Henry Carter Hull

Many of us know the Black Death as a catastrophic event of the medieval world. But the Black Death was arguably the most significant event in Western history, profoundly affecting every aspect of human life, from the economic and social to the political, religious, and cultural. In its wake, the plague left a world that was utterly changed, forever altering the traditional structure of European societies and forcing a rethinking of every single system...

"An evening of non-stop laughter." —London Sunday Express.This hilarious farce, which set box office records in London and Paris before coming to Broadway with the inimitable Norman Wisdom as featured player, makes enormous good fun of attempted infidelity and the tangle of misunderstandings which this can—and does—lead to. "What does a sophisticated audience do about this assault on its culture? It rolls in the aisles…the folks just let go,...

The Playboy of the Western World is now regarded as a classic of Modernism and one of Ireland’s defining plays, but when it premiered in 1907, it shocked Dublin and inspired riots. See what made this play so controversial to its original audience—and why the play is a truly great work of art.

Irish playwrights faced a conundrum in the 19th century: they could write in Irish and remain relatively obscure, or they could find success by adopting English, the language of the conqueror. Examine how George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde navigated their Irish identity on the London stage. Professor Conner provides political and artistic context to their major works.

Follow Irish history through the age of rebellions sweeping across Europe and America, and find out how figures such as Wolfe Tone founded the quest for Irish republicanism. Delve into the cultural expressions of the 18th and 19th centuries, when poets and musicians kept ancient traditions alive.

Despite the breakup of the Soviet Union, NATO continued to exist, and began admitting newly liberated Eastern European countries into the organization. Reflect on Eastern Europe’s place in the western world and what joining NATO and the European Union means for the region. You’ll also explore Russia’s role in the post-Soviet world..

Rene Clair’s sparkling comedy of manners is a witty, delicate, inspired satire on propriety and behavior in the bourgeois mind-set. Transposing the action of the perennial stage farce from 1851 to a summer wedding day in 1895 – the birth of cinema – Clair recalls detail, costume and design captured by the first movies. The Italian Straw Hat (Un Chapeau de paille d’Italie) triumphantly survives its 1927 journey from stage to screen; a dozen...

The Irish Renaissance in the early 20th century was a remarkable period for arts, literature, and culture—and it sprang out of the legendary history of the nation. To help us understand this pivotal period, Professor Conner traces the course of Irish history starting with the ancient Celts and running through the Middle Ages.

First staged in 1904 by Konstantin Stanislavsky in the very theater and on the very stage of this production, director Adolf Shapiro's interpretation asks the question, where would the characters of this play live today years after their cherry orchard has been cut down? The answer, which lies in the material world created by set designer David Borovsky, is, of course, on the stage. Russian star, Renata Litvinova, in her debut theatrical performance,...

Tracey is pregnant and happily married to Lawrence, an architect. She has few cares in the world until the day a maniac breaks into the house, rapes her, and ultimately causes her to miscarry. Tracey falls to pieces and is so affected by the encounter she finds men repulsive, including her husband. Her attitude does not soften with time, and sooner rather than later, her husband takes up with his secretary. But in the meantime, the Scotland Yard detective...