"A vocation without a ministry?" Contexts and developments in contemporary Irish play writing

Gould, Geoffrey John Anthony

"A vocation without a ministry?" Contexts and developments in contemporary Irish play writing

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Date

2024

Authors

Gould, Geoffrey John Anthony

Publisher

University College Cork

Abstract

This study focuses on the changing landscape of Irish theatre in the first two decades of the new millennium and its effect on the position of the Irish playwright. The final decade of the twentieth century witnessed the emergence of what has been described as the ‘golden’ generation of Irish playwrights: Marina Carr, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson, Mark O’Rowe and Enda Walsh. No Irish playwright of the twenty-first century has garnered a similar type of critical and/or popular reception. My hypothesis is that, in the new millennium, Irish theatre provided an exciting new forum for the work of theatre makers, actor-authors and dance theatre practitioners, reducing the dependence on the playwright’s script and repositioning the relationship between the audience and the stage irrevocably. Where does that leave the playwright? Is there enough support from funding and other bodies to allow the playwright to survive? Is there sufficient support for the playwrights not just to survive but to develop? These were some questions I set out to answer only to find myself asking many more. I examined case studies from the ‘golden generation’ and from three playwrights of the new millennium in an attempt to understand whether extant threads exist through the political, myth and dramaturgy that link all these playwrights to what Tom Kilroy describes as an Anglic tradition. It was also important not to lose sight of so many other talented practitioners working in my profession. As such, bearing in mind the national and international successes of Louise Lowe, Gary Keegan and Feidlim Cannon of the theatre-maker sector; Pat Kinevane, Mikel Murfi, Sonya Kelly and Seamus O’Rourke of the actor-author sector; and the spellbinding work of Michael Keegan-Dolan’s dance theatre, a further aim of the research is to question whether a complete redefinition of the term ‘Irish playwright’ is required.

Keywords

Contemporary Irish theatre , Irish playwrights , Theatre makers , Actor-authors

Citation

Gould, G. J. A. 2024. "A vocation without a ministry?" Contexts and developments in contemporary Irish play writing. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.