This paper tests Nicholas Grene’s theory that Irish drama is “…outerdirected,
created as much to be viewed from outside as well as inside
Ireland†to see whether it holds true for Irish language theatre. Starting
with three plays written first in the Irish language: Brendan Behan’s An
Giall (The Hostage), Máiréad Nà Ghráda’s An Triail (The Trial: a Play) and
Antoine Ó Flatharta’s Grásta I Meiriceá (Grace in America), the paper will
examine the authors’ English versions of the plays to see whether they
were literal translations, adaptations or transformation. If the English
version were adaptations or transformations, what kinds of artistic, cultural
or linguistic choices did the playwrights make to make “the otherness of
Ireland†more accessible to their English readers and audiences?