Publisher's Synopsis
Contents:
The Old Lady Says ""No!""
The Moon in the Yellow River
The Golden Cuckoo
The Dreaming Dust
The Scythe and the Sunset
Denis Johnston's first play,The Old Lady Says 'No!'was produced in 1929, and immediately made his reputation as a very talented, innovative and deeply thoughtful playwright. This description was confirmed by his later plays, four of which,The Moon in the Yellow River, The Golden Cuckoo, The Dreaming Dust, andThe Scythe and the Sunset, withThe Old Lady, are printed in this volume. Written in widely varying styles, Johnston's work presents his audience with issues that initially seem clear-cut, but by the end of each play thses have been thought throught to such an extent that basic assumptions have been thoroughly reorganized and transformed.
Denis Johnston is justly considered to be the doyen of Ireland's dramatists, and this volume of five plays, the second in the Irish dramatists, and this volume of five plays, the second in the Irish Drama Selections series, is available in hardcover and paperback formats. Chosen and introduced by Joseph Ronsley, this selection is the ideal introduction to Johnston's work, for use by classes and performers alike. Texts of the individual plays are available for hire from Colin Smythe Ltd. By any company that wishes to perfom them.
Joseph Ronsley teaches at McGill University, Montreal. He is author ofYeat's Autobiography: Life as Symbolic Pattern, and has editedMyth and Reality in Irish Literature, andDenis Johnston, a Retrospective. He is co-general editor of Irish Drama Selections, and has been a President of the Canadian Association for Irish Studies.
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