Module: Irish Theatre

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Irish Theatre
Module Code	LIT1000 (ITS: EL304)
Faculty	English	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

This module examines the development of Irish drama and theatre practice from the eighteenth century to the present day. It is a course concerned with the interplay of text and performance, and with the ways in which theatre is shaped by the world around it. Through a number of interpretative lenses (concerned with nationalism, identity, class, gender, economics) students are introduced to the idea of a distinctly ‘Irish drama’ and the key critical narratives that have been borne of this idea.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the development of a distinctly Irish drama
2. Perform comparative and close analyses of a range of plays and theatrical styles
3. Discuss the significance of theatre in cultural and political terms
4. Relate Irish drama to historical developments
5. Examine the role of drama in exploring key issues such as gender, class, globalisation, postcolonialism.
6. Develop an understanding of performance praxis

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	21	Lectures
Tutorial	3	Tutorials
Independent Study	48	Assigned Weekly Reading
Independent Study	53	Independent Learning Exam Preparation
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	10066	Part of Term	Semester 1
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Eugene McNulty	Module Teacher	Darran McCann, Ellen Howley, Gearoid O'Flaherty

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Essay	Essay	25%	n/a
Formal Examination	Exam	75%	End-of-Semester

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Sheridan and the idea of ‘Irish Theatre’

Boucicault and sensation drama

Political Melodrama

GB Shaw

Cultural nationalism and performance

Oscar Wilde – performing identity

Founding of the Abbey

Founding of the Ulster Literary Theatre

Early Yeats and Lady Gregory – performing myth

J.M. Synge and the peasant play

Sean O’Casey and the counter revival

Staging the North

Contemporary Irish drama

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Christopher Morash: 0, A History of Irish Theatre 1601-2000,
Stephen Watt et al (eds.: 0, A Century of Irish Drama: Widening the Stage,
Desmond Slowey: 0, The Radicalisation of Irish Drama 1600-1900,
Eugene McNulty: 0, The Ulster Literary Theatre and the Northern Revival,
Christopher Murray: 0, Twentieth-century Irish Drama: mirror up to nation,
Lionel Pilkington: 0, Theatre and the State in Twentieth-Century Ireland,
Dermot Bolger (ed.): 0, Druids, Dudes, and Beauty Queens: the changing face of Irish theatre,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None