{"product_id":"breaking-boundaries-3","title":"Breaking Boundaries","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlmost from the beginning, since 1970, new plays became part of the Focus’s repertory. Starting with Peter Terson’s \u003cem\u003eMooney and His Caravan\u003c\/em\u003e, and Declan Burke-Kennedy’s \u003cem\u003eThe Trespasser\u003c\/em\u003e in 1973, new plays continued to be produced and some, such as actor-playwright Ena May (\u003cem\u003eOut of the Beehive\u003c\/em\u003e 1987; \u003cem\u003eShe’s Your Mother, Too, You Know \u003c\/em\u003e1988; \u003cem\u003eA Close Shave With the Devil\u003c\/em\u003e 2001), finding an artistic home for their works, though not in the numbers that established plays and classics had been produced under Deirdre’s leadership. Since 2002 under Joe Devlin’s artistic direction, Focus has reversed the emphasis with new plays taking the lion’s share of the theatre’s performances and, in the process, reinvigorated itself during the past decade. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf the seven plays in this anthology, (five are from Joe’s leadership) all exhibit a range in styles from Lewis Carroll’s fantastical world (\u003cem\u003eAlice in Wonderland\u003c\/em\u003e by Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy), to a couple on the brink of a philandering weekend disaster (\u003cem\u003eThe Day of the Mayfly\u003c\/em\u003e by Declan Burke-Kennedy), to a one-man show about Jonathan Swift with several characters all played by the same actor (\u003cem\u003eTalking Through His Hat\u003c\/em\u003e by Michael Harding); an examination of two shoplifting thieves and the would-be writer who gets in their way (\u003cem\u003ePinching for My Soul\u003c\/em\u003e by Elizabeth Moynihan), a battle royal between two sides of a world-famous painter (\u003cem\u003eFrancis \u0026amp; Frances\u003c\/em\u003e by Brian McAvera), the reactions of multiple New Yorkers to that moment on September 11, 2001 when their world was changed forever (\u003cem\u003eNew York Monologues\u003c\/em\u003e by Mike Poblete), to the final days of an iconic movie star (\u003cem\u003eHollywood Valhalla\u003c\/em\u003e by Aidan Harney).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach of these scripts is followed by short notes from the playwright, a memory of the production and in some cases its aims by its author. As will become quite clear, there is no single Focus play, no play which perfectly captures the spirit, the aesthetic aims, the physical abilities of this continually surprising fifty-year-old company.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Peter Lang International Academic Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54224553345368,"sku":"9781788747523","price":39.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781788747523_2bf70cdf-1698-460c-b2d0-82d17230ceab.jpg?v=1764452717","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/breaking-boundaries-3","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}