Productions of the Irish Theatre Movement, 1899-1916

The Irish Renaissance encompassed one of the western world's most powerful dramatic movements. But most lists of productions have only included certain premieres, while ignoring all revivals and the productions of lesser-known theatres. This reference is a comprehensive list of all theatrical productions of the early modern Irish dramatic movement, including all premieres and revivals. The volume includes productions from the 1899 founding of the Irish Literary Theatre through the April 1916 Easter Rising, when British martial law significantly altered the course of Irish drama.

Entries are provided for more than 1,000 productions, with each entry offering the play's title, author, producing organization, building, city, and dates of performance. The entries are grouped in chapters devoted to particular years and are arranged chronologically within each chapter. The chronological arrangement of the entries reveals the development of Irish theatre, while an extensive index allows alphabetical access to the contents. By including entries for all productions, the volume indicates that many plays that are now neglected were produced numerous times and were central to the drama of the period. This work will force scholars to reconsider the major plays of the period, due to the record of their revivals, and the importance of many neglected plays will now have to be reassessed.

NELSON O'CEALLAIGH RITSCHEL is Assistant Professor of Humanities at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. His essays have appeared in such journals as LIT: Literature, Interpretation, Theory and New Hibernia Review. His previous books include Productions of the Irish Theatre Movement, 1899-1916 (Greenwood, 2001).