ABSTRACT
In the early 1980s John Arden began virtually a new career as a writer when he abjured the stage and devoted his energy to novels and radio dramas. At the same time, Margaretta D’Arcy’s career also took a new turn: the traumas of Armagh Gaol and her election to Aosdana together made her a ‘new person’. In February 1984 they went as part of a ‘cultural delegation’ to the central American republic of Nicaragua, where they were deeply impressed with the Sandanista ‘revolution’. For D’Arcy, the comparison with Ireland was instructive, for Nicaragua, too, was a country trying to break free from imperial domination and exploitation by multi-national corporations. Protests were held across Ireland which D’Arcy and Arden joined. In 1981 Arden spoke of the possibility of five plays which tracked the development of the religion from Christ himself through to Constantine.
