Marina Carr
Encyclopedia
Marina Carr is an Irish
playwright.
Born in Tullamore
, County Offaly
, Carr attended University College Dublin
before holding posts as writer-in-residence at the Abbey Theatre
and Trinity College Dublin. She served as Heimbold Professor of Irish Studies at Villanova University
in 2003. Her award-winning plays—largely poetic tragedies of rural Irish domestic life—have been produced around the world. She currently lives in Kerry and is a member of Aosdána
.
Like the works of several other contemporary Irish playwrights, Carr's plays frequently include instances of black humor and severe physical brutality. She is distinguished, however, most notably by the fact that several of her plays are filled with classical Greek allusion or are loose retellings of classical Greek myths.
In Carr's early work, she experiments with style as she seeks to find her own. Low in the Dark (1989), her first play, is an absurdist
piece in which gender roles and misconceptions are farcically addressed. The style reflects her early interest in fellow Irish playwright Samuel Beckett
. Carr's next few experiments are The Deer Surrender (1990), This Love Thing (1991), and Ullaloo (1991). She won the 1997 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
.
Her following play, The Mai (1994), won Best New Play from the Dublin Theatre Festival and marked a shift in Carr's writing style. Though it is not an adaptation of a Greek play, it has distinct classical resonances, rising from questions of truth, legacy/heredity, and fate. The same can be said of her next play, Portia Coughlan (1996). Her other works include By the Bog of Cats… (1998), a retelling of Euripides
' Medea
; On Raftery's Hill (2000); Ariel (2002), a retelling of Euripides
Iphigenia at Aulis extended into the aftermath shown in Aeschylus
' Oresteia; and Woman and Scarecrow (2006).
In February 2009 Carr debuted two plays in Dublin - Marble at the Abbey Theatre
(directed by Jeremy Herrin
), and a children's play, The Giant Blue Hand, at Dublin's Cultural Centre for Children, The Ark.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
playwright.
Born in Tullamore
Tullamore
Tullamore is a town in County Offaly, in the midlands of Ireland. It is Offaly's county town and the centre of the district.Tullamore is an important commercial and industrial centre in the region. Major international employers in the town include 'Tyco Healthcare' and 'Boston Scientific'. In...
, County Offaly
County Offaly
County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
, Carr attended University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
before holding posts as writer-in-residence at the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
and Trinity College Dublin. She served as Heimbold Professor of Irish Studies at Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
in 2003. Her award-winning plays—largely poetic tragedies of rural Irish domestic life—have been produced around the world. She currently lives in Kerry and is a member of Aosdána
Aosdána
Aosdána is an Irish association of Artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers and with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Membership, which is by invitation from current members, is limited to 250 individuals; before 2005 it was limited to 200...
.
Like the works of several other contemporary Irish playwrights, Carr's plays frequently include instances of black humor and severe physical brutality. She is distinguished, however, most notably by the fact that several of her plays are filled with classical Greek allusion or are loose retellings of classical Greek myths.
In Carr's early work, she experiments with style as she seeks to find her own. Low in the Dark (1989), her first play, is an absurdist
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
piece in which gender roles and misconceptions are farcically addressed. The style reflects her early interest in fellow Irish playwright Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
. Carr's next few experiments are The Deer Surrender (1990), This Love Thing (1991), and Ullaloo (1991). She won the 1997 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is for English-language women playwrights. Named for Susan Smith, alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer.-Winners:* 1978-79 Mary O'Malley* 1979-80 Barbara Schneider...
.
Her following play, The Mai (1994), won Best New Play from the Dublin Theatre Festival and marked a shift in Carr's writing style. Though it is not an adaptation of a Greek play, it has distinct classical resonances, rising from questions of truth, legacy/heredity, and fate. The same can be said of her next play, Portia Coughlan (1996). Her other works include By the Bog of Cats… (1998), a retelling of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
' Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
; On Raftery's Hill (2000); Ariel (2002), a retelling of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
Iphigenia at Aulis extended into the aftermath shown in Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
' Oresteia; and Woman and Scarecrow (2006).
In February 2009 Carr debuted two plays in Dublin - Marble at the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
(directed by Jeremy Herrin
Jeremy Herrin
Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director and currently the Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre in London. He trained as a theatre director at both the Royal Court and the National Theatre...
), and a children's play, The Giant Blue Hand, at Dublin's Cultural Centre for Children, The Ark.
Publications
- Carr, Marina. Mai. London: Dufour Editions, 1995.
- Carr, Marina. Plays One. London: Faber and Faber, 1999.
- Carr, Marina. On Raftery's Hill. London: Faber and Faber, 2000.
- Carr, Marina. Ariel. Oldcastle, Co. Meath: Gallery Books, 2002.
- Carr, Marina. Woman and Scarecrow. London: Faber and Faber, 2006
- Carr, Marina. 16 Possible Glimpses. The Abbey Theatre, 2011
Further reading
- Allen Randolph, Jody, 'Marina Carr' in Close to the Next Moment: Interviews from a Changing Ireland (Manchester: Carcanet, 2010).
- McMullan, Anna and Cathy Leeney, eds, The Theatre of Marina Carr: Before Rules Was Made (Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2002).
- Trench, Rhona, Bloody Living: The Loss of Selfhood in the Plays of Marina Carr (Bern: Peter Lang, 2010).