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The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary Irish Playwrights PDF

481 Pages·2010·1.652 MB·English
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the METHUEN DRAMA guide to CONTEMPORARY IRISH PLAYWRIGHTS MartinMiddekeholdstheChairofEnglishLiteratureattheUniversity of Augsburg. He read English, German and Philosophy at the UniversitiesofPaderbornandReading,wasapost-doctorateFulbright scholar at New York University, and in 2008 and 2009 taught as VisitingProfessorattheUniversityofJohannesburg.Hismajorfieldsof research are Literary Theory, Nineteenth-Century English Fiction, Samuel Beckett, and Contemporary British and Irish Fiction and Drama.HeisCo-EditorofAngliaandGeneralEditoroftheCDEbook series.HispublicationsincludeStephenPoliakoff(1994)andtwostudies on the aesthetics of time-consciousness in the novel (Zeit und Roman, 2002; Die Kunst der gelebten Zeit, 2004). Book-length publications which he (co-)edited include Anthropological Perspectives (1998); Biofictions(1999);Self-ReflexivityinLiterature(2005);Dramaand/after Postmodernism (2007); and Literature and Circularity (2009). Forthcoming in 2010 is a book project on Melancholia as a Central DiscourseinEnglishLiteraryandCulturalHistory. Peter Paul Schnierer read English, German, Political Sciences and PhilosophyattheuniversitiesofLondon,GreenwichandTübingen.Hehas taughtfull-timeattheuniversitiesofGreenwich,Buckingham,Tübingen, NorthernArizona,MarylandandVienna,andhecurrentlyholdstheChair ofEnglishLiteratureattheUniversityofHeidelberg.Hisresearchinterests includemoderndrama,Irishliterature,literaryhypertextsandtheGothic tradition.HispublicationsoncontemporaryEnglishdramaincludetwo books (Rekonventionalisierung im englischen Drama 1980–1990, 1994; andModernes englisches Drama und Theater seit 1945: Eine Einführung, 1997), oneeditedcollection(ContemporaryDramainEnglish:Beyondthe Mainstream,1997)andonecollectionco-editedwithEllenRedling(Non- StandardFormsofContemporaryDramaandTheatre,2008).Hehasalso publishedamonographonliterarydemonisationsincetheRenaissance. This page intentionally left blank the METHUEN DRAMA GUIDE TO CONTEMPORARY IRISH PLAYWRIGHTS EditedandwithanintroductionbyMartinMiddekeand PeterPaulSchnierer MethuenDrama MethuenDrama 13579108642 FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2010byMethuenDrama MethuenDrama A&CBlackPublishersLimited 36SohoSquare LondonW1D3QY www.methuendrama.com Copyright©2010byMartinMiddekeandPeterPaulSchnierer Therightsoftheeditorstobeidentifiedastheeditorsoftheseworkshavebeen assertedbytheminaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignandPatentsAct,1988 ISBN9781408113462 ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary TypesetbySXComposingDTP,Rayleigh,Essex PrintedandboundinGreatBritainbyMartinsthePrinters,Berwick-upon-Tweed Caution This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise,belent,resold,hiredout,orotherwisecirculatedinanyformofbinding orcoverotherthanthatinwhichitispublishedandwithoutasimilarcondition, includingthiscondition,beingimposedonthesubsequentpurchaser. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedinanyformorby anymeans–graphic,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording, tapingorinformationstorageandretrievalsystems–withoutthewrittenpermission ofA&CBlackPublishersLimited. This book is produced using paper that is made from wood grown in managed, sustainableforests.Itisnatural,renewableandrecyclable.Theloggingandmanu- facturingprocessesconformtotheenvironmentalstandardsofthecountryoforigin. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION vii 1 SEBASTIANBARRY 1 JürgenWehrmann 2 DERMOTBOLGER 19 ChristinaWald 3 MARINACARR 37 AleksSierz 4 ANNEDEVLIN 57 EnricaCerquoni 5 EMMADONOGHUE 73 CathyLeeney 6 BRIANFRIEL 89 NicholasGrene 7 MARIEJONES 112 CatrinSiedenbiedel 8 JOHNB.KEANE 129 JürgenKamm 9 THOMASKILROY 145 AnthonyRoche 10 HUGHLEONARD 162 EmiliePine 11 MARTINLYNCH 178 TomMaguire 12 OWENMcCAFFERTY 194 MarkPhelan 13 MARTINMcDONAGH 213 MartinMiddeke 14 FRANKMcGUINNESS 234 EamonnJordan 15 TOMMacINTYRE 251 DanielShea 16 CONORMcPHERSON 271 ClareWallace 17 GARYMITCHELL 290 PaulDevlin 18 TOMMURPHY 310 GeroldSedlmayr 19 DONALO’KELLY 328 PatrickLonergan 20 MARKO’ROWE 345 MichaelRaab 21 STEWARTPARKER 365 EberhardBort 22 CHRISTINAREID 385 ChristianGroße 23 J.GRAHAMREID 405 JochenAchilles 24 BILLYROCHE 423 PeterPaulSchnierer 25 ENDAWALSH 439 LisaFitzpatrick INDEX 453 Introduction MartinMiddekeandPeterPaulSchnierer Unlike the literary genres of narrative fiction and poetry, drama and its constitutive categories of dialogue, interaction and immediacy in performance have by definition always had a close affinity to the structures of the particular society they reflect. This very notably appliestoIrelandbecause,undoubtedly,itwasthegenreofdramaand theIrishNationalTheatremovementthatcreatedanationalidentity for a colonised nation.1 However, the status of Irish drama and its relationshiptotheBritishdramaticscenehasbeeninaconstantstate offlux. At the beginning of the twentieth century Lady Gregory, William Butler Yeats, John Millington Synge, Sean O’Casey and a host of other writers sought to put their talents to the cause of national emancipation and anti-imperialist struggle. With the emergence of a consciously Irish dramatic scene in Ireland itself, which inevitably reflected aspects of Irish society specifically, the intermingling of BritishandIrishdramatictalentofearlieryearsdecreased.Overtime, however, this movement lost its force; for example, O’Casey emigrated to England and Beckett went straight to France. And yet, despite the gradual dissolution of the Irish National Theatre move- ment,IrishandBritishdramaremainedshapedbytheconditionsand structuresoftherespectivesocieties. In the last two decades, however, the gap between what is recognisablyIrishandBritishdramahasnarrowed.Thisrapprochement isaresultoftwomajorpoliticalandeconomicupheavalsthatprovided afundamentalchangeinIrishsocietyandresultedinitsmoreglobalised structure becoming more like that of Britain again. At the end of the 1980s,Irelandsawthestartofaneconomicmiracleinindustry,trade, tourism, public services, and especially in information technologies, vii MethuenDramaGuidetoContemporaryIrishPlaywrights whichtransformedIrelandintooneofthemostglobalisedcountriesin theworldwithinadecade.Economicgrowth(uptotenpercenteach year),lowunemployment,taxesandinflationrates,alongwithahuge potentialofwell-trainedyoungpeopleeagertoenterthelabourmarket all resulted in Ireland attracting foreign investment. During this time, Irelandalsounderwentapoliticaltransformationafteryearsofconflict anddivision.Intheearly-andmid-1990sthepeaceprocessinNorthern Ireland gained momentum, having come a long way from the SunningdaleAgreementof1973,theterriblehungerstrikesoftheearly 1980s, the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 and the IRA agreeing to a ceasefire in 1994. This was consolidated in 1998 by the Good Friday Agreement, which set the basis for a government consisting of parties frombothsidesofthepoliticaldivide. This period of economic growth and increasing political stability hasbeenaccompaniedbyaradicalreshapingofIrishidentityasanew Irelandhasemerged.Thishasincludedahostofprogressivechanges, suchas:thepeaceprocess,economicboom,newsociallegislation,the growing force of feminism and a (necessary) redefinition of mores, identitiesandgender-roles,andtheelectionoftwofemalePresidents. Atthesametime,IrishsocietyhasbeenfracturedbyChurchscandals, an increasing crime rate and growing lawlessness and alienation. Finally, there has been a slackening of the inclination towards includingBritainintheevaluationofIrishidentity. Irish society and Irish drama are in serious transition and even thoughnoteverywritercoveredinthissurveycanbesaidtotranscend national issues or even stereotypes, a product of this is that many writersarenowequallyathomeinDublin,Galway,Londonorwhat is still called the Irish diaspora. We are witnessing at the moment a period of accelerated Irish history and an accumulation of identities that have radically changed the structures of Irish society, albeit, for betterorworse,inanoftenprecariousway: Economic growth means that Ireland now seems in many ways indistinguishable from other countries in the West, prompting a growing sense of uncertainty about national identity: ‘we’ may be wealthier, but it’s not clear what the viii INTRODUCTION word‘we’referstoanymore.AspeacetakesrootinNorthern Ireland, other divisions are becoming apparent throughout the island – in terms of class, gender, race and other characteristics. Perhaps most importantly, there is a growing fearthatthecountryisdevelopingastrangeformofcollective amnesia, a reluctance to acknowledge that its history is dominated by failure: by mass emigration, military defeat, economic stagnation and underdevelopment. So as we move into the second decade of this century, Ireland is faced with difficultquestions.Howcanwereconcilethememoryofthat troubledpastwiththedesiretoenjoyanapparentlysuccessful present? And if we let go of our histories, will we still rememberwhoweare?2 Inevitably, the social and political shifts that surround contemporary Irish playwrights have had an impact on their writing, and the intersection between post-colonial and post-modern influences has been channelled into elaborate aesthetic structures, which have cast doubts on and, ultimately, seared such forms as the peasant play, the religiousplay,thefamilyplayorthehistoryplayintheirrespectiveIrish incarnations. Our collection introduces twenty-five representative playwrights of contemporary Irish drama. The chapters are written by a team of internationally renowned specialists from the Republic of Ireland, NorthernIreland,England,ScotlandandGermany.Eachchapterhas a four-part structure: an introduction, including a short biographical sketch of each playwright; a survey and concise analysis of the published plays of the respective author in chronological order; summarising statements on central topics and aesthetic techniques and comments on existing critical reception and the position of the playwrightinthediscourseofcontemporaryIrishtheatre;and,finally, a bibliography of primary texts and a selected list of critical material. For those playwrights with an exceedingly high output over decades, the survey and analysis section has been limited to what seemed the mostimportantworks. Thetwenty-fivechaptersinthisvolumediscussatotalof190plays ix

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