New Plays from the Abbey Theatre, 1996-1998, Vol. 2 » (New Edition)

The latest volume in the series of plays premiered at the National Theater of Ireland contains scripts for Love in the Title by Hugh Leonard, Dolly West's Kitchen by Frank McGuiness, and The Muesli Belt by Jimmy Murphy. It also includes one or two photographs from each production. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

In this third installment of the publisher's series, Friel, former literary manager of the Abbey Theatre (and daughter of playwright Brian Friel), and Sternlicht, an English professor at Syracuse and editor of the first two volumes in this series, present three original works that were produced during the 1999-2000 season. In the first two plays, Hugh Leonard's Love in the Title and Frank McGuinness's Dolly West's Kitchen, generational and various family and sexual relationships are both surrealistically and realistically portrayed. In the third, Jimmie Murphy's The Muesli Belt, Dublin's real estate expansion destroys old community ties built on loyalty and friendship. Rich Irish flavor and temperament are vividly apparent in the settings-the idyllic site of the giant Clough-a-Regan stone, a family kitchen, and an old bar-and human dramas unfold with humor, passion, and pathos. The introduction includes Friel's explanation of the original "Abbey Theatre Series of Plays," published between 1905 and 1933, and the new anthology beginning in 1993, along with Sternlicht's succinct presentation of the plays and playwrights. Recommended for comprehensive modern drama collections in both large public and academic libraries.-Ming-ming Shen Kuo, Ball State Univ. Lib., Muncie, IN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.