The Emergence of Irish National Drama: A Brief History

Abstract

In spite of the rich potential, the emergence of drama in Ireland was very late. Till the 19^th century there was no drama, either in Irish or in English language in Ireland. It was due to the sincere efforts of the poet-dramatist, W.B.Yeats and his friends, the drama in Ireland came into existence with the establishment of The Abbey Theatre in 1903 in Dublin. But the development of the Abbey  was not smooth. Even after the emergence of drama in Ire land talents, playwrights or actors, were not attracted towards this profession because there was not any established tradition of theatrical activities in Ire land. It was W.B.Yeats who pursued many Irish talents, living in other countries, like J.M.Synge  to return to Ireland and write drama based on Irish themes and culture. In this paper we propose to trace the history of emergence and development of Irish drama and the famous Abbey Theatre and the manifold crisis faced by it. We will also briefly discuss the role of important dramatists in the development of drama in Ireland.

Keywords: Irish drama, They Abbey Theatre, Irish Literary Movement, Irish folklore, Gaelic.