The Playwright in Practice: Writing for the Stage in 21st Century Ireland

Irish playwrights have contributed disproportionately to the output of English-language drama over the course of the 20th century, creating some of the most memorable dramatic literature of the last hundred years. With that in mind, this practical playwriting course will interrogate the tradition of theatrical writing in the Irish capital of Dublin at a time when that tradition is undergoing radical changes in terms of form, experimentation and the shifting role of the playwright in the process of theatre-making. Contemporary Dublin has undergone an unprecedented process of modernization rarely seen in the developed world, with the city becoming in just twenty years a multicultural, cosmopolitan space that is embracing provocative ways of seeing and creating work meant for theatrical performance.

Questions about the playwright's relevancy in creating performance, how authorship of a play is determined, and the slipperiness of language are now at the heart of Irish theatre's drive to redefine itself. Challenged by a wide range of individual and group exercises, the student will be exposed to a host of methodologies for writing and creating work for the stage specific to this unique moment in Irish theatrical history, and in the process gain an appreciation for the important role writers still play in making theatrical performance.