“We've All To Grow Old”: Representations of Agingas Reflections of Cultural Change on the Celtic Tiger Irish Stage
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation discusses the work of four Irish playwrights: Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr, Conor McPherson, and Elaine Murphy. Specifically, it investigates the inclusion, by these playwrights, of “elderly” characters in their plays written between 1995 and 2010—a period of economic and cultural change known as the “Celtic Tiger.” This study argues that the way that aging and senescence—defined jointly as the process of aging and as the state of being “aged”—are represented on stage reveals a broader cultural negotiation of “new” and “old” Ireland. Into their representations of “old” characters, the playwrights discussed here have embedded a reflection of destabilized cultural narratives, which resulted from intense societal change in Ireland.
abstract: This dissertation discusses the work of four Irish playwrights: Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr, Conor McPherson, and Elaine Murphy. Specifically, it investigates the inclusion, by these playwrights, of “elderly” characters in their plays written between 1995 and 2010—a period of economic and cultural change known as the “Celtic Tiger.” This study argues that the way that aging and senescence—defined jointly as the process of aging and as the state of being “aged”—are represented on stage reveals a broader cultural negotiation of “new” and “old” Ireland. Into their representations of “old” characters, the playwrights discussed here have embedded a reflection of destabilized cultural narratives, which resulted from intense societal change in Ireland.
author: Hill, Christopher Austin
language: English
keywords: Theater, Theater History, Theater Studies, Performing Arts, Folklore, European History, British and Irish Literature, History, Literature, Theatre, Irish Theatre, Irish Studies, Celtic Studies, Cultural Studies, Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr, Conor McPherson, and Elaine Murphy, Celtic Tiger
date published: 2013-07-23
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:37:31Z
provider: OhioLINK
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The Ohio State University