Centre for Irish Studies Public Lecture Explores the Irish National Theatre

The Centre for Irish Studies at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham has partnered with the Irish Literary Society for its second joint public lecture, which is being held on Thursday 28th November in London. The talk “‘To turn O’Connell Street into the Broadway of Ireland’: The Debate over the Relocation of Abbey Theatre” is being delivered by St Mary’s Professorial Research Fellow and leading authority on Irish drama, Prof Shaun Richards. 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. Prof Richards specialises in Irish drama and has published work including Writing Ireland (1988, co-written with David Cairns), Mapping Irish Theatre (2013, co-written with Chris Morash) and is editor of The Cambridge Companion to Irish Drama (2006). Shaun is also a visiting professor at the University of Sao Paulo and is a consultant to the Cia Ludens Theatre Company that specialises in adapting Friel, Murphy and other Irish plays to the Brazilian stage. The lecture starts at 7.30pm at the Hilton Double Tree Hotel, Victoria, is free and open to the public.