Contemporary Irish Documentary Theatre (Plays)

- Blurb -

Contemporary Irish Documentary Theatre is the first anthology of Irish documentary drama. It features five challenging plays by Irish writers, and one by an international author, interrogating and commenting on crucial events of Irish history and of the diaspora, with introductory essays by established academics. Together these plays represent the most innovative development in contemporary Irish theatre and illuminate the social and political realities of contemporary Ireland.The first two plays, of 2010 and 2013, deal with scandals of clerical and institutional abuse, and use as source material the Ryan Report of 2009, and the documents from the 2008 Irish Bank Guarantee. The next two, of 2014 and 2015, concern interpretations of some of the most iconic - and ambivalent - moments of Irish history: WWI, and the Easter Rising. The first of these is based on published, and the second on unpublished, statements of participants in the events. The last two plays, of 2015 and 2016, widen the view to the history of the Irish in the diaspora: one retelling the history of emigration to England based on published research material; and the other tracing Roger Casement's experiences in the Amazon and his subsequent participation in the Easter Rising using extracts from his diaries and other writings.The plays included and discussed are: No Escape by Mary RafteryGuaranteed by Colin MurphyOf This Brave Time by Jimmy MurphyHistory by Grace DyasMy English Tongue, My Irish Heart by Martin LynchThe Two Deaths of Roger Casement by Domingos Nunez