Marina Carr

The play opened at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York in May 2018. Directed by Ciarán O'Reilly, the cast included Stephanie Roth Haberle (the woman), Pamela Gray (Scarecrow), Aidan Redmond (the husband) and Dale Soules (the aunt).

She has held posts as writer-in-residence at the Abbey Theatre, and she 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. Her works have been translated into many languages, and have received much critical acclaim.

Translated into Spanish as Mármol the play opened in Madrid in November 2016 at the Teatro Valle-Inclán, home to the National Drama Centre. It was directed by Antonio C. Guijosa and translated into Spanish by Antonio C. Guijosa and Marta I. Moreno. The cast included José Luis Alcobendas (Ben), Elena González (Catherine), Susana Hernández (Anne) and Pepe Viyuela (Art).

Marina Carr's new play 16 Possible Glimpses pulls scenes from Anton Chekhov's life but begins with the familiar idea of death. As the Dark Monk arrives early – a testament to the Ghost Fancier in By the Bog of Cats, who arrives at sunrise instead of sunset to claim Hester Swane - Chekhov begs for five more years of life. Yet Death can only offer five minutes, allowing only 16 possible glimpses to be seen. At first glance, the comparisons of Chekhov and Carr seem unlikely. Chekhov is known for dramas of inaction and Carr is known for writing tragedies like By the Bog of Cats where Hester slices her daughters throat then takes her own life. According to The Irish Repertory Theatre, there is little of Carr's trademark surreal brilliance in the 16 Possible Glimpses. However the exchanges between Chekhov and the Dark Monk who comes to claim him, changes this. Through an episodic series of scenes we meet Chekhov in various forms. Readers see Chekhov as a loyal brother, Chekhov as a son and Chekhov the writer, which culminate to the depiction Chekhov as a man consumed by internal conflict, a theme, not only shown in 16 Possible Glimpses, but also in By the Bog of Cats and The Mai.

Marble opened in Dublin in 2009 at The Abbey Theatre. The four characters are husband and wife Ben and Catherine and a second couple Anne and Art. The play runs for approximately 1 hour 40 minutes.

Woman and Scarecrow was staged for the first time at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre in London in 2006, directed by Ramin Gray and starring Fiona Shaw and Bríd Brennan as Woman and Scarecrow, respectively. Lizzie Clachan designed the set for this production, alongside lighting designer, Mischa Twitchin, and sound designer, Emma Laxton. Later, it was produced in the Peacock Theatre, where it was directed by Selina Cartmell and starred Olwen Fouéré (Woman) and Barbara Brennan (Scarecrow).

The original production of By the Bog of Cats took place at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play opened on October 7, 1998, and ran until November 14th, 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 Conor McDermottroe (Carthage Kilbride). Other characters such as Catwoman were played by Joan O’Hara, Carline Cassidy played by Flonnuala Murphy and Xavier Cassidy by Tom Hickey.

Irish writer Frank McGuinness wrote the programme note of the Abbey production of By the Bog of Cats... in 1998. His description of the play analyses Carr's style of writing, which he likens to Greek writing:

Carr's work has received numerous awards. The Mai won the Dublin Theatre Festival 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 has been named a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize, 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.

The original production of The Mai took place at, and was produced by, the Abbey Theatre on October 5, 1994. It was directed by Brian Brady and designed by Kathy Strachan. The lead roles were played by Olwen Fouere (The Mai), Derbhle Crotty (Millie), Joan O'Hara (Grandma Fraochlan) Owen Roe (Robert), Brid Ni Neachtain (Beck), Stella McCusker (Julie) and Maire Hastings (Agnes)

Carr attended University College Dublin, studying English and philosophy. She graduated in 1987, and subsequently received an honorary degree of Doctorate of Literature from her alma mater.

The Mai is about a woman in her late 30s, whose husband (and absentee father to their children) returns from having abandoned them, wanted to give their relationship another chance. The play is divided into two acts. The setting for act one is the summer of 1979 (Robert's return from a long time away) and the setting for act two is a year later, as we check in on the state of the precarious relationships established in the first half of the play. Throughout the play, the eponymous The Mai grapples with struggling to keep her marriage alive despite Robert's frequent cheating and conceding to the opinions of her family and leaving him. In the end, she confesses to her daughter Millie, who has served as the narrator of this piece, that she cannot imagine a life without Robert where she would be happy nor a life with him where they could co-exist peaceably together.

Irish history plays a significant role in the formation of Marina Carr's ideas and thoughts. The Northern Troubles is one. Carr's focus on the mistreatment of children could relate to her being 4 at the time of the 1969 Northern Ireland Riots, and to her being 7 at the time of Bloody Friday and Sunday. The hardships that Carr's characters experience often have some correlation to what Carr herself has experienced. For example, Hester Swane from By the Bog of Cats was abandoned by her mother when she was 7. When Marina Carr was 7, Bloody Friday and Bloody Sunday occurred. For 20 years, during and before Bloody Sunday, the Provisional Irish Republican army sought to participate in rebellious acts against the British. British rule is another example because the Irish were under direct rule for such a long time, Hester's shun of authority and active rebellion relate to the Irish rejecting British authority- realization of Irish culture like Things Fall Apart.This constant theme of rebellion is scene in Carr's writing and can be attested to her childhood.

Marina Carr (born November 17, 1964) is a prolific Irish playwright. She has written almost thirty plays, including By the Bog of Cats (1998) which was revived at the Abbey Theatre in 2014.

Familial death and its circumstances are a thematic occurrence in Carr's written works. In Portia Coughlin, Marina Carr designs the protagonist, Portia to be a woman who loves to drink from the bottle, just as Hester in By the Bog of Cats. She is a fierce character who is also a wife and mother of three children. Portia, like Hester, also has a deceased brother who haunts her. The play opens on her 30th birthday as readers see the ghost of her brother who has been following her for the past fifteen years. The ghost begins to consume Portia's life and she no longer has time for her family. Her husband cares deeply for Portia, yet signs of neglect are not unforeseen as the play reaches its breaking point. As these two plays exemplify/, Marina Carr gives the audience compelling stories that speak of neglect of family and focus on the consequences of death that ultimately demonstrate the bond of family and the salient theme of love.