Martin McDonagh on the Hungarian Stage

András Sztrókay studies Martin McDonagh's success story in Hungary, with a special focus on the first play of The Aran Islands Trilogy, The Cripple of Inishmaan and its long-lived performance in Budapest's Radnóti Theatre. The first section of the book focuses on McDonagh's play and provides an analysis of this remarkable piece of contemporary Anglo-Irish drama, while the second part presents one of the Hungarian translations together with the most popular Hungarian stage adaptation to date. Through the analysis of the plot and the characters, the question of the play being steeped in Irish culture is examined. Certain characteristics of McDonagh's stage machinery are identified to arrive at the conclusion that it is in fact rather this than his Irishness that provides his plays with a unique tone and which leads performances to success.

Autorentext

András Sztrókay has an MA in English Language and Literature from Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. He teaches English at a prestigious Budapest secondary school and works as a theatre critic and editor for various Hungarian theatre journals.

Klappentext

András Sztrókay studies Martin McDonagh's success story in Hungary, with a special focus on the first play of The Aran Islands Trilogy, The Cripple of Inishmaan and its long-lived performance in Budapest's Radnóti Theatre. The first section of the book focuses on McDonagh's play and provides an analysis of this remarkable piece of contemporary Anglo-Irish drama, while the second part presents one of the Hungarian translations together with the most popular Hungarian stage adaptation to date. Through the analysis of the plot and the characters, the question of the play being steeped in Irish culture is examined. Certain characteristics of McDonagh's stage machinery are identified to arrive at the conclusion that it is in fact rather this than his Irishness that provides his plays with a unique tone and which leads performances to success.