One of These Plays Is Not Like the Other

July 17, 2013 · by · in Student Blog · Leave a comment

As part of our ieiMedia curriculum, we the playwriting students have had to read five plays by Irish authors:

Shadow of a Gunman by Sean O’Casey (and for some reason whenever I hear that name my mental jukebox starts playing “Smooth Criminal”)

The Playboy of the Western World by J. M. Synge (and no, that has nothing to do with the magazine; get your mind out of the gutter)

Faith Healer by Brian Friel (which, despite the title, pretty much destroys everyone’s faith in everything by the time they’re done reading it)

The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McCullough (or by Kelsey McGrath, if you’ve read her ten-minute play)

The History of the Troubles According to My Da by Martin Lynch

While all five have fine qualities, I have to say the last one is easily my favorite.  Don’t get me wrong; I have my problems with it, especially with the amount of foul language it uses.  But once I get past the cursing and such, there are a lot of moments that made me literally laugh out loud.  My favorite part was when two of the main characters try to join the IRA with lines like “We don’t think all this killing is necessary,” “How will this affect my welfare check?” and “We could end the Troubles by kidnapping the Queen’s corgi.”

The History of the Troubles is a prime example of the Irish habit of making a joke of a serious thing and a serious thing of a joke.  All the horrible events of the Troubles are turned into an opportunity for laughter, and yet the play still takes time to slow down and deal with serious issues and emotions among all the humor.  But even the characters’ personal tragedies can’t dampen the Irish spirit and laughter, and that’s really what sets this play apart from the others.  Each of the four ended on a depressing note; someone dies or something important is lost.  But The History of the Troubles keeps going, ending on the birth of a child, offering hope for the future of Northern Ireland.  It gives its characters the chance of a happy ending.  And since I’m a sucker for a happy ending, that’s probably why it’s my favorite of the five.