#ReadingIrelandMonth22 Theatre & Ireland
Fiona Shaw….a great Irish actress!
MARCH
by Lionel Pilkington (no photo)
Finish date:
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: C
Review: Theatre & Ireland (ISBN: 978-0230574625)
Bad news: Cover: Unimpressed….with all the great actors, actresses and the theaters in Ireland …publishers choose a huge illustration of the symbol “&” . Missed opportunity to draw a prospective reader to the book!
Bad news: 70% of the book places more emphasis on “the stage Irishman” and the history of the Irish theatre. 30% of the book finally sheds more light the modern Irish theatre (1960s-2000).
Good news: Whatever book I read about Irish theatre I always learn something new. What is a …a Kitchen Sink play?…how does stage decor influence the play?
1960s: Brian Friel’s Philadelphia , Here I Come!
Characters living in rural Ireland are faced with a choice
“…emigration and adjustment VS a suicidal attachment to a single identity”
1980s: Brian Friel’s play Translations
Ireland can <— LOOK BACK
rural premodernity, Gothic grotesque, anti-colonial resistance
or LOOK FORWARD —>
identity based on the ability to compromise, adapt and act cautiously.
1990s: Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane
reveals the gulf between the cosmopolitan world of the theatre audience and the benighted (lacking enlightenment) kitchen-sink living room of the characters on stage.
1997: Conor McPherson’s The Weir
Irishness without Ireland — conditions of repetition, hauntings, irrational allegiances.
unmodernized Ireland (pub, rural land, farm) … and a village threatened by modernity (tourists, housing development).
Personal: I do have Irish roots….but I hope I can encourage more people to read some Irish playwrights! Ireland is so much more than just Riverdance!
NancyElin.blog 
I’m having trouble finding the title of the book, just wondering if you can include the title in your text as the image is so tiny it’s hard to read.
I like your review, like a play it reads in a dramatic fashion with all the bad news up front 🤔🤣 so I’m glad after that you do manage to find the redeeming features of this work.
Well done for focusing on theatre!
Claire, I remember at work people would say…tell them the bad news first…then the good news and always leave a positive spin. If you move the cursor of the mouse over the book image the name and author of the book is visible…but I will add the title and author as bullet points, thanks so much for the feedback. There are some great Irish play reviews in the planning!
So here is where I admit that when I read blogs in the morning I do so on my phone, when I write them it’s on a laptop and so it looks very different. So it’s a screen thing, but having the title might make it easier to find.
Not sure about that bad news first thing, it reminds me of when I’d did toastmasters and they said commend, recommend, commend. 🤔😊
Claire, I never read anything on my phone! I see people everywhere staring at the cell phone and wonder why not just get a mini-IPAD….bigger screen!