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Famous American playwright is smitten with Irish Wolfhounds

Published Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 12:41 PM

Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 5:28 PM

Read more: Edward Albee

American playwright Edward Albee loves Irish Wolfhounds

Check out IrishCentral's photos of Irish Wolfhounds

Edward Albee is one of the most renowned American playwrights of the 20^th century. The writer of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, Albee has followed in the footsteps of greats such as the Irish Samuel Beckett in his American version of the “Theatre of the Absurd,” tragicomedies that take an unsympathetic view on modern American life.

But he has another connection to the Irish - he loves Irish Wolfhounds.

Pet owner and journalist Sharon Sakson, a dog lover herself, heard Albee deliver a speech at the Miami Book Fair some years ago, in which he said: “Man thinks that he is the only species capable of feeling emotion,” he said, “but anyone who owns an Irish Wolfhound knows that’s not true.”

From this statement, the author of “Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs” was inspired delve a bit deeper into the brilliant playwright’s affection for dogs. She interviewed Albee on his love and appreciation for the Irish Wolfhound, and here’s what the writer had to say:

“I became interested in Irish Wolfhounds because a friend had one. He was a painter. He invited me over to look at his canvases and this dog came up and leaned against me. I sat down to look at a painting and he sat down and looked with me. We moved out to his studio to look at another painting, and this big dog sat down next to me again. We went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and he was still with me. He stuck to my side. He had this big head and wherever I sat, he put his head on my knee and looked up at me with his big dark eyes. We became very good friends. He was the dog who introduced me to Irish Wolfhounds. They are the loveliest of creatures. I decided I had to have one.”

“I’ve had as many as three Irish Wolfhounds at a time. The Wolfhound breed is very special to me, but I like all dogs, of all kinds.

“Back when the Romans first came to Ireland, they took some of the early Irish Wolfhounds back to Rome with them and paraded them around. I wanted to parade mine around in New York. I got a big leather collars for them.

“We would go to Central Park and walk to a huge hill. The dogs and I would stand at the top. The hill sloped down before us for about 300 yards. If they saw a squirrel at the bottom of the hill, they would take off and race down it, knocking over people and bicyclists on their way. They just had to chase the squirrel. It was inconvenient for the people, but the dogs loved it.

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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.

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Famous American playwright is smitten with Irish Wolfhounds

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