Critical Moments: Fintan O'Toole on Modern Irish Theatre Book

	Acknowledgements
	Note on the text
	Introduction	1
	Island protected by a bridge of glass	7
	Scenes from an album	8
	The silver dollar boys	9
	The fabulous journey of Mac Con Glin	10
	The informer	11
	The hidden curriculum	13
	Here are ladies	14
	The communication cord	15
	The golden hair	18
	Pledges and promises	18
	The great hunger	20
	The Gigli concert	21
	Horseman pass by	23
	Bust	25
	The diamond body	26
	The interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty	27
	The riot act	29
	Northern star	31
	Observe the sons of Ulster marching towards the Somme	34
	Baglady	36
	Conversations on a homecoming	37
	Rise up lovely Sweeney	39
	I'll go on	42
	Callers	43
	Wasters	44
	Bailegangaire	47
	Double cross	50
	Studs	53
	Ourselves alone	55
	Cromwell	56
	Brownbread	58
	Pentecost	60
	Somewhere over the balcony	62
	Exit entrance	63
	Sea urchins	65
	Boss Grady's boys	66
	Carthaginians	67
	Bat the father, rabbit the son	69
	Departed	70
	Torchlight and laser bemas	71
	Home	72
	Una Pooka	74
	Wild Harvest	77
	King of the castle	80
	Blood guilty	83
	The trial of Esther Waters	85
	The lament for Arthur Cleary	86
	La Corbiere	87
	War	87
	Blinded by the light	91
	Dancing at Lughnasa	93
	The siege of Derry Pageant	98
	The sinking of the Titanic	101
	Poor beast in the rain	101
	The cure at Troy	102
	The holy ground and in high Germany	106
	Prayers of Sherkin	109
	Wonderful Tennessee	112
	Brothers of the brush	115
	I know my own heart	118
	At the black pig's dyke	121
	The last Apache reunion	123
	Asylum! asylum!	126
	True lines	128
	The Mai	128
	Chamber music	131
	Hidden charges	133
	Danti-Dan	135
	A little like paradise	137
	Hard to believe	140
	Red roses and petrol	142
	Sick, dying, dead, buried, out	145
	April bright	147
	The steward of Christendom	150
	The ginger ale boy	152
	Monkey	155
	A night in November	157
	The beauty queen of Leenane	159
	The gay detective	162
	Portia Coughlan	164
	True lines and double helix	167
	Strawberries in December	169
	In a little world of our own	172
	Catalpa	174
	Mrs Sweeney	176
	The Leenane trilogy	179
	The cripple of Inishmaan	183
	The weir	184
	Lovers at Versailles	186
	Ariel	188
	Famine	191
	The sanctuary lamp	193
	A whistle in the dark	196
	Nightshade	197
	I do not like thee, Doctor Fell	198
	Hatchet	200
	Summer	202
	A crucial week in the life of a grocer's assistant	204
	Talbot's box	206
	Big Maggie	208
	The gentle island	211
	Waiting for Godot	213
	The death and resurrection of Mr. Roche	216
	Aristocrats	220
	Faith healer	223
	Sharon's grave	226
	The field	229
	The loves of Cass McGuire	231
	Da	234
	Sive	236
	Frank pig says hello	238
	Happy days	242
	The hostage	246
	Philadelphia, here I come!	252
	Translations	259
	The myth of our renaissance	267
	Banking on miracles	270
	Revivals touched by the mood of the eighties	274
	Overturning a favourite theme	277
	Into the 90s: setting the stage for an exciting, dizzying decade	280
	Right and wrong roles for theatre design	283
	What is really new about the new wave	285
	Double worlds	288
	The Field Day Anthology of Irish writing	292
	I'm relieved I was wrong	294
	Hugh Leonard	297
	Tom Murphy	299
	Brian Friel	302
	Samuel Beckett	307
	Thomas Kilroy	310
	Sebastian Barry	313
	Song of the white man's Burden	319
	Too much too young	320
	Return to the hill	322
	The business of blood	323
	from Lack of access to arts goes to the heart of poverty trap	325
	A picture of paradise	325
	He left quietly	328
	Putting my prejudices on the table	331
	from The golden rule is that there is no golden rule	333
	from If this is criticism, I want my old job back	337
	In conversation with Redmond O'Hanlon	341
	Afterword	379
	Index	385