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This comprehensive handbook assembles a comprehensive body of essays on the key elements of Irish Theatre and Performance from the past 50 years. In an attempt to examine key moments, movements, works, artists, companies, and spaces, essays in the text approach this important area of study from a range of thematic angles to create an analytical resource that seeks critical insight and steps beyond encyclopaedic listing.



This important and timely scholarly resource offers a unique insight for upper-level students and scholars of theatre and performance, and helps evaluate the tremendous impact of Irish drama on the contemporary theatre scene.

<div>1. Introductions/Orientations.- 2.&nbsp;The Mainstream: Problematising and Theorising;&nbsp;Shaun Richards.- 3.&nbsp;The Theatre Royal, Dublin;&nbsp;Conor Doyle.- 4.&nbsp;The Politics of Performance: Theatre in and About Northern Ireland;&nbsp;Lisa Fitzpatrick.- 5.&nbsp;The Literary Tradition in the History of Modern Irish Drama;&nbsp;Christopher Murray.- 6.&nbsp;#WakingTheFeminists;&nbsp;Carole Quigley.- 7.&nbsp;Live Art in Ireland;&nbsp;Una Mannion.- 8.&nbsp;Gestures of Resistance: Dance in 1990s Ireland;&nbsp;Finola Cronin.- 9.&nbsp;Contemporary Theatre in Irish Language;&nbsp;Máirtín Coilféir.- 10. Theatre for Young Audiences in Ireland;&nbsp;Tom Maguire.- 11.&nbsp;Performance in the Community: Amateur Drama and Community Theatre;&nbsp;Elizabeth Howard.- 12.&nbsp;Performing Politics: Queer Theatre in Ireland, 1968-2017;&nbsp;J. Paul Halferty.- 13.&nbsp;Long Flame in the Hideous Gale: The Politics of Popular Irish Performance, 1950-2000;&nbsp;Susanne Colleary.- 14.&nbsp;Other Theatres;&nbsp;Christopher Collins.- 15.&nbsp;Independent Theatre and New Work;&nbsp;Gavin Kostick.- 16.&nbsp;Funding, Sponsorship and Touring;&nbsp;Shelley Troupe.- 17.&nbsp;New Century Theatre Companies;&nbsp;Cormac O'Brien.- 18.&nbsp;The Joyful Mysteries of Comedy;&nbsp;Bernard Farrell.- 19.&nbsp;Lambert Theatre and Puppetry Redefined;&nbsp;John McCormick.- 20.&nbsp;Scenic Transitions: From Drama to Experimental Practices in Irish Theatre;&nbsp;Noelia Ruiz.- 21.&nbsp;Key Moments and Relationships: Working with Pat Kinevane;&nbsp;Jim Culleton.- 22.&nbsp;Irish Cinema and Theatre;&nbsp;Ruth Barton.- 23.&nbsp;Actor Training Ireland since 1965;&nbsp;Rhona Trench.- 24.&nbsp;Ireland: A Designer’s Theatre;&nbsp;Siobhán O’Gorman.- 25.&nbsp;Props at the Abbey;&nbsp;Eimer Murphy.- 26.&nbsp;Ireland: An Actor’s Theatre;&nbsp;Bernadette Sweeney.- 27.&nbsp;The Figurative Artist: ÚNA’N’ANU;&nbsp;Úna Kavanagh.- 28.&nbsp;Ireland: A Director’s Theatre;&nbsp;Ian R. Walsh.- 29.&nbsp;In the wake of Olwen Fouéré’s <i>riverrun</i>;&nbsp;Kellie Hughes.- 30.&nbsp;Ireland: A Writer’s Theatre;&nbsp;Nicholas Grene.- 31.&nbsp;The Making of <i>Mainstream</i>;&nbsp;Rosaleen McDonagh.- 32.&nbsp;Participatory Performance: Spaces of Creative Negotiation;&nbsp;Kate McCarthy and Una Kealy.- 33.&nbsp;Other Spaces (Non-Theatre Spaces);&nbsp;Charlotte McIvor.- 34.&nbsp;Irish Plays in Other Places;&nbsp;Kevin Wallace.- 35.&nbsp;Adaptation and Transformation;&nbsp;Anne Fogarty.- 36.&nbsp;Circuitous Pathways: Marina Carr's Labyrinth of Feminist Form in the US World Premiere of <i>Phaedra Backwards</i>;&nbsp;Melissa Sihra.- 37.&nbsp;Being Intercultural in Irish Theatre and Performance; Cathy Leeney.- 38.&nbsp;<i>Once Upon a Time</i> in the Life of Arambe: A Personal Reflection;&nbsp;Bisi Adigun.- 39.&nbsp;Intercultural Arrivals and Encounters with Trauma in Contemporary Irish Drama;&nbsp;Eva Urban.- 40.&nbsp;Dramaturgical Complicity: Representing Trauma in Brokentalkers' Blue Boy;&nbsp;Kate Donoghue.- 41.&nbsp;Between the City and the Village: Liminal Spaces and Ambivalent Identities in Contemporary Irish Theatre;&nbsp;Brian Devaney.- 42.&nbsp;Verse in Twenty-First Century Irish Theatre;&nbsp;Kasia Lech.- 43.&nbsp;The Gate Theatre on the Road: O’Casey, Pinter and Friel;&nbsp;Mária Kurdi.- 44.&nbsp;Festivals and Curation;&nbsp;Willie White.- 45.&nbsp;Interart Relations and Self-reflexivity in Contemporary Irish Drama;&nbsp;Csilla Bertha.- 46.&nbsp;"Contempt of Flesh": adventures in the uncanny valley;&nbsp;Ashley Taggart.- 47.&nbsp;The Dance of Affect in Contemporary Irish Dance Theatre;&nbsp;Aoife McGrath.- 48.&nbsp;Artistic Vision and Regional Resistance: <i>The Gods Are Angry, Miss Kerr</i> and the Red Kettle Theatre Company;&nbsp;Richard Hayes and Una Kealy.- 49.&nbsp;Cultural Materialism and a Class Consciousness?;&nbsp;Erica Meyers.- 50.&nbsp;The Utilisation of Domestic Space in the Reflection of Economic Struggles of Modern Living in Conor McPherson's New Translation of <i>The Nest</i>;&nbsp;Maha Alatawi.- 51.&nbsp;Audiences: Immersive and Participatory;&nbsp;Ciara L. Murphy.- 52.&nbsp;Sounding Affect in Pan Pan Theatre’s Adaptation of <i>All That Fall</i>;&nbsp;Angela Butler.- 53.&nbsp;Music in Irish Theatre: the sound of the people;&nbsp;Ciara Fleming.- 54.&nbsp;Sightings of Comic Dexterity;&nbsp;Eric Weitz.- 55.&nbsp;Acts of Remembering in Irish Theatre;&nbsp;Emilie Pine.- 56.&nbsp;Staging a Response: <i>No Escape</i> and the rise of documentary theatre in Ireland;&nbsp;Luke Lamont.- 57.&nbsp;Children of the Revolution: 1916-2016;&nbsp;James Moran.- 58.&nbsp;Post-feminism and Ethical Issues in Four Post-Celtic Tiger Irish Plays;&nbsp;Mária Kurdi.- 59.&nbsp;Reflections on Bernard Shaw and the 21st Century Dublin Stage;&nbsp;Audrey McNamara.- 60.&nbsp;'Endless Art': The Contemporary Archive of Performance;&nbsp;Barry Houlihan.</div>

<p><b>Eamonn Jordan</b> is Associate Professor in Drama Studies at the School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin, Ireland. His published works include <i>Theatre Stuff: Critical Essays on Contemporary Irish Theatre</i> (2000) and <i>Dissident Dramaturgies: Contemporary Irish Theatre</i> (2010), and he has co-edited <i>The Theatre of Martin McDonagh: A World of Savage Stories</i> (2006) and <i>The Theatre of Conor McPherson: 'Right beside the Beyond'</i> (2012) with Lilian Chambers.<br></p><p><b>Eric Weitz</b> is Associate Professor in Drama and Theatre Studies at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. His publications include&nbsp;<i>The Cambridge Introduction to Comedy&nbsp;</i>(2009)&nbsp;and&nbsp;<i>Theatre & Laughter</i>&nbsp;(2016), as well as edited collections and single-author essays and articles. He sits on the boards of two socially-engaged theatre companies&nbsp;–&nbsp;Smashing Times (Dublin) and Collective Encounters (Liverpool) – and he is President of the Irish Society for Theatre and Performance Research.</p>

This Handbook offers a multiform sweep of theoretical, historical, practical and personal glimpses into a landscape roughly characterised as contemporary Irish theatre and performance. Bringing together a spectrum of voices and sensibilities in each of its four sections — Histories, Close-ups, Interfaces, and Reflections —&nbsp;it casts its gaze back across the past sixty years or so to recall, analyse, and assess the recent legacy of theatre and performance on this island. While offering information, overviews and reflections of current thought across its chapters, this book will serve most handily as food for thought and a springboard for curiosity.&nbsp;Offering something different in its mix of themes and perspectives,&nbsp;so that previously unexamined surfaces might come to light individually and in conjunction with other essays, it is a wide-ranging and indispensable resource in Irish theatre studies.

<p>Examines key moments, movements, works, artists, companies and spaces in contemporary Irish theatre and performance from a range of thematic angles</p><p>Provides new insights into the ways Irish theatre practice has evolved over the past sixty years</p><p>Brings together a wide spectrum of voices and perspectives to encourage fruitful new understandings of the legacy of recent Irish theatre and performance</p>

“Theatre and performance in Ireland occupies a special position in the modern world, but its variety and scope make it a very challenging subject to discuss.&nbsp; This extensive collection rises admirably to that challenge, covering an impressive range of material, artistic, sociopolitical, and economic, drawing from both academic and professional analysts, and extending its overview into amateur theatre, audiences, and unscripted and other experimental work.&nbsp; It will become an essential reference work for anyone interested in the modern Irish theatre, or indeed in modern theatre in general.” (Marvin Carlson, Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor of Theatre, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies, CUNY, USA)<p>“This groundbreaking volume of extraordinarily diverse essays may well heal the schism between playwriting and performance in current Irish theatre. The reach of the volume goes well beyond the traditional emphasis on the playwright to consider the central contributions of performers, directors, dramaturgs, musicians, choreographers, designers, and sound and visual artists to the making of the theatrical act. Essays defending the playwright and these other theatre makers are often provocatively juxtaposed by the editors in the interest of opening up debate and extending interpretation. The dazzling outcome is a decisive intervention in the current state of Irish theatrical practice.” (Anthony Roche, Professor Emeritus in the School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin, Ireland)</p>

<p>“A vast array of voices and approaches to the contemporary moment of Irish theatre, historically contextualised, and socio-politically framed, is contained in this book. Its 'broad spectrum' approach to theatre and performance blends the writing of scholars and practitioners, blurring disciplinary boundaries and providing 'snapchats' of insight, reflection, and critical thinking.” (Brian Singleton, Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama & Theatre, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)</p>

<p>“The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Irish Theatre and Performance is a beautifully curated collection offering unique and varied perspectives on theatre and performance in Ireland over the last sixty years. In its carefully selected montage of contributions from leading scholars and practitioners, the handbook moves beyond the shape and structure of conventional scholarly collections and offers ‘a wide range of generational voices’, whilst also making room for ‘closeups from the spectator’s or social observer’s view’. Readers can explore ‘previously unexamined surfaces’ through essays that reflect on theatre process and performance, or new scholarly perspectives that theorize, historicize, summarize, and scrutinize. This is an exceptionally important and interesting collection; a rich resource for contemporary and future scholars, practitioners, and general readers in the field.” (Marie Kelly, Vice-President, Irish Society for Theatre Research, Lecturer in the Department of Theatre, University College Cork, Ireland)</p>