Mimesis, Diegesis, and Narrative Frames: Gregory, Beckett, McGuinness

Location always matters - especially in Irish drama. Drawing on the spatial theories of Michael Issacharoff, H & eacute;l & egrave;ne Lalibert & eacute; and Ruth Ronen, the article investigates the unique interplay between dramatic space and the thematic concept of the universal in three Irish plays: Augusta Gregory's The Workhouse Ward (1908), Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1953/55) and Frank McGuinness's Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (1985). I trace a special line of influence between these plays through the lens of spatial theory, and further the discussion of the geographies of Irish drama as examined in Chris Morash and Shaun Richard's Mapping Irish Theatre: Theories of Space and Place (2013).