This volume contains 12 chronological chapters that cover the history of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, which opened its doors to the public in 2004. The Abbey has survived fires, riot and perpetual artistic disagreement to become one of the greatest theatres in the Western world, presenting over 740 new plays by some of the greatest Irish writers of the modern age, including W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, Sean O'Casey and Brian Friel. Illustrated with cartoons, sketches and production photographs, it provides an overview of the great actors, directors and playwrights of 20th-century Irish theatre. It also contains a complete list of plays produced at the Abbey Theatre since 1904.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Former Abbey artistic director and literary manager Fitz-Simon lets pictures do much of the talking in this thorough centennial tribute to one of Dublin's most prestigious theaters. Some 179 illustrations, mostly production photos, richly capture work that has defined the Abbey Theatre since its 1904 grassroots beginning. At that time, when Ireland was still under Great Britain's rule, the theater's founders, who included poet W.B. Yeats, vowed to stage serious Irish plays. Although occasionally wordy and stilted, Fitz-Simon's chronology impressively demonstrates the correlation between this national theatre and its nation's identity, as well as the conflicts that arose when the two clashed. Early premieres like J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World and Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars proved groundbreaking but caused audience uprisings. While not as controversial, contemporary playwrights such as Hugh Leonard, Frank McGuinness and Dancing at Lughnasa scribe Brian Friel have also portrayed national politics and social conditions at the Abbey. But the first 30 years of the theater had so much offstage drama-war-induced economic woes, extensive management squabbles, lambasting from devout Catholics-that later disputes seem comparatively minor. The early years are also more engaging visually. Since there are fewer photos of that period, a greater variety of illustrations, including posters, caricatures and newspaper clippings, is employed. Fitz-Simon inflates the Abbey's overall impact when he writes that since its inception, almost all of Irish theater's great plays have originated there. But, overall, this is an astute history, especially for theatre aficionados and Irish history buffs, who will enjoy catching a young Liam Neeson in a couple of photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Yeats, Lady Gregory, O'Casey: the early, glory days of the Abbey Theatre are the stuff of theatrical history, and although many revolutionary ideas disappear entirely or rigidify in a new establishment, the Abbey, true to its roots, continues to introduce new, often experimental plays. This celebratory book has a scant though informative text as the accompaniment to hundreds of historic photos, theater posters, and costume and set drawings that re-present the Abbey's unfolding significance. We see sweet, solemn Maire O'Neill (Molly Allgood) inaugurating one of the great roles in modern drama, Pegeen Mike in Synge's Playboy of the Western World; George Bernard Shaw warming his hands by Lady Gregory's fire as they discuss the first production of John Bull's Other Island; Tanya Moiseiwitsch's stylized Celtic costumes for an early revival of Douglas Hyde's Irish-language plays; today's screen familiars Liam Neeson and Colm Meaney in a play about the "troubles"; the Irish premiere of Brian Friel's popular Dancing at Lughnasa. The Abbey is one of the world's great theaters; this book aims to show why. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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