| Title | TSI |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | Teresa Deevy, or What Do We Know about [The] Reapers? |
| Contributor | Shelley Troupe(author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0432.03 |
| Landing page | https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0432/chapters/10.11647/obp.0432.03 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Shelley Troupe; |
| Publisher | Open Book Publishers |
| Published on | 2025-04-07 |
| Long abstract | ‘TSI: Teresa Deevy, or What do we know about [The] Reapers?’ provides an important exploration of Teresa Deevy’s first professionally produced play, [The] Reapers, which premiered at The Abbey Theatre on 18 March 1930. By launching a Theatre Studies Investigation of the play—for which little archival material exists—this chapter underscores the difficulty in presenting a cogent, sustained academic argument about its subject. Due to the fragmentary nature of available evidence, therefore, the chapter does not offer an extensive interrogation of the play or production; rather, it presents responses to, and mini-arguments about, the surviving archival materials, such as the interpretation of its title and the play’s plot, the Abbey Theatre’s production and reception of it, and possible influences on Deevy and her work. The chapter affords an example of academic discourse in action as new evidence discovered between the time of original submission and the time of final editing refined some of the mini-arguments mentioned above. |
| Page range | pp. 77–90 |
| Print length | 14 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
Shelley Troupe worked as an administrator for a diverse range of arts companies including the Irish Repertory Theatre and the National Asian American Theatre Company (both in New York City) as well as the Galway International Arts Festival and Youth Theatre Ireland. She completed her PhD at the University of Galway examining the ongoing partnership between two of Ireland’s key artistic contributors, Galway’s Druid Theatre (The Leenane Trilogy, DruidMurphy, DruidO’Casey) and playwright Tom Murphy (A Whistle in the Dark, Baileangaire, The House). Her research involves works that are off-canon and the ways in which life and historical events are reflected and refracted in theatrical production. Publications include essays/articles in The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish Theatre, The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Irish Theatre, and Irish Studies Review.