By the Bog of Cats

About the book

Set in the mysterious landscape of the bogs of rural Ireland, Carr's lyrical and timeless play tells the story of Hester Swane, an Irish traveller with a deep and unearthly connection to her land. Tormented by the memory of a mother who deserted her, Hester is once again betrayed, this time by the father of her child, the man she loves. On the brink of despair, she embarks on a terrible journey of vengeance as the secrets of her tangled history are revealed. 'A piece of poetic realism steeped in the past... Carr has an extraordinary ability to move between the mythic and the real.' Guardian 'A great play... a great work of poetry... the word should soon carry across both sides of the Atlantic.' Independent By the Bog of Cats premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 1998. It was revived at Wyndham's Theatre, London, in November 2004.

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Marina Carr Biography

Marina Carr is an Irish playwright. She has written almost thirty plays, including By the Bog of Cats (1998) which was revived at the Abbey Theatre in 2015.

Early life and education

Carr was born in Dublin, Ireland, but she spent the majority of her childhood in Pallas Lake, County Offaly, adjacent to the town of Tullamore. Carr's father, Hugh Carr, was a playwright and studied music under Frederick May, while her mother, Maura Eibhlín Breathnach, was the principal of the local school and wrote poetry in Irish. It was said that "there were a lot of literary rivalries." As a child, Carr and her siblings built a theater in their shed.Carr attended University College Dublin, studying English and philosophy. She graduated in 1987. In 2011, she received an honorary degree of Doctorate of Literature from her alma mater.

Career

She has held posts as writer-in-residence at the Abbey Theatre and has taught at Trinity College Dublin, Princeton University, and Villanova University. She lectured in the English department at Dublin City University in 2016. Marina Carr is considered one of Ireland's most prominent playwrights and is a member of Aosdána.

Awards

The Mai won the Dublin Theatre Festival's Best New Irish Play award (1994-1995) and Portia Coughlan won the nineteenth Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (1996-1997). Other awards include The Irish Times Playwright award 1998, the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and The American Ireland Fund Award, the Macaulay Fellowship and The Hennessy Award. Carr was named a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Literature Award, administered by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University. The award, which includes a financial prize of $165,000 (or €155,000), was formally presented in September 2017. She was the second Irish author to receive the prize, following playwright Abbie Spallen in 2016.

Theatrical works

Publications

The Mai. London: Dufour Editions, 1995. By the Bog of Cats. The Abbey, Dublin, and Wyndham's Theater, London. 1998 Plays One. London: Faber and Faber, 1999. On Raftery's Hill. London: Faber and Faber, 2000. Ariel. Oldcastle, Co. Meath: Gallery Books, 2002. Woman and Scarecrow. London: Faber and Faber, 2006 Marble. Oldcastle, Co. Meath: Gallery Books, 2009 Plays Two. London: Faber and Faber, 2009 16 Possible Glimpses. The Abbey Theatre, 2011 Plays Three. London: Faber and Faber, 2015 1 in 5. Roe Valley Hospital, 2011

By the Bog of Cats...

The original production of By the Bog of Cats took place at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play opened on 7 October 1998, and ran until 14 November 1998. The production, totaling 45 performances, was directed by Patrick Mason and designed by Monica Frawley. Other members of the production team included Nick Chelton, lighting designer and Dave Nolan on sound. The lead roles were played by Siobhán Cullen (Josie Kilbride), Olwen Fouéré (Hester Swane), and C ... Read full biography