Irish Theatre Institute is delighted to bring you this publication in celebration of the 20th anniversary of PLAYOGRAPHYIreland, with this publication and companion symposium on What is Play?

In celebration of PLAYOGRAPHYIreland’s 20th anniversary, we invited six playwrights and theatre-makers to contend with our question, What is a Play?: Veronica Coburn, Rosemary Jenkinson, Thomas Kilroy, Zoe Ní Riordáin, Martin Sharry, and Phillip McMahon (who was set the unenviable task to reflect on the shared themes of his five fellow artists). These responses and reflections point to the range of practices and multiplicity of voices that theatre invites, includes, and celebrates.

These essays are the building blocks of the keynote and panel discussions in the What is a Play? Symposium, which was held on the 4th and 5th of November 2021.

With this publication and companion symposium, on the eve of its 21st birthday, PLAYOGRAPHYIreland looks back at its formative years while it looks forward to its future. As theatre continues to grow, change, survive, and thrive, the catalogue will continue to become deeper and richer with each and every entry – as we continue to grapple with the most fundamental of questions, what is a play?