1956–1982
- 10. The honour of naming: Samuel Beckett and Brian Friel
- Notes
- Select bibliography
- Index.
