ENG 345, 346 - Contemporary Irish Drama

1 course unit

This course focuses on contemporary Irish playwrights such as Brian Friel, Conor McPherson, Marina Carr, Stewart Parker, and Martin McDonagh in the context of the history of Irish drama as a vital national cultural tradition. From the Celtic Revivalists’ plays at the founding of the Abbey Theatre, drama in Ireland has exerted shaping influence on the state as it has also provided a sensitive respondent to tumultuous events in Irish history. More than many cultures, the Irish are haunted by the past, and so we will be viewing the contemporary works as conversations that Irish writers today are staging with their own historical and more specifically their own theatrical ghosts (Yeats, Synge, O’Casey, and Beckett at the least).
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction or any 200 level ENG course or permission of instructor.
Meets departmental Transformations approach.
Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 346.