This dissertation examines film adaptations of Irish plays, applying theory from adaptation studies as well as using archival research to uncover how film technology, censorship, and industry concerns shape how plays are altered in their journey to the screen. Chapter One analyses silent film adaptations of Dion Boucicault's Irish plays and seeks to uncover why film versions of William Travers's Kathleen Mavourneen (1862) were mistakenly credited as being based on a play by Boucicault. Chapter Two focuses on space and place in theatre and film, focusing on Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars (1926) and Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow (1954). The second section considers the use of the Irish landscape in Jim Sheridan's film The Field (1990) and Brian Desmond Hurst's films of Synge's Riders to the Sea (1904) and The Playboy of the Western World (1907). Chapter Three analyses Brian Friel's exploration of subjectivity and memory in Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964) and Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). The analyses of the film versions focus on subjective camerawork and the use of voiceover in film, with particular attention paid to the screenwriting process. Chapter Four looks at the complex dramaturgy of monologue plays and meta-theatrical two character plays, including Owen McCafferty's Mojo Mickybo (1998), Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs (1996), and Abbie Spallen's Pumpgirl (2006). It is argued that the growth of low budget and independent film making in Ireland has facilitated the creation of adaptations that draw from a wider range of theatrical sources that contain more multi-faceted approaches to both theatrical form and depictions of Irish society. I
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:678818 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | McCluskey, Kevin |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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