Kirjahaku

Dion Boucicault was a prominent playwright and prolific translator and adapter of foreign plays and novels for the Victorian commercial theatre for over forty years. Born in Dublin, he achieved his first West End success with London Assurance in 1841. His work frankly catered to contemporary taste and fell rapidly into neglect after his death in 1890. His lively observation of humanity in many moods and his unerring sense of what works on the stage have saved his plays from oblivion: there have been successful revivals in our own times by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Belfast's Lyric, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The selection of his work in this volume stresses Boucicault's consummate craft as a writer for the theatre in the age of actor-managers and melodrama. It also reminds us of that Irish verve, charm and adroitness which made him the best playwright of his generation in England and America as well as Ireland. Arguably the father of both the Irish and American drama, his characteristic plotting and taste for sensation suggest that another of his heirs was the early movie industry.This selection contains the great success of his youth, London Assurance, together with his Preface; his durable version of the melodrama, The Corsican Brothers; his exciting American plantation play, The Octoroon, with both its endings; and his fine Irish plays, The Colleen Bawn, The Shaughraun, and Robert Emmet. Dates of first performances and cast lists are given, as are the songs, music and a glossary for the Irish plays. There is also a selected bibliographical checklist. This selection of Boucicault's vast opus has been chosen and introduced by Professor Andrew Parkin.

Dion Boucicault was a witty, selfish and deceitful charmer, a bigamist, a profligate spendthrift and the author of dozens of successful plays, only a handful of which endure. Among these his early comedies influenced Oscar Wilde, and his Irish melodramas Shaw, Synge, and O'Casey. London Assurance was his first success, a 'modern comedy' which opened at Covent Garden in 1841 and was the hit of the season. This is the first fully-annotated edition of the play, and it includes an outline of the author's amazing career, an account of the play's composition, and a critical introduction.

Delightful, romantic, heartfelt and, summed up in three acts, "The Shaughraun" is one of Dion's Boucicault's most successful plays.Robert Ffolliott, a young Irish gentleman and fianc to Arte O'Neil, has returned to Ireland after escaping his sentence in Australia for involvement in the Fenian movement. However, it is soon revealed that he is not guilty, but has been framed by Kinchella, a squireen who seeks to take his land and his fianc Arte.What follows is a melodrama that will leave you in suspense and laughing hysterically at every page turn.Dion showcases a heartfelt and funny display in English/Irish relations, a romance that will warm your heart, and characters you will not forget.

Written in 1864 and set during the Irish rebellion of 1798, Arrah na Pogue is is an entertaining tale of romance and misadventure with rascally rebels, despicable villains and love struck youths. As night falls on the Wicklow mountains, the popular but incorrigible rebel Beamish MacCaul is lying in wait. He's out to ambush the cowardly rent-collector Michael Feeny and relieve him of a 'big lump of money.' That done, he's off to marry Fanny Power. Down in the valley, love is in the air for Shaun the Post and our heroine Arrah Meelish too. But Arrah has a secret. And Michael Feeny's found out. As Shaun and Arrah celebrate their wedding, revenge comes a-calling. Love must conquer all - including the hangman's noose. The play is full of Boucicault's trademark comic roguery, farce and melodrama, which has influenced Irish playwrights including Synge, O'Casey, Shaw and McDonagh. This edition features an introduction by leading Boucicault scholar Dr Scott Boltwood.

A collection of the complete scripts of 100 selected, previously unpublished plays by 19th-Century American playwrights. Volume 1 features Dion Boucicault's work, with "Forbidden Fruit," "Louis XI," "Dot," "Flying Scud," "Mercy Dodd," and "Robert Emmet."

Hardress.-Green broad-skirted body coat of the time; double-breasted light silk waistcoat, leather pantaloons, top boots, hair rather long, steeple-crowned gold-laced hat, and white muslin cravat. 2nd Dress: Blue body coat, white waistcoat, white kerseymere breeches, silk stockings, and shoes. Daly.-Brown coat, etc., same fashion as above. 2nd Dress: Full dress. Creagh, O'Moore, and Gentlemen.-Evening dress. Father Tom.-Broad-brimmed, low-crowned hat, faded black suit, black riding boots, and white cravat.

The Octoroon is a play by Dion Boucicault that opened in 1859 at The Winter Garden Theatre, New York City. Extremely popular, the play was kept running continuously for years by seven road companies. Among antebellum melodramas, it was considered second in popularity only to Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852).