Political Acts: Women in Northern Irish Theatre, 1921–2012 by Fiona Coleman Coffey (review)

In this richly layered and detailed examination of the role of women in theatre in Northern Ireland, Fiona Coleman Coffey succeeds in her stated intention to "begin the process of painting a more comprehensive picture of women's theatrical contributions from the North" (18). Noting that geography and gender, as well as strict sectarian divisions within Northern Ireland, have marginalized and obscured the impacts of these theatre artists, the author employs "gendered, historical, and sociopolitical lenses as [a] contextual framework" (15) in this process.

Organized into three primarily chronological sections, Coffey creates a solid foundational understanding of important concepts in part 1, Theatre, Gender, and Politics, 1921–1979, exploring the notions of nation, feminism, sectarianism, and censorship in regard to Northern Ireland specifically and in contrast to the same ideas in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. The complex and intertwined histories of these three entities are deftly untangled, providing enough information so that the signal political events are clear and the impact of these events on the theatrical community is illuminated.

The discussion of Northern attitudes toward feminism is particularly strong, underscoring the role of both Protestantism and Catholicism as well as years of sectarian violence in the creation of these attitudes toward women. Coffey observes that maintaining strict gender roles was necessary in the light of sustained Nationalist/Unionist discourse and discord. Women occupy the domestic sphere, nurturing and grieving, while the men fight. Additionally, she points out that women's bodies have been "repressively policed for decades in the North" and that "women's sexuality has been synonymous with the community's integrity" (23). Awareness of these unique viewpoints becomes crucial in Coffey's examination and analysis of specific female playwrights and artists throughout the volume.

Throughout the balance of the book, Coffey lifts the multiple veils obscuring the indigenous theatre of Northern Ireland, introducing female theatre artists who, despite the challenges they faced, greatly impacted their communities and the development of theatre in Northern Ireland. Alice Milligan, Patricia O'Connor, and Mary O'Malley worked in the first half of the twentieth century, establishing, according to Coffey, a legacy of Northern Irish women using "theatre as a political tool to envision social and civic change" (53). Milligan, a Protestant, nationalist, and feminist, created tableaux vivant in response to the government censorship of spoken language in theatre. She toured extensively, cast Northern Irish actors, and included members of the community in her creations. Patricia O'Connor is one of the very few female playwrights to be produced multiple times in Northern Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s. The canon of her plays address issues such as education, marriage, land inheritance, religion, economic struggles, and the patriarchy of the Northern state. Mary O'Malley cofounded the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast with her husband in 1951, while she was running for political office. Though she was a nationalist, the board and company of the theatre was inclusive. Under her direction, the theatre had a literary focus (Yeats was a much-produced playwright) and featured a symbolic and collaborative aesthetic. A tendency toward highly visual/theatrical production aesthetics, a grappling with current social and political problems, and a connection to community through touring, outreach, and inclusivity are traits that Coffey finds common among the many female theatre practitioners she examines in the rest of the volume.

The Troubles, the years of open, violent, sectarian warfare, which began in the 1960s and officially ended in 1998 with the signing of the Belfast Agreement, dominate the theatre and plays of the second half of the twentieth century. Part 2 is titled Troubles and the Stage, 1980–1997. The Charabanc Theatre Company, founded in 1983, included both Catholic and Protestant artists and worked "to create compassion and empathy for those identified as the adversary" (85). The company produced twenty-two productions, eighteen of which were new works, toured widely throughout the North and...