The Theatre and Films of Martin McDonagh

Description

Martin McDonagh is one of the world's most popular dramatists. This is a highly readable and illuminating account of his career to date that will appeal to the legions of fans of his work for the stage and of his films Six Shooter and In Bruges. As a resource for students and practitioners it is unrivalled, providing an authoritative and enquiring approach to his work that moves beyond the tired discussions of national identity to offer a comprehensive critical exploration. Lonergan provides a detailed analysis of each of his plays and films, their original staging, critical reception, and the connections within and between the Leenane Trilogy, the Aran Islands plays and more recent work. It includes interviews with directors, designers and actors associated with his work and material from Druid Theatre Company, the RSC and the National Theatre relating to the original productions. It offers four critical essays on key features of McDonagh's work by leading international scholars and a series of further resources including a chronology, glossary, notes on McDonagh's use of language and a list of further reading.

Patrick Lonergan is a lecturer in English at National University of Ireland, Galway. He writes about theatre for The Irish Times and Irish Theatre Magazine. His first book, Theatre and Globalization, was awarded the 2008 Theatre Book Prize. He has authored two Student Editions of plays by Martin McDonagh for Methuen Drama.

As Patrick Lonergan's entertaining and enjoyable study of the playwright and film-maker points out, academics have frequently been more hostile [that critics]. Lonergan attempts to re-address this...By shifting the focus of his debate away from perennial debates surrounding the authenticity of Irish representation, Lonergan is able to pose much more interesting questions about the relationship between the author and his work...each section includes a very useful section of production analysis. The book also includes an extremely detailed glossary offering readers explanations of all the terms and major historical events dis cussed in McDonagh's plays...Lonergan's easy conversational tone and knowledgeable discussion of the plays will, though, be of interest to a general readers hip interested in McDonagh's work, and this book offers a comprehensive account of his varied and occasionally controversial career to date. -- Catherine Rees * New Theatre Quarterly *