Why this topic, why these plays
The plays gathered under "Ireland" share a recurring thematic preoccupation that, across 12 different scripts in our archive, has produced a remarkable variety of theatrical solutions. Reading them in proximity to one another is one of the more useful comparative exercises a student of dramatic writing can do, because the contrasts in tone, structure, and resolution show how much choice a playwright really has, even when the underlying subject is the same. The list below collects the works in our library that catalogue indexers identified with this subject; in some cases the connection is overt and in others oblique, but in every case the thematic affinity is real and worth pursuing.
All plays on this topic (12)
- O'Flaherty V.C.: A Recruiting Pamphlet — by Bernard Shaw
- John Bull's Other Island — by Bernard Shaw
- Riders to the Sea — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- The Playboy of the Western World: A Comedy in Three Acts — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- The Well of the Saints: A Comedy in Three Acts — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- The Tinker's Wedding — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- In the Shadow of the Glen — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- Deirdre of the Sorrows — by J. M. (John Millington) Synge
- Duty, and Other Irish Comedies — by Seumas O'Brien
- The Countess Cathleen — by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
- The Land of Heart's Desire — by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats
- The Hour Glass — by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats