Full Description
The Irish Times called Thomas Kilroy "one of the most significant playwrights of modern Ireland", while The Sunday Times has described him as "one of the outstanding living Irish playwrights and, perhaps, the most complete". The winner of numerous honors including a special tribute from the Irish Theatre Awards in 2003, he has written fourteen plays.
This appraisal of the works of Thomas Kilroy focuses on the common themes and methodology of his plays, including an unusual alliance between serious theatrical complexity and varied but demanding forms of comedy. A separate chapter is devoted to each play with the exception of The Death and Resurrection of Mr. Roche and The MacAdam Travelling Theatre, whose complementary themes are discussed together. Reflecting on the essence of theatre, Kilroy's works combine meditations on humanity with references to Irish history, generally using historical reality as a dramatic starting point. Plays discussed include Kilroy originals such as Talbot's Box, The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde and Blake as well as adaptations of well-known works such as The Seagull, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Henry. Interviews with stage directors (L. Parker, M. Stafford-Clark, P. Mason, A.S. Paul) and the playwright himself contribute to this in-depth analysis of Kilroy's dramatic art. Photographs of staged plays and a list of premieres of Kilroy's works (plays and adaptations) are also included.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations and Dates of Publication of the Plays
Preface
Part I: The Plays
1. The O'Neill: An Early View of Irish Identity
2. Encounters in The Madame MacAdam Travelling Theatre and The Death and Resurrection of Mr. Roche
3. Comic Variations in Tea and Sex and Shakespeare
4. Space in Talbot's Box
5. Double Cross: The Faces of Betrayal
6. Lighting Up the Masks: The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde
7. Skywork for a Symphonic Theatre: Scenic Images in Blake
8. The Shape of Metal: Portrait of a Successful Artist
9. Irish Disconnections with the Former British Empire: Thomas Kilroy's Adaptation of The Seagull
10. Conclusion
Part II: Interviews
11. An Interview with Thomas Kilroy, 2001 by Paul Brennan and Thierry Dubost
12. An Interview with Thomas Kilroy, March 8, 2004
13. An Interview with Lynne Parker, Dublin, October 30, 2003: On The Shape of Metal
14. A Telephone Interview with Max Stafford-Clark, June 3, 2004: On Tea and Sex and Shakespeare and The Seagull
15. A Telephone Interview with Patrick Mason, September 27, 2004: On Talbot's Box, The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde, and the First Irish Production of The Seagull
16. An Email Interview with Andrew S. Paul, December 2005: On The Seagull and Henry
Appendix: Premières of Thomas Kilroy's Plays and Adaptations
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
