Irish Theatre in Transition: From the Late Nineteenth to the Early Twenty-First Century

Irish Theatre in Transition celebrates the creative and richly vibrant Irish theatre which, since its inception, has always been in transition. Fifteen Irish theatre scholars, building on Christopher Murray's foundational essay on the first hundred years, explore Irish theatre's significance under the headings of 'Engaging with a Changing Reality' (of the Celtic Tiger, the sexual revolution, dementia), 'Enhanced Theatricality', 'Reframing Transition', and 'Inventiveness and Expanding the Stage' and discuss Irish plays in London, varied performances across Ireland in a year, Shakespeare, and Sam Shepard as Irish playwright.

The book is designed to show some of the myriad forms of transition: how this theatre reflects the changing conditions of a changing society and nation; how it innovates by returning to its roots or to abandoned but still viable theatrical conventions; how it continually reinvents itself and experiments with new media, and how it moves beyond the local and dares to imagine new audiences.