Questions of Identity: “Irishness” in Modern and Contemporary
Irish Drama
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will explore a range of texts from the early 1900s to the present day that
use the Republic of Ireland as a primary setting. The beginning of this timeline
marks a period when theatre promoted the essence of Irish Nationalism and a new
Irish identity was being formed, while the plays of the present day seek out a much
larger and international audience. Despite this span of over a hundred years and the
resulting geographical dissemination, the plays we will investigate in the course are
just a sample of a diverse Irish dramatic canon devoted to two main topics: Irish
Identity and Irish History.
The particulars of Irish Identity have been a site of contention for hundreds of years
as political and economic situations shift and discussions on gender, class, and race
insert themselves into the nation’s historical narrative. Irish theatre is but one area
that demonstrates Ireland’s passionate fixation with its own troubled history, and as
we engage with these plays, we use the following questions to inform our
investigation:
1) How is the past—historical, personal, mythical—represented in these plays?
2) How do individual playwrights use the past to raise questions of identity and
“Irishness?”
COURSE METHODOLOGY
The course will strike a balance between lecture and seminar. Students will give
presentations in groups to introduce playwrights and historical background to the
class, while also initiating class discussion with thoughtful questions regarding the
play at hand. Non-presenting students will write brief informal responses bringing
the play and various readings for the week into conversation with one another,
while also posing discussion questions for the class.
At midterm, the students will respond to several short essay questions in written
form, which will address material covered in the first half of the semester. The
course will culminate in a final paper that will address two plays: one should be
from the syllabus, the other does not have to be. The paper will address at least two
secondary sources, either from the syllabus or an outside source. Students will hand
in a prospectus several weeks prior to the end of the semester in order to receive
guidance and advice on their topics.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
 To gain knowledge of various playwrights and the contextual history that
surrounds the creation of their plays.
 To critically interpret the text of a play based on key issues in Irish history.

To analyze plays both verbally during class discussion and in written form
through a comparative paper using the knowledge gained in class.
MATERIALS
The Methuen Drama Anthology of Irish Plays (London: Methuen, 2008)
Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama (New York: Norton, 2009)
Modern Irish Theatre by Mary Trotter (Cambridge: Polity, 2008)
The Politics of Irish Memory by Emilie Pine (New York: Palgrave, 2011)
Philadelphia, Here I Come! by Brian Friel
Portia Coughlin by Marina Carr
Shining City by Conor McPherson
The Pride of Parnell Street by Sebastian Barry
GRADING BREAKDOWN
Student Presentations
Informal Responses
Prospectus
Final Paper
Participation
Total
10%
20%
10%
40%
20%
100%
WEEKLY TOPIC/READING BREAKDOWN
Week 1
 MCID, “The Irish Dramatic Revival,” various, pp. 401-423
 MCID, “Postcolonialism and Irish Theatre, “Merriman, pp. 594-599
 Cathleen Ní Houlihan (1902) by W.B. Yeats & Lady Augusta Gregory
 Riders to the Sea (1904) by J.M. Synge
 MCID, “Strangers in the House,” Grene, pp. 426-429
 MCID, “Cathleen Ní Houlihan Writes Back,” Quinn, pp. 429-432
 MCID, “Image-Maker for Ireland: Augusta, Lady Gregory,” Saddlemyer, pp.449452
Week 2
 The Playboy of the Western World (1904) by J.M. Synge
 Student Presentation on Synge
 MCID, “Preface to The Playboy of the Western World,” Synge, pp.453-454
 MCID, “Journal 1907,” Holloway, pp. 456-461
 MCID, “The Controversy over The Play of the Western World,” Yeats, pp. 462-464
 MCID, “The First Playboy,” Reynolds, pp. 464-468
 MCID, “The Playboy of the Western World,” pp. 468-472
Week 3
 Juno & the Paycock (1924) by Sean O’Casey
 Student Presentation on O’Casey
 MCID, “On Sean O’Casey,” various, pp. 496-516


MIT, “Chapter 3: The Abbey Becomes Institution: 1916-1929,” pp. 63-90
MIT, “Chapter 4: New Voices of the 1930s and 1940s,” pp. 91-112
Week 4
 Krapp’s Last Tape (1957) by Samuel Beckett
 Student Presentation on Beckett
 MCID, “On Samuel Beckett,” various, pp. 517-539
 MIT, “Chapter 5: Irish Theatre in the 1950s,” pp. 115-135
Week 5
 Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964) by Brian Friel
 Student Presentation on Friel
 MIT, “Chapter 6: Irish Theatre’s Second Wave,” pp. 136-149
 PIM, “The Exiled Past: The Return of the Irish Immigrant,” pp. 78-99
Week 6
 Báilegangáire (1985) by Tom Murphy
 Student Presentation on Murphy
 MIT, “Chapter 7: Theatres Without Borders: Irish Theatre in the 1980s,” pp. 153175
Week 7
 Translations (1980) by Brian Friel
 MCID, “On Brian Friel,” various, pp. 540-558
 Midterm Short Essays
Week 8
 The Steward of Christendom (1995) by Sebastian Barry
 Student Presentation on Barry
 MIT, “Chapter 8: A New Sense of Place: Irish Theatre since the 1990s,” pp. 176194
 PIM, “In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War,” pp. 127-151
Week 9
 Portia Coughlin (1996) by Marina Carr
 Student Presentation on Carr
 MCID, “Translating Women into Irish Theatre History,” Trotter, pp. 600-606
 PIM, “Haunted Pasts: Exorcising the Ghosts of Irish Culture,” pp. 152-170
 *Prospectus Papers Due
Week 10
 SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS
Week 11




The Cripple of Inishmaan (1996) by Martin McDonagh
View Man of Aran (1934) by Robert Flaherty
PIM, “Past Traumas: Representing Institutional Abuse” pp. 18-52
Student Presentation on McDonagh
Week 12
 Shining City (2004) by Conor McPherson
 The Weir (1997) by Conor McPherson
 MCID, “On Conor McPherson,” various, pp. 559-576
 Student Presentation on McPherson
Week 13
 Small-group discussions/paper work-shopping
Week 14
 The Pride of Parnell Street (2008) by Sebastian Barry
 “Modern Ireland: Multinationals and Multiculturalism,” Banks, pp. 1-29 (PDF)
Week 15
 Class Wrap-Up
 Final Papers Due