Selected Plays of Louis MacNeice

by Louis MacNeice

Louis MacNeice (1907-1963) is rightfully regarded as one of the foremost Irish poets of this century, but he was also a distinctive, gifted, and popular playwright. This unique selection of eight of MacNeice's best plays, most of which were written for BBC Radio, draws on the most authoritative texts to provide a much-needed reminder of the power of his dramatic writing. The volume includes The Dark Tower , They Met on Good Friday , The Mad Islands , One for the Grave , Christopher Columbus , He Had a Date , Prisoner's Progress , and Persons from Porlock .

420 pages, Hardcover

First published January 27, 1993

About the author

Born to Irish parents in Belfast, MacNeice was largely educated in English prep schools. He attended Oxford University, there befriending W.H. Auden.

He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco (1946). His body of work was widely appreciated by the public during his lifetime, due in part to his relaxed, but socially and emotionally aware style. Never as overtly (or simplistically) political as some of his contemporaries, his work shows a humane opposition to totalitarianism as well as an acute awareness of his Irish roots.