How does Irish drama show on stage the survival of Irish people in the face of conflict and disappointment?
Irish Drama shows on stage the survival of the Irish people in the face of conflict and Disappointment from feelings of, and suppressed violence and disappointment. This is expressed through a style of heightened realism in both The Beauty Queen of Leenane (BQOL) by Martin McDonagh and Dancing at Lughnasa (DAL) by Brian Friel. In BQOL, cold-hearted violence is shown by close proximities of the characters on stage emphasising facing conflict that leads directly to the characters judgements. While In DAL, tension and violent outbursts arise from characters’ conflicting in religious and ethical frameworks due to staging, thus shows how stubborn intolerance of differing beliefs leads only to dysfunctional relationships.
Through my empirical judgement of staging of both sets, I believe it is constructed in a way that makes it look living a room on stage but at the same time includes a kitchen area, with dim lighting and olden style worn-down structure making it into a gloomy and depressing atmosphere. While additionally ADL requires a garden and yard at stage right, such while allows the audience to look in on the action through the fourth wall.
From my own heuristic view DQL has eight main characters where the play is set in a single level, small house in which they live. Through observations of workshops it can be seen that this, intimate -family feel is foundational leading to concern from behaviour, which cause sudden outbursts from these sisters especially Kate.
The Irish drama starts off with simple discussion between Chris, Agnes and Maggie about there physical appearance where during workshop the broken mirror was t...
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...to use level and pacing of Mag’s fast delivery of dialogue and Maureen’s slow and deliberate delivery to denote status and the character’ power relationship emphasising Maureen brutality and the calm delivery of her lines following the torture, through her apparent indifference about mag, show her heartlessness. That the scene comes as recurring as it already has been done once before and gives a sense of the suppressed violence of the play, and of Irish theatre in general.
From an examination of Irish drama through these two plays The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Dancing at Lughnasa shows that staging of the survival of the Irish people in the face of conflict and disappointment through feelings of facing conflict and a sense of suppressed violence contribute significantly to the intended meanings of the plays and provide a basis into understand the Irish people
In conclusion the performance ‘Chasing the Lollyman’ by Debase productions succeeded in using the Dramatic Languages, symbol, human context and conventions to create a Dramatic Meaning that comments on a social and political issue. That links to the dramatic meaning of the performance is if Australia wants to become one, we need to learn to accept each other for their
The play, “Riley Valentine and the Occupation of Fort Svalbard”, by Julia- Rose Lewis is an exploration of the resilience of teenagers. The play is heavily symbolic and supports the dramatic meaning of the show. Throughout the Queensland Theatre Company’s interpretation of this play, the director, Travis Dowley, expresses forms of dramatic elements to articulate three types of manipulations. These manipulations include the manipulation of body and voice, space and the creation and manipulation of dramatic mood. Through these types of manipulations, it portrays the dramatic meaning towards the performance. Although, the use of space throughout Travis’s performance allows the audience to identify this dramatic meaning.
The first half of the play concerns a celebration - twins Girlie Delaney and Dibs Hamilton are celebrating their 80th birthdays, and with the gathering of their families comes the eruption of simmering resentments and anxieties about the future of Dibs and Farley Hamilton's farm, Allandale. The second half starts with a funeral and portrays the shattering of the tenuous links that held the family together.
Included within the anthology The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction,1[1] are the works of great Irish authors written from around three hundred years ago, until as recently as the last decade. Since one might expect to find in an anthology such as this only expressions and interpretations of Irish or European places, events or peoples, some included material could be quite surprising in its contrasting content. One such inclusion comes from the novel Black Robe,2[2] by Irish-born author Brian Moore. Leaving Ireland as a young man afforded Moore a chance to see a great deal of the world and in reflection afforded him a great diversity of setting and theme in his writings. And while his Black Robe may express little of Ireland itself, it expresses much of Moore in his exploration into evolving concepts of morality, faith, righteousness and the ever-changing human heart.
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
Johansen, Ib. ‘Shadows in a Black Mirror: Reflections on the Irish Fantastic from Sheridan Le Fanu to John Banville’. Nordic Irish Studies , Vol. 1, (2002).
The Donnelly twins are very important characters in Brian Friel’s Translations. They not only symbolize many kinds of people in Ireland, but they also move the story along and present us with the major conflict that occurs. The Donnelly twins embody all the actions that the Irish made in order to regain their freedom, and show us the major tensions that were occurring in Ireland during the time of this play’s performance.
This gentleman is six foot two, short black hair, black eyes, and with no real distinguishing marks. He is heterosexual, African American, and is An Atheist. His name is David, and he is walking home while wearing sweat pants with a ripped up t-shirt that was from home. Some people would consider this gentleman to be poor and have a horrible education with nothing good on his mind. However David is a part-time firefighter, with a part-time job, and also being part time college student. There is a difference between people hardcore supporting their culture or beliefs, compared to individuals who get stereotyped like David for example. In the article, “Sticks and Stones: The Irish Identity”, by Robert McLaim Wilson and published by Grand Street.
The theme of being trapped extends to many levels throughout James Joyce’s collection of short stories, Dubliners. The reader can often feel surrounded by an inescapable force that is making them read this seemingly plot-less book. Escaping this book becomes no more easier when asked to do a literary analysis. Never fear though, Dubliners transforms itself into a decently workable piece of art. In examining the Humanities Base Theme of individual and society and the Literary Base Themes of escape, journey, and entrapment in Dubliners there are quite a few examples of these themes that coincide with the readers’ feelings. Throughout Dubliners, characters feel trapped and make an attempt to escape society.
Theatre is an art form that has been shared across cultures for hundreds of years. This art form is extremely versatile in the types of plays, such as comedic, tragedy, and many other genres. Although theatre is thought of a form of entertainment, playwrights have seized the opportunity to inject political opinions into the play to inform the audience about present issues in their lives. Issues that playwrights have incorporated into plays have included stories that people may not be ready to hear but it encourages the audience to look inside themselves and assess their moral standing on certain issues. One subject that has been incorporated into many plays throughout the last century is women’s issues. These plays have challenged the way women
Behan, Brendan. The Quare Fellow. Modern Irish Drama. Ed. John P. Harrington. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, Inc, 1991. 255-310.
Black comedy discusses and integrates controversial and often taboo topics such as pain, loss, and grief providing a confronting and cathartic experience for the audience. Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’ is a play that humorously deals with the serious nature of the Irish struggle for independence. It juxtaposes the mundane with the extreme political violence, which is a common aspect of black comedy, presenting an issue in a new perspective. The act of pointless violence presented through characterisation, sharp dialogue and the symbol of the cat, is a strong mechanism for laughter. Similarly Neil Labute’s ‘The Shape of Things’ presents manipulation, superficiality and the nature of art in a humorous way. ‘The Shape of Things’
Cathleen Ni Houlihan by W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory and The Rising of the Moon by Lady Gregory demonstrate the impending and never ceasing restlessness of the Irish people and the desire to rebel against British rule. In turn, the playwrights incorporate spirit or spirit-like characters that represent the oppression that the Irish experienced. By the end, the spirit has incited a character to help or follow them in the rebellion. Those who aid the cause of the rebellion are often not supported by anyone else but the spirit. If I were to stage these plays on a double bill of one-acts, I would emphasize the oppression of the characters and the impending rebellion with saturated light that envelopes the scene, setting that represents their vulnerability,
Guthrie (1995), a renowned personality in the field of theater arts in Europe, wrote in an article that, whatever the author writes as a script, should be enacted by the actor and by that the context of the piece made by the writer will be passed through the audience. Therefore, it is the audience’s responsibility to absorb the message aimed to propagate by the play; and it is seen through their reactions—may be a sentiment of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
When Gabriel Conroy delivers his wordy yet incredibly moving speech to the gaggle of Dubliners gathered together for the Holidays, he worries, possibly even fears, death. He talks of the future, making it sound cold and inhospitable. He lays compliments on his aunts one after the other about their “ perennial youth’ (pg.166) and their kid ways. Gabriel addresses both the future and the present using a compare and contrast method, making one seem comforting and homey, the other dark and unknown. This comparison adds the aspect of death to Gabriel’s speech because of impermanence of his Aunt Julia and Aunt Kate; the impermanence of good old Irish hospitality, warmth and love.