Three Dublin Plays The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, & The Plough and the Stars

by O'Casey, Sean; Murray, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780571195527
• ISBN10: 0571195520
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-10-20
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Summary

The classic plays of the quintessential Dublin playwright Three early plays by Sean O'Casey--arguably his three greatest--demonstrate vividly O'Casey's ability to convey the reality of life and the depth of human emotion, specifically in Dublin before and during the Irish civil war of 1922-23, but, truly, throughout the known universe. In mirroring the lives of the Dublin poor, from the tenement dwellers inThe Shadow of a GunmanandJuno and the Paycockto the bricklayer, street vendor, and charwoman inThe Plough and the Stars, Sean O'Casey conveys with urgency and eloquence the tiny details that create a total character as well as the terrors, large and small, that the constant threat of political violence inevitably brings. As Seamus Heaney has written, "O'Casey's characters are both down to earth and larger than life . . . His democratic genius was at one with his tragic understanding, and his recoil from tyranny and his compassion for the oppressed were an essential--as opposed to a moral and thematic--part of his art." A new production ofJuno and the Paycockwill transfer from the Donmar Theatre in London to New York in September 2000. Sean O'Caseywas born on March 30, 1880 in Dublin, Ireland. Other than the Dublin Trilogy, his many works includeThe Star Turned Red,The Silver Tassie, andPurple Dust. He died on September 18, 1964.

Author Biography

Sean O'Casey was born on March 30, 1880 in Dublin, Ireland. Other than the Dublin Trilogy, his many works include The Star Turned Red, The Silver Tassie, and Purple Dust. He died on September 18, 1964.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
The Shadow of a Gunman	1	(62)
Juno and the Paycock	63	(86)
The Plough and the Stars	149