Everything Irish The History, Literature, Art, Music, People, and Places of Ireland, from A-Z

A Abbey Theatre, the. Ireland's national theater. Considered one of the most prestigious theater companies in the world, the Abbey is one of the important institutions to emerge from the *Irish Revival of the late nineteenth century. In 1899, Lady *Gregory, W. B. *Yeats, and others created the Irish Literary Theatre, which became known as the Abbey Theatre in 1904. As a writers' theater, its main objective was to encourage the staging of Irish plays for Irish audiences at a time when *theater in Ireland was dominated by the offerings of British touring companies. The Abbey also aimed to uphold the highest artistic principles and to provide an alternative to the melodrama and vaudeville of the commercial theaters. Early on, the movement produced a crop of talented playwrights, including Yeats, Lady Gregory, J. M. *Synge, and Sean *O'Casey, whose contribution to world drama has been widely acknowledged. The Abbey's initial success was considerably enhanced by the acting talents of *Frank and Willie *Fay. Some of the early productions became embroiled in the politics of the day, causing dis- turbances in the theater. Most notoriously, J. M. Synge's Playboy of the Western World (1907) and Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars (1926) caused riots because of their iconoclastic attacks on idealized cultural nationalism. Destroyed by fire in 1951, the theater was redeveloped to include a smaller auditorium (the *Peacock) and reopened in 1966. Although criticized for its conservatism at times, the Abbey continues to be the most important institution in Irish theater. In 1990, the Abbey triumphed with a production of Brian *Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, which toured to great acclaim in London and New York. The best of contemporary playwrights continue to work at the Abbey, including Marina *Carr, Conor *McPherson, and Eugene O'Brien. p.j.m. Adams, Gerry(1948 ). Politician, president of *Sinn Fein (1983present), Member of Parliament (MP) for West *Belfast. Gerry Adams was born on October 6, 1948, into a working-class *republican Gerry Adams family in West Belfast. Educated in local *Catholic schools, Adams joined the republican movement in 1964. When Sinn Fein split in 1969/70, he sided with the Provisional wing, and became active in the *Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) campaign. By early 1970, he was suspected of playing a leading role in the Ballymurphy unit of the Provisional IRA (*Irish Republican Army) in Belfast. He is credited with devising the "economic targets" bombing campaign. In 1972, Adams was interned without trial, but briefly released to participate in secret peace talks with the British government. The talks failed, but Adams reputedly became Adjutant for Belfast and important in the "middle leadership'' of the IRA. He was interned again in 197376 and 1978, and was officially charged with membership in the IRA but was never convicted. As a northern leadership of the IRA emerged in the late 1970s, Adams pressed for its political wing, Sinn Fein, to be more involved in electoral politics in *Northern Ireland. He consolidated his leadership role as Sinn Fein vice president during the republican prisoners' *hunger strikes of 1981, and in 1983 he became president of Sinn Fein. A member of the United Kingdom Parliament since 1983 (except for 199297 when *SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party) representative Dr. Joe Hendron defeated him), Adams has refused to take his seat at Westminister in keeping with party policy. Following talks with SDLP leader John *Hume (started in 1988), and overtures to the British and Irish governments, Adams helped to secure an IRA cease-fire in August 1994Ruckenstein, Lelia is the author of 'Everything Irish The History, Literature, Art, Music, People, and Places of Ireland, from A-Z' with ISBN 9780345461100 and ISBN 034546110X.