The Gate Theatre is one of Ireland’s major theatres. It has produced important new plays by such figures as Brian Friel, Conor McPherson, and Denis Johnston – while also premiering significant works by other writers, including unjustly neglected women dramatists such as Mary Manning, Christine Longford, and Maura Laverty. It has made huge contributions to the art of theatre in Ireland, not only in relation to acting (launching the careers of Orson Welles, James Mason, and Michael Gambon) but also in terms of direction and design. And it has made a major contribution to the world’s understanding of Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and others. Despite these incredible achievements, the theatre has been the subject of very little critical attention to date. This book redresses this problem; it is, in fact, the very first scholarly essay collection devoted entirely to the theatre. It gathers together leading academics and critics who explore the Gate’s achievements in relation to the development of new Irish writing and new Irish theatre practices. The book is written with scholarly rigour but also in accessible language and would therefore be of interest to anyone with a passion for Irish theatre.

David Clare is Assistant Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, and he previously held two IRC-funded postdoctoral fellowships at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway). He is the author of Bernard Shaw’s Irish Outlook (2016) and numerous essays on Irish and Irish Diasporic writers. Des Lally is a PhD candidate at NUI Galway. His research subject is «The Role of the Gate Theatre in Irish Modernism 1928-1945». He is Assistant Director of the Vassar College USA/Ireland Program and the Programme Coordinator of the Clifden Arts Festival. He co-edited (with Peter Fallon and John Fanning) Captivating Brightness: Ballynahinch, a literary celebration of Connemara’s iconic Ballynahinch Castle. Patrick Lonergan is Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at NUI Galway and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He has edited or written eleven books on Irish theatre, including Theatre and Globalization (winner of the 2008 Theatre Book Prize), The Theatre and Films of Martin McDonagh (2012), Theatre and Social Media (2015) and Irish Drama and Theatre Since 1950 (2019). He is a director of the Galway International Arts Festival, and, for Methuen Drama, he is co-editor of the «Critical Companions» series.