Elizabeth Kuti’s Treehouses: Toward a New Definition of Irish Theatre

Authors

  • Charlotte J Headrick University of Oregon

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v11i0.3646

Keywords:

Irish playwrights, Elizabeth Kuti, Treehouses.

Abstract

Does a dramatist have to be born in Ireland to be an “Irish” playwright? This article explores the idea that a dramatist can be “of Ireland” and write a distinctly “Irish” play without being born in Ireland. In our global
world, the idea of nationality is increasingly fluid. The work of dramatist
Elizabeth Kuti exhibits the hybridity of some contemporary Irish plays. Kuti has a doctorate from Trinity College Dublin; she was married in Dublin, and one of her sons was born there. She has worked with several Irish theatre companies including the Abbey Theatre and Rough Magic Theatre Company, two of Dublin’s and Ireland’s most prestigious theatre companies. This article examines Kuti as an Irish dramastist , concentrating on her two plays with Irish locations. Treehouses is set in a Dublin nursing home. As a memory play, time and place shift from the Hungary of World War II, to the Dublin nursing home, to some place in England. The Sugar Wife, set in Dublin during the American Civil War, explores the lives of Quaker abolitionists. The play discusses the ethics of how money is made and used. Having lived in Ireland for eleven years, from 1993 to 2004, Kuti can certainly claim”insider” knowledge. Tellingly, she describes her situation: “I’m not Irish but I feel a part of Irish theatre.”

Author Biography

  • Charlotte J Headrick, University of Oregon

    HEADRICK, Charlotte is a professor of Theatre Arts, coordinator of the University Theatre, and Assoc. Chair of the Department of Speech Communication at Oregon State
    University. She holds the Ph.D.in drama from the University of Georgia. She is the 1994 Elizabeth P. Ritchie Outstanding Professor for Undergraduate Teaching, the highest teaching award of Oregon State University and she received the 2003 Excellence Award from the College of Liberal Arts, the highest honor given by the College. She has directed
    the American Premieres of several Irish plays including SigNora Joyce by Gemma O’Connor, Love and a Bottle by Declan Hughes, Treehouses by Elizabeth Kuti, Heritage
    by Nicola McCartney, and Lay Up Your Ends by Charabanc Theatre Company. Additionally, she has directed Eclipsed by Patricia Burke Brogan, Tea in a China Cup by Christina Reid, and Twinkletoes by Jennifer Johnston. Her articles and reviews on Irish theatre have appeared in Nua, Theatre Symposium, Northwest Theatre Review, Working Papers in Irish Studies, Irish Literary Supplement, Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, and The Encyclopedia of Ireland. Other essays have appeared in Theatre Journal, Southern Theatre, Contemporary Theatre Review, Comparative Literature and Culture, and Hypermedia Joyce Studies. She has presented numerous papers on Irish Theatre nationally and internationally, particularly on the work of Irish women dramatists. She is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Medallion for outstanding  service to the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival and of the Hovland Service Award for Oregon State. She was the first woman to chair the Northwest Region for the KC/ACTF. She has twice been a fellow at the Center for the Humanities at Oregon State University. She is the former -editor of the on-line journal Siar (Western Institute for Irish Studies). Along with Eileen Kearney, she is the co-editor of a volume of Irish plays by women (Women of Ireland) under consideration by Syracuse University Press. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, the professional union of actors and stage managers. In addition to Irish plays, she directs a wide variety of works.including, most recently, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: Part I, and Rickman and Viner’s My Name is Rachel Corrie. In February of 2010, she will be directing Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. 

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Published

2009-06-17

Issue

Vol. 11 (2009): ABEI Journal 11

Section

Theatre

How to Cite

Headrick, C. J. (2009). Elizabeth Kuti’s Treehouses: Toward a New Definition of Irish Theatre. ABEI Journal, 11, 39-45. https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v11i0.3646