Geraldine Hughes reprises her celebrated one-woman play 'Belfast Blues'

'Belfast Blues,' Geraldine Hughes' one-woman play about her life is playing at the Barrow Street Theatre each Monday at 8 p.m. from Monday, March 8 through Monday, April 26. FULL STORY >

Edna O'Brien and Irish theater's censored history

Bridget English: I suppose it’s not that unusual for presidents to go to the theater. I’m sure president Obama does. But the announcement that Mary McAleese was amongst the audience at a performance of Edna O’Brien’s newest play “Haunted” still came as a bit of a surprise to me. Then I stared thinking about the relationship between Irish theater and politics. FULL STORY >

Irish arts get NYC showcase

This week over 90 Irish performing artists have come to New York to participate in Culture Ireland’s showcase of Irish arts. It’s an unprecedented roll out of Irish talent in the Big Apple. Cahir O'Doherty talks to the writers, producers and performers behind the big shows. FULL STORY >

An earnest version of Oscar Wilde

Before you actually see it, it’s difficult to imagine “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Oscar Wilde’s acknowledged masterpiece, performed as a musical. The trouble is that as a play it’s already so musical to begin with. FULL STORY >

Irish culture bonanza to hit New York in New Year

A flood of Irish culture will hit New York’s theaters in 2010, as more than 90 leading Irish artists and groups visit the city in the annual Culture Ireland Showcase. FULL STORY >

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A sea change in the history of the Irish theatre came with the establishment in Dublin in 1899 of the Irish Literary Theatre, later to become the Abbey Theatre. The history of this theatre is well documented, and its importance can be seen from the list of writers whose plays were first performed here in the early days of the 20th century. These included W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, John Millington Synge, George Moore, and Sean O'Casey. The Abbey was to create a style that held a strong fascination for future dramatists of Irish plays. Indeed, it could almost be said that the Abbey created the basic elements of a national style for Irish plays. This period also saw a rise in the writing of plays in Irish, especially after the formation, in 1928, of An Taidhbhearc, a theatre dedicated to the Irish language. The Gate Theatre, also founded in 1928, introduced Irish theatre audiences to many of the classics of the European stage. The twentieth century saw a number of Irish playwrights come to prominence. Samuel Beckett is probably the most significant of these. Beckett had a long career as a novelist and poet before his first play, Waiting for Godot (1953) made him famous. This play, along with his second, Endgame, is one of the great works of absurdist theatre. Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1969. The Lyric Theatre, founded in 1944 by Austin Clarke was based in the Abbey until 1951 and produced many of Clarke's own verse plays. From the mid 1950s, the Unitarian Church at St Stephen's Green, Dublin was home to Amharclann an Damer/The Damer Theatre. The Damer produced both professional and amateur Irish plays. The world premier of Brendan Behan's An Giall (The Hostage) took place here in 1958. Behan went on to be an extremely popular dramatist, particularly through his work with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Royal in Stratford, East London. But in general, the Abbey was the dominant influence in Irish theatre across the 20th century. Beckett's example has been almost entirely ignored in Irish theatre, although his plays are regularly performed on the Irish stage. Behan, in his use of song and direct address to the audience, was influenced by Bertolt Brecht and Denis Johnston, and used modernist techniques including found texts and collage, but their works had little impact on later Irish plays. In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of Irish theatre companies emerged to challenge the Abbey's dominance and introduce different styles and approaches with regard to Irish plays. These included Focus Theatre, The Children's T Company, the Project Theatre Company, Red Kettle, Druid Theatre, TEAM and Field Day. These companies nurtured a number of writers, actors, and directors who went on to be successful in London, Broadway and Hollywood or in other literary fields. These include Joe O Byrne, Peter Sheridan, Brian Friel, Stephen Rea, Garry Hynes, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson, Marina Carr, Jimmy Murphy, Billy Roche and Gabriel Byrne. In the 1990s and 2000s a new wave of Irish theatre companies arrived. These include: Bedrock, Blue Raincoat, B*spoke, The Corn Exchange, Corcadorca, Fishamble, Pan Pan, Playgroup, Raw, Rough Magic, and Tardy Lasso.

Geraldine Hughes reprises her celebrated one-woman play 'Belfast Blues'

Edna O'Brien and Irish theater's censored history

Irish arts get NYC showcase

An earnest version of Oscar Wilde

Irish culture bonanza to hit New York in New Year

IrishCentral.com Poll

Which is your favorite Irish contemporary play?

Join us - follow IrishCentral.com

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