Dolly West's Kitchen

by Frank McGuinness

Two volumes from the Irish playwright Frank McGuinness: a major play on love, family, and war as well as stunning translations of two classics
Set in Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland, during World War II, "Dolly West's Kitchen" is centered on a family struggling to come to terms not only with the effects of war on their country and their family but also with their own inability to respond to one another as situations -- and they themselves -- change. As the characters talk of love, sex, war, the English, de Valera, and the Yanks, "Dolly West's Kitchen" becomes a deeply moving evocation of the fantasy and the reality that was Ireland in the 1940s, filled with the richness of character and sense of place that have always marked Frank McGuinness's writing.

Genres: Plays

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Frank McGuinness is Professor of Creative Writing in University College Dublin. A world-renowned playwright, his first great stage hit was the highly acclaimed ‘Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme’. He is also a highly skilled adapter of plays by writers such as Ibsen, Sophocles, Brecht, and writer of several film scripts, including Dancing at Lughnasa, and he has published several anthologies of poetry.

Reviews

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

We first saw this McGuinness play during its premiere at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin during October 1999. Seeing it again a few years later reminded us of the plays relevance today.