ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an analysis of Marina Carr’s plays using methodology stemming from modern psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy. Each analysis is devoted to a different group of psychological issues that are at the core of each drama and the theatrical presentation of which might trigger transformational processes in their audiences. The analysis of Low in the Dark focuses on the issues of unhappy relationships, crises of motherhood, and gender identity recapitulating them within the context of modern psychology and mental disorders such as couple distress, peripartum depression, and gender dysphoria. The destructive world of The Mai is presented as a theatrical equivalent of insight and awareness therapy, when the audiences are made aware of the mechanisms behind the devastating results of the delusions the women in the play live by and the emotionally driven behaviours they demonstrate. Portia Coughlan is presented as a case study of Borderline Personality Disorder. In the analysis of this play, the theory of stages of psychosocial development is used to demonstrate that every human being is prone to experience life crises and overcoming them always represents a significant challenge. The dialectical world view and the theory of positive disintegration are presented as alternatives to choosing destructive solutions. By the Bog of the Cats … is analysed from the point of view of the impact Abandonment/Instability Early Maladaptive Schema has on human life and the way maladaptive coping modes yield devastating consequences. The in-yer-face sincerity of the depiction of incest in On Raftery’s Hill is given a psychological background based on the modern psychological theories of the phenomenon. Carr’s revenge tragedy, Ariel, is examined from the point of view of Narcissistic Personality Disorder studies and it is depicted as an example of the trans-generational impact of trauma.
