Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama

by John P. Harrington (Editor)

This revised and expanded Norton Critical Edition is the ideal focal point for the study of Irish literature and culture and, because of its many important twentieth-century works, for the study of drama more generally. This volume includes the complete texts of fourteen plays by the leading Irish playwrights: W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, J. M. Synge, Bernard Shaw, Sean O'Casey, Samuel Beckett, Brian Friel, Conor McPherson, and Marina Carr. The plays are accompanied by John P. Harrington's introduction and by his detailed explanatory annotations.

For ease of reference, "Backgrounds and Criticism" is chronologically organized by playwright and includes prefaces, letters, journal entries, program notes, and interpretive essays for each play in the volume. In addition, essays by Lady Gregory, John Eglinton, W. B. Yeats, Frank J. Fay, and Colm Tóibín provide an overview of the Irish dramatic literary revival. Finally, the present and future state of theater in Ireland is considered in essays by Victor Merriman, Mary Trotter, Lionel Pilkington, and Joan Fitz-Patrick Dean.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

Each Norton Critical Edition includes an authoritative text, contextual and source materials, and a wide range of interpretations-from contemporary perspectives to the most current critical theory-as well as a bibliography and, in many cases, a chronology of the author's life and work.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Ireland, Irish Literature, Classics, College, Literature

633 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2008

Reviews

[Kate♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5stars

DISCLAIMER I DID NOT READ ALL OF THE PLAYS IN THIS COLLECTION.

We focused on "Cathleen Ni Houlihan," "Riders to the Sea" and "Translations"

All of which were very different but also a good look into the different forms of Irish drama and what it says about Irish culture. And how ireland is literally always portrayed as a woman and making young men go and fight for her loll

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is Irish Drama? What characterizes a piece as "Irish" besides the fact that the author was born in Ireland? This is the main question my classmates and I explored in my graduate course on Irish Drama. While of course it's too complex to be completely answered, some of the characteristics we came up with were a preoccupation with and ambivalence towards superstition and the supernatural, tragic nationalism, crises of masculinity, family conflict, and fatalism. While some of the themes are often depressing, the language of these plays is often witty, whimsical, musical, and very funny. Romantics will love the emotional intensity and supernatural elements of plays like "The Weir," realists and historians will like the politics of the nationalist plays. Whether you already love drama and/or Irish lit, or you're not familiar with either one, I encourage you to try collection out as an introduction and overview to Irish Drama.

This was the primary textbook for my graduate course on Irish Drama, so I read most of the plays but not all of them. I loved almost everything I read in here, but my favorites are Brian Friel's "Translations" and Conor McPherson's "The Weir." If you're not familiar with Irish Drama (or even if you've never studied Drama at all), I definitely recommend this Norton edition as a good introduction. They've selected a lot of the most popular and important plays from the last 150 years or so. There are a few critical essays in the back if you're interested in digging a little deeper, but they're relatively short and practical (not bogged down in dense academic discourse), so they're great for the armchair literature enthusiast. My professor, Kevin Kerrane, wrote one of the essays on "The Weir," and it's a very basic rundown of the main points of interest in the play; he's a very down-to-earth guy, and a great teacher!

While I really like the plays Norton has selected here, I have one complaint: that the anthology itself includes too few plays spread over too many years. There is so much wonderful Irish Drama that it seems almost impossible to give an overview of 150 years in such a short volume. This is why I would like to see this collection split into two volumes or more. Since 1980, there has been an incredible explosion of great Irish Drama, and my course actually ended up focusing mostly on the contemporary stuff (which also happens to be my favorite, so yes, I'm probably quite biased). You could actually make a great anthology just out of mid-20th c. to contemporary, starting with Beckett and working up to the present day. Since this Norton doesn't include several of my favorite plays from the last 50 years or so, I encourage readers who are interested in contemporary Irish Drama to seek out the works of Billy Roche and other plays by Conor McPherson. Including more contemporary plays would also allow the inclusion of more female playwrights, and perhaps even Northern Irish writers as well.

For all my complaints about the anthology being too broad, in a way this actually makes it really good as a primer for someone who wants a very basic overview of the high points of Irish Drama. I encourage just about anyone to check this out from a library and read a play or two, even if you've never read drama before - plays are short, quick reads and you might discover something new to love! I hadn't studied drama practically at all (except Shakespeare) before I took this course, and now I'm in love!

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some incredible plays in it.

During this period of time, I was extremely interested in Irish history, since I identified strongly with that part of my ancestry.

Nowadays I reflect on the struggles of the Irish mostly through the lens of anti-imperialism, but I’m glad to have become so familiar with the background via texts like this one.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Done with this class and done with this book, thank goodness!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an odd feeling. Some of the plays were so depressing. There were a few "I hate this!" (The Weir, John Bull's Other Island) and some I really enjoyed (Playboy of the Western World, Riders to the Sea, Spreading the News, Juno and the Paycock) despite the ridiculously depressing themes and plots.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Norton anthologies bug the %^$% out of me because of their hackneyed author bios and snooty criticism. I liked this one. Very good plays, with supplementary material all in one lump in the back, away from the literature. And the material included a lot more author input and social/political/historical/production context instead of other people doing your interpretation for you.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this compilation. While I'm sure it does not begin to scratch the surface of good Irish plays, it's a start. Also, the analyses and backgrounds of the plays in the back are fantastic.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my god, I hate drama. There is a reason you watch plays and not read them. Once I got into the rhythm of the Irish play, it was easier to picture it in my head. "By the Bog of Cats" was my favorite play because it was just so odd.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used in my Irish Lit. class while studying abroad in Galway.

[Raelene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't get over how amazing so many of these plays are: Yeats' Cathleen Ni Houlihan, O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, Fiel's Translations. Fabulous.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great selection, well organized, and insightful critical articles.