Social Class, Space, and Containment in 1950s Ireland

Abstract

Maura Laverty wrote her first play, Liffey Lane (1951), for Dublin’s Gate Theatre at the suggestion of Hilton Edwards that she adapt her 1946 novel,Lift Up Your Gates, for the stage. She went on to write two further plays, both also for the Gate, Tolka Row (1951) and A Tree in the Crescent (1952). In Part 1, this chapter explores Laverty’s portrayal of Dublin life in light of the social and moral politics of 1950s Ireland. Part 2 considers how Laverty’s trilogy tests the uses of theatrical space to represent social and personal experiences of urban class structures and aspirations in 1950s Ireland.