This book locates the theatre of Marina Carr within a female genealogy that revises the patriarchal origins of modern Irish drama. The creative vision of Lady Augusta Gregory underpins the analysis of Carr's dramatic vision throughout the volume in order to re-situate the woman artist as central to Irish theatre. For Carr, 'writing is more about the things you cannot understand than the things you can', and her evocation of 'pastures of the unknown' forms the thematic through-line of this work. Lady Gregory's plays offer an intuitive lineage with Carr which can be identified in their use of language, myth, landscape, women, the transformative power of storytelling and infinite energies of nature and the Otherworld. This book reconnects the severed bridge between Carr and Gregory in order to acknowledge a foundational status for all women in Irish theatre.
"An erudite, thought-provoking and startling fresh academic study which situates Marina Carr's plays in relation to the patriarchal lineage of Irish modern drama. ... Overall this book offers valuable critical study on Carr and - accurately - locates her within the female genealogy of modern Irish drama." (Mia Colleran, The Irish Times, August 24, 2019)
"Marina Carr: Pastures of the Unknown is a well-argued and thought-provoking addition to the small but growing corpus of critical studies on the theatre of Marina Carr." (Adrienne Leavy, Reading Ireland, Issue 10, 2019)
"Marina Carr: Pastures of the Unknown is a well-argued and thought-provoking addition to the small but growing corpus of critical studies on the theatre of Marina Carr." (Adrienne Leavy, Reading Ireland, Issue 10, 2019)