FACT AND FANTASY IN HISTORICIZING IRELAND In Selected Plays by DENIS JOHNSTON

Abstract

Denis Johnston who was born in 1901 and died in 1984 was a distinguished Irish playwright who was considered by many people to be one of the most brilliant and original playwrights writing for the Irish stage. Flis finest plays are "among the best the modern Irish theatre has to offer. According to Harold Ferrar, Johnston is a touchstone figure, and the story of his first period in the theatre is an index to the whole course of Irish drama in the crucial years 1926 -- 1935 Denis Johnston is one of the writers characterized by their devotion, loyalty and sense of committement towards their homelands and who were mainly concerned with the issues of their country. As a writer of the post - colonial era in Ireland, Johnston is interested in reflecting the political, cultural and social status of Irish life in all of his plays. Like most post - colonial writers, he is interested in describing his nation's past and that is why the history of Ireland is the material on which most of Johnston's plays depend. Each of his plays tackles a certain part of Irish history, whether old or modern, in one way or another. Johnston was always an Irishman writing about Ireland for an Irish audience. Being a writer of the 1920s in Ireland, Johnston's aim is to help Ireland regain its national pride and [earn from past mistakes in order to avoid them in the future. Johnston's main target in his dramatic works is to shed light 011 the negative aspects in the contemporary Irish life, which need reformation. He was hoping he can help Ireland to quickly and successfully overcome the contemporary crisis of chaos and disruption. This is done through inviting his audience to re examine history in a completely new way. He calls for a new vision of contemporary reality through presenting a new outlook of history as he believes that history