ABSTRACT
Ireland had, of course, a long history of producing William Shakespeare. In the hundred years since 1916, Shakespeare has tended to be a difficult presence in Irish theater. This chapter aims to examine the history of that relationship in the century since 1916, when Ireland’s definitive movement towards independence began. The “Year of Shakespeare” website documents productions of Shakespeare’s plays and Shakespeare related shows from across the globe. A sample of productions across the century may be used to illustrate the various ways in which the relationship between Shakespeare and Ireland has played out in the theater. Shakespeare was delivered in Ireland at the time largely by fit-up touring companies made up of English actors, the most famous being that of Anew McMaster. The Stembridge Comedy of Errors was an Irish staging of Shakespeare, adapted as a Country and Western musical set in a motel “somewhere between Navan and Nashville”.
