The Abbey, where next? – 28 Nov

To turn O’Connell Street into the Broadway of Ireland; The Debate over the Relocation of the Abbey Theatre.

The Irish Literary Society is delighted to present its 2nd Joint Lecture with the Centre for Irish Studies (CIS), St Mary’s University College.

From its foundation in 1904 The Abbey, Ireland’s national theatre, has been located at Lower Abbey Street in Dublin. However from 2001 to 2012 an often heated debate about its relocation took place in the two houses of the Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann) and the Irish national press. This lecture will examine the debate within the context of the idea of national theatres as public monuments, as agents in urban regeneration, and consider the modern Abbey’s role as a key element in Dublin’s competition for international cultural tourism.

Presented in association with the Centre for Irish Studies, St Mary’s University, Twickenham:




Speaker:
Shaun Richards
Shaun Richards is Professorial Research Fellow, CIS St Mary’s, the author of Writing Ireland (1988 with David Cairns), Mapping of Irish Theatre (2013, with Chris Morash), the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Irish Drama (2006) and scores of articles on Irish theatre published in Etudes Irlandais, Irish Studies Review and Irish University Review amongst others. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Sao Paulo and a consultant with the Cia Ludens theatre company that specialises in adapting Friel, Murphy and other Irish plays to the Brazilian stage in translation.