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Marina Carr is an Irish playwright. She has written almost thirty plays, including By the Bog of Cats (1998) which was revived at the Abbey Theatre in 2015.[3]

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Marina Carr
Born	Dublin, Ireland
Alma mater	University College Dublin (graduated in 1987)
Occupation	Playwright
Years active	1989–present
Notable work	By the Bog of Cats
Children	4
Parents	Hugh Carr Maura Eibhlín Breathneach
Awards	Hennessy Award[1] (1994) Susan Smith Blackburn (1997) Irish Times Playwright (1998) E. M. Forster Award (2001) Macaulay Fellowship Puterbaugh Fellowship[2] (2012) Windham-Campbell Prize (2017)

Early life and education

Carr was born in Dublin, Ireland, but she spent the majority of her childhood in Pallas Lake, County Offaly, adjacent to the town of Tullamore. Carr's father, Hugh Carr, was a playwright and studied music under Frederick May, while her mother, Maura Eibhlín Breathnach, was the principal of the local school and wrote poetry in Irish. It was said that "there were a lot of literary rivalries."[4] As a child, Carr and her siblings built a theater in their shed.[5][4]

Carr attended University College Dublin, studying English and philosophy. She graduated in 1987. In 2011, she received an honorary degree of Doctorate of Literature from her alma mater.[6]

Career

Carr has held posts as writer-in-residence at the Abbey Theatre and has taught at Trinity College Dublin, Princeton University, and Villanova University. She lectured in the English department at Dublin City University in 2016.[7] Marina Carr is considered one of Ireland's most prominent playwrights and is a member of Aosdána.[8]

Awards

The Mai won the Dublin Theatre Festival's Best New Irish Play award (1994-1995) and Portia Coughlan won the nineteenth Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (1996-1997). Other awards include The Irish Times Playwright award 1998, the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and The American Ireland Fund Award, the Macaulay Fellowship and The Hennessy Award. Carr was named a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Literature Award, administered by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.[9][10] The award, which includes a financial prize of $165,000 (or €155,000), was formally presented in September 2017.[9] She was the second Irish author to receive the prize, following playwright Abbie Spallen in 2016.[9]

Theatrical works

Play	Year	Venue (or commissioner)	Director	Other Notes
Portia Coughlan	2022	Abbey Theatre	Caroline Byrne[11]	Major revival of original starring Denise Gough
iGirl	2021	Abbey Theatre	Caitríona McLaughlin[12]
Blood Wedding	2019	Young Vic	Yaël Farber[13]	New Version based on the original play.
On Raftery's Hill	2017	Abbey Theatre	Caitríona McLaughlin
Anna Karenina	2016	Abbey Theatre	Wayne Jordan
Mary Gordon	2016	National Concert Hall	Marina Carr
Indigo	2015	Royal Shakespeare Company	Marina Carr
Hecuba	2015	Royal Shakespeare Company	Erica Whyman
By the Bog of Cats	2015	Abbey Theatre revival	Selina Cartmell
Rigoletto	2015	Opera Theatre Company Irish National Tour	Selina Cartmell
The Map of Argentina	2015	Abbey Theatre	Marina Carr
16 Possible Glimpses	2011	Abbey Theatre	Wayne Jordan
Phaedra Backwards	2011	McCarter Theatre, Princeton	Emily Mann
The Giant Blue Hand	2010	Ark Theatre, Dublin	Selina Cartmell
Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Quartet	2010	Traverse	Vicky Featherstone
Marble	2009	Abbey Theatre	Jeremy Herrin
The Cordelia Dream	2008	Wilton's Music Hall	Selina Cartmell
Woman and Scarecrow	2006 2007	Royal Court Theatre Abbey Theatre revival	Ramin Gray
By the Bog of Cats	2004	Wyndham's Theatre West End Theatre	Dominic Cooke
Ariel	2002	Abbey Theatre	Conal Morrison
On Raftery's Hill	2000	Town Hall Theatre, Galway Gate Theatre, Dublin Royal Court Theatre Downstairs John F. Kennedy Center A commission from the Druid Theatre Company	Garry Hynes
By the Bog of Cats	1998	Abbey Theatre premiere	Patrick Mason
Portia Coughlan	1996 1998	Abbey Theatre Royal Court Theatre The Actors Studio, New York	Garry Hynes
The Mai	1994 1995 1996 1997	Peacock Theatre Abbey Theatre McCarter Theatre, Princeton University Tricycle Theatre	Brian Brady
Low in the Dark	1989	Project Arts Centre	Marina Carr
Ullaloo	1989 1991	Dublin Theatre Festival Abbey Theatre	David Byrne
This Love Thing	1991	Old Museum Arts Centre[14]	Jim Culleton
The Deer Surrender	1990	Not applicable	Marina Carr

Publications

• The Mai. London: Dufour Editions, 1995.
• By the Bog of Cats. The Abbey, Dublin, and Wyndham's Theater, London. 1998
• Plays One. London: Faber and Faber, 1999.[5]
• On Raftery's Hill. London: Faber and Faber, 2000.
• Ariel. Oldcastle, Co. Meath: Gallery Books, 2002.
• Woman and Scarecrow. London: Faber and Faber, 2006
• Marble. Oldcastle, Co. Meath: Gallery Books, 2009
• Plays Two. London: Faber and Faber, 2009
• 16 Possible Glimpses. The Abbey Theatre, 2011
• Plays Three. London: Faber and Faber, 2015
• 1 in 5. Roe Valley Hospital, 2011[15]

By the Bog of Cats...

The original production of By the Bog of Cats took place at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play opened on 7 October 1998, and ran until 14 November 1998. The production, totaling 45 performances, was directed by Patrick Mason and designed by Monica Frawley. Other members of the production team included Nick Chelton, lighting designer and Dave Nolan on sound. The lead roles were played by Siobhán Cullen (Josie Kilbride), Olwen Fouéré (Hester Swane), and Conor McDermottroe (Carthage Kilbride). Other characters such as Catwoman were played by Joan O’Hara, Carline Cassidy played by Flonnuala Murphy, and Xavier Cassidy by Tom Hickey.[16]

Irish writer Frank McGuinness wrote the programme note of the Abbey production of By the Bog of Cats... in 1998. His description of the play analyses Carr's style of writing, which he likens to Greek writing:

By the Bog of Cats... is a play about sorrow. Therefore it must be funny. A play about death, so a wedding shall be at the centre of it. A play about saying the things that need to be said, so there will be silence at the end of it. A play about hatred, so love is at its heart. A play whose philosophy is that Carthage must be destroyed, but what happens to the destroyers? This is what By the Bog of Cats... tells us.

— Frank McGuinness, By the Bog of Cats... Programme Note, 1998.

It is a play about saying the things that need to be said, so there will be silence at the end[17]

Woman and Scarecrow

Woman and Scarecrow centers on a dying woman's last stretch of time on earth, reflecting on her life. We are told very little of the setting, but presume she resides in a domestic space, as the stage directions in the first act indicate she is lying in bed 'gaunt and ill'.[18] Apart from the bed, the only furniture indicated is a wardrobe, which has an ominous presence in the play. The mysterious thing that lurks inside the wardrobe signifies death and its imminent approach. For a good part of the play, the only other character present is Scarecrow. It is unclear what Scarecrow represents, perhaps the woman's subconscious. It is significant to note that all of the characters in the play "are referred to by either pronouns or titles - Woman, Him, Scarecrow, Auntie Ah, placing a universal slant on who they are and what they represent."[19] The woman is largely defined in her role as mother and wife throughout the play. She is the mother of eight children, with a ninth having died. As the play progresses, we learn that her husband has been unfaithful. Despite being aware of this, a Woman at times is still dependent on Him, 'I've missed you in bed beside me.[20] On other occasions she redeems herself, asserting her independence by insisting she will not wear her wedding ring to the grave and places value on herself, 'save you were not worthy of my love'.[21] Her independence is consolidated by the fact that she dies when he is absent from the room. The play runs for approximately 2 hours 20 minutes.[22]

Woman and Scarecrow was staged for the first time at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre in London in 2006,[23] directed by Ramin Gray and starring Fiona Shaw and Bríd Brennan as Woman and Scarecrow, respectively.[24] Lizzie Clachan designed the set for this production, alongside lighting designer, Mischa Twitchin, and sound designer, Emma Laxton.[25] Later, it was produced in the Peacock Theatre, where it was directed by Selina Cartmell and starred Olwen Fouéré (Woman) and Barbara Brennan (Scarecrow).[24]

The play opened at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York in May 2018. Directed by Ciarán O'Reilly, the cast included Stephanie Roth Haberle (the woman), Pamela Gray (Scarecrow), Aidan Redmond (the husband), and Dale Soules (the aunt).[22]

The Mai

The Mai is about a woman in her late 30s, whose husband (and absentee father to their children) returns from having abandoned them, wanted to give their relationship another chance. The play is divided into two acts. The setting for act one is the summer of 1979 (Robert's return from a long time away) and the setting for act two is a year later, as we check in on the state of the precarious relationships established in the first half of the play. Throughout the play, the eponymous The Mai grapples with struggling to keep her marriage alive despite Robert's frequent cheating and conceding to the opinions of her family and leaving him. In the end, she confesses to her daughter Millie, who has served as the narrator of this piece, that she cannot imagine a life without Robert where she would be happy nor a life with him where they could co-exist peaceably together.[5]

The original production of The Mai took place at and was produced by, the Abbey Theatre on 5 October 1994. It was directed by Brian Brady and designed by Kathy Strachan. The lead roles were played by Olwen Fouere (The Mai), Derbhle Crotty (Millie), Joan O'Hara (Grandma Fraochlan) Owen Roe (Robert), Brid Ni Neachtain (Beck), Stella McCusker (Julie), and Maire Hastings (Agnes)[15]

The Mai is thematically in keeping with the main themes of Carr's other work.[23] These characters are all grappling with their roles as mothers and their roles as wives. It is clear that most of them prioritize their husbands over their children and if they didn't they end up regretting it like Beck, who after pouring herself into her marriage still had to watch it dissolve. Even Grandmother Froachlan, the matriarch of the family says that she would have gladly thrown all of her children into "the slopes of hell"[5] to be reunited with the nine-fingered fisherman. Throughout the play, Carr weaves these characters' relationships in and out of each other to the rhythm of nearby ecology. Millie takes particular interest in the folklore of Owl Lake. In discussing the martial failures alongside the professional triumphs of these women, Carr uses them as vessels to discuss the role of marriage in capitalism and its discriminating patriarchal practices towards unmarried women and single mothers. The Mai is said to have built a sturdy home for her and her children in the years that Robert was gone. This kind of upward mobility is revered by most around her apart from Robert who dismissed her success as having come directly from his generosity. The Mai immediately corrects him reminding him that she was a cellist in the college orchestra and that after he left her to raise their kids alone she was also teaching full-time. Discourse on marriage and its link to capital are apparent here as the characters talk about how when they lost their husbands they lost everything, referring to their current socioeconomic status as spinsters.

Marble

Marble opened in Dublin in 2009 at The Abbey Theatre. The four characters are husband and wife Ben and Catherine and a second couple Anne and Art.[26] The play runs for approximately 1 hour 40 minutes.

Translated into Spanish as Mármol the play opened in Madrid in November 2016 at the Teatro Valle-Inclán, home to the National Drama Centre. It was directed by Antonio C. Guijosa and translated into Spanish by Antonio C. Guijosa and Marta I. Moreno. The cast included José Luis Alcobendas (Ben), Elena González (Catherine), Susana Hernández (Anne) and Pepe Viyuela (Art).[27]

References

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).
• Maleney, Ian. "Marina Carr: ‘How wonderful to burn down the whole world’", The Irish Times, 22 August 2015.

External links

• Gallery Press
• Marina Carr on the Playwrights Database
• Litencyc Com
• Irish Playography Online
• Shop | Abbey Theatre - Amharclann na Mainistreach
• Interview with Marina Carr, Ireland's leading female dramatist
• The Mai Review the

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