ABSTRACT
In this chapter, all five so-called ‘Irish’ plays are examined in the context of McDonagh's entire dramatic and cinematic output to date, to see whether retrospective re-examining affects the critical reading of his first plays. One of the topics examined is whether or not Ireland as a location is critical for an understanding of the plays, or whether, in some of the plays, it is more or less incidental. As with much of McDonagh's work, the plays explored in this chapter display a playful and ironic relationship with a tradition of earlier Irish texts, rebelling against the Irish canon while at the same time borrowing familiar structures, settings, and dramatic tropes. The chapter ends by exploring how McDonagh's first five plays anticipate some of his later work.
