Theatre

Theatre

I am a playwright. I show
What I have seen.
In the man markets
I have seen how men are traded. That
I show, I, the playwright.

Bertolt Brecht

A hopeful vision of human renewal: the theatre of Seán O'Casey
Saturday, 14 September 2024 09:45

A hopeful vision of human renewal: the theatre of Seán O'Casey

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in Theatre
The anniversary of Seán O’Casey's death falls on 18th September. He was the first English-speaking dramatist of international significance to emerge from the proletariat. His proletarian consciousness made his plays a significant part of Irish and international theatre history, securing their enduring relevance. O’Casey was not only a talented playwright…
Banner Theatre: Working-class culture for a change!
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 03 February 2024 10:47

Banner Theatre: Working-class culture for a change!

in Theatre
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One of our country's longest running political theatre groups, Banner have dedicated their time over 50 years to trade union causes and working-class issues, and the power of working-class culture. The workshop is called Banner Theatre: Working Class Culture for a change! It will take place on Zoom on 16/02/2024…
Together for a better world! Theatre of the Oppressed and the Landless Workers’ Movement:  
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 09 December 2023 09:34

Together for a better world! Theatre of the Oppressed and the Landless Workers’ Movement:  

in Theatre
Written by
I am currently leading a theatre project called Performing Resistance: the role of theatre and performance in 21st century workers’ movements. The aim is to create new links between artists and workers' movements in Brazil, India, North America, and the UK. Project workshops, and a website and archive (under construction) …
Sean O'Casey, Ireland's greatest working-class playwright
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 30 October 2023 10:45

Sean O'Casey, Ireland's greatest working-class playwright

in Theatre
Written by
Paul O'Brien, the first Irish critic to publish a full-length political biography of Sean O’Casey from a left-wing perspective, talks to Jenny Farrell about some largely unknown aspects of the first proletarian dramatist of international significance writing in English. Despite four major biographies in existence, O’Brien felt that “they offered…
Sean O'Casey: Political Activist and Writer
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 09 October 2023 12:23

Sean O'Casey: Political Activist and Writer

in Theatre
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Jenny Farrell reviews Sean O’Casey: Political Activist and Writer by Paul O’Brien Anybody who has come across the work of independent scholar and critic Paul O’Brien knows that his interest lies in the radical tradition of literature and history. He came to my attention with his book Shelley and Revolutionary…
Holberrys
Friday, 29 September 2023 11:36

Holberrys

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in Theatre
Holberrys is a play about two Sheffield Chartists, Samuel and Mary Holberry, who helped organise the betrayed ‘physical force’ insurrection in the city in January 1840. Samuel, a distillery worker, former agricultural worker and ex-soldier who had served in Ireland in the suppression of the Ribbonmen rebellion in 1833, and…
Dramatising Revolution: Review of a trilogy of Sean O'Casey's plays
Saturday, 16 September 2023 14:46

Dramatising Revolution: Review of a trilogy of Sean O'Casey's plays

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in Theatre
Seán O’Casey – the first proletarian dramatist writing in English – made his theme the struggle for the emancipation of the Irish people, and by extension of all working people. In Ireland, O’Casey is (unfairly) best known for his first three plays, examining the Irish working class at key moments…
Fierce and funny political theatre: 'England & Son' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Thursday, 10 August 2023 09:42

Fierce and funny political theatre: 'England & Son' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

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in Theatre
He’s done it again! A few years ago, Ed Edwards exploded into Edinburgh with ‘A Political History of Smack and Crack’, performed at the Fringe Festival. It was a brilliant piece of political theatre, setting personal stories of drug addiction in Eighties Britain against the background of brutal Tory policies…
England and Son
Wednesday, 19 July 2023 15:49

England and Son

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in Theatre
England and Son is a one-man play written specifically for the political comedian Mark Thomas by award-winning playwright Ed Edwards (The Political History of Smack and Crack). It's a heartbreaking but funny horror story in which all the horrors are real. Prepare for Mark to take you on a epic…
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