Irish Theatre in England

Irish theatre in England has frequently illustrated the complex relations between two distinct cultures. How English reviewers and audiences interpreted Irish plays is often decidedly different from how the plays were read in performance in Ireland. How certain Irish performers have chosen to be understood in Dublin is not necessarily how audiences in London have perceived their constructed stage personae. Performativity often elides with performance in these contexts, making the underlying ideologies, political and aesthetic, intricate to analyse. The dramas play with images of Ireland and Irish character for distinct political purposes. Situating such performances in precise temporal contexts allows the multiple meanings inherent in play to fully emerge. Though a collection by diverse authors, the twelve essays in this volume – the second in the Irish Theatrical Diaspora Series – investigates these issues from a variety of perspectives that together chart the trajectory of Irish performance in England from the mid-nineteenth century till today. They are complemented by a chronological table of Irish plays produced in London since 1920