''Drama at Inish'' is a

comic play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endin ...

by the Irish writer

Lennox Robinson Esmé Stuart Lennox Robinson (4 October 1886 – 15 October 1958) was an Irish dramatist, poet and theatre producer and director who was involved with the Abbey Theatre. Life Robinson was born in Westgrove, Douglas, County Cork and raised in ...

which was first performed at the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

on 6 February 1933. The storyline of the play serves as a parody of the plots and atmosphere of the plays being performed within it.

Plot

The play is set in Inish, a small Irish seaside resort town, in the early 1930s. The dull routine of the town is plunged into chaos by the arrival of a repertory company led by the De la Meres, a husband and wife team of actor-managers, who have been contracted to take over the local theatre for a season. They plan to put on plays by

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

, Ibsen and

Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

to improve the minds of the townspeople. Surprisingly, the plays prove to be a success, and the theatre is constantly sold out. This appears to validate the De La Meres in their view that given the opportunity to see great art ordinary people will respond. This burst of success comes after many years of struggle for the company who have been travelling from one small town to another, and revives their hopes of one day performing in Dublin or London. Their affected manners and programme of intellectual plays, however, gradually irritate their hosts in the hotel where they are staying. Around the town, meanwhile, acts of criminality and passion break out in the previously sleepy area all of which are in some way connected with the theatre. The spate of strange behaviour even draws the attention of journalists from Dublin who are after the secret of the disturbances without realising the theatre is the cause of them. The series of strange occurrences climaxes in the local TD voting against the government, and triggering its collapse, after being inspired by '' An Enemy of the People''. This proves the last straw and the actors are asked to leave by the hotel owners. The play ends with a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

being engaged to replace the actors for the remainder of the season.

''Is Life Worth Living?''

This play was staged under the alternative title of ''Is Life Worth Living?'' at the Mint Theater,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, August 19 through October 18, 2009.

References

1933 plays Irish plays {{1930s-play-stub