Eamonn Jordan Archives - The Play Podcast

Eamonn Jordan

by Douglas Schatz | Sep 27, 2023 | Contributor

Eamonn Jordan

Eamonn Jordan is Professor in Drama Studies at the School of English, Drama and Film, at University College Dublin. Eamonn has written two books on the work of Martin McDonagh: From Leenane to LA: The Theatre and Cinema of Martin McDonagh, and, Justice and the Plays and Films of Martin McDonagh, as well as edited essay collections on contemporary Irish theatre.

Podcast Episode(s)

066 - The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

Recommended Play(s)

Eamonn recommended The Weir by Conor McPherson,
By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr, and
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

066 – The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

by Douglas Schatz | Aug 23, 2023 | Podcast Episodes

Lily Allen and Steve Pemberton
The Pillowman
Duke of York’s Theatre, London, August 2023

066 – The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

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Martin McDonagh’s 2004 play The Pillowman is an uneasy mix of gruesome fairy tales, child abuse and murder, overlaid with McDonagh’s signature black humour. It is true to say that McDonagh’s work provokes contrasting responses. His plays have certainly been popular with audiences and producers, but they have also attracted hostile criticism from some reviewers and academics. Their blend of graphic violence with ironic comedy can be disturbing, which of course may be part of the author’s point.

I’m glad to have the opportunity to explore the shifting terrain of this unsettling play with an expert, Professor Eamonn Jordan. Eammon is Professor of Drama Studies at the School of English, Drama and Film at University College Dublin, and is the author of two books on the films and theatre of Martin McDonagh.

As we record this episode a new production of The Pillowman is playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End. You can listen to our review of that show here:
The Play Review – The Pillowman.

Eamonn Jordan

Recommended Play

Eamonn recommended The Weir by Conor McPherson,
By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr, and
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

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115 – The Dance of Death by August Strindberg

Oct 6, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death is set in a remote army base on the coast of Sweden, where an army captain and his wife are trapped together in an unhappy marriage. The captain, bitter at his lack of promotion, and his wife, frustrated at having been forced to give up her career as an actress, occupy their empty hours tearing into each other in a brutal dance of mutual cruelty.

Strindberg’s scorching portrait of marital strife was written in 1900, but has had a lasting influence. Arthur Miller dubbed Strindberg, “the mad inventor of modern theatre”, and echoes of his unflinching dissection of marital discord can be seen in the plays of Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, and John Osborne.

Sir Richard Eyre adapted and directed a wonderful production of Dance of Death at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond upon Thames earlier this year, and I am delighted that Sir Richard joins me in this episode to guide us through Strindberg’s blistering onslaught on marriage.

114 – Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare

Sep 22, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost is described on the title page in the first publication of its text in 1598 as “A Pleasant Conceited Comedie.” I imagine that the epithets were intended to highlight the play’s courtly aesthetic, its frothy merry-go-round of courtship, and above all perhaps, its ostentatiously intricate word play. For it is a play rich in the love and perils of language.

I am joined to assay Shakespeare’s conceited comedy by the Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond upon Thames, Tom Littler. In the summer of 2026 Tom adapted and directed a magical double bill of Shakespeare, producing Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing in repertory, and staging them both ‘en plein air’.

113 – Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Aug 24, 2026 | Podcast Episodes

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Tom Stoppard’s 1993 play, Arcadia, is viewed by many as his finest play, renowned for the breadth of its intellectual interrogations and its formal invention. The play is a structural masterpiece of ideas, as well as a teasing detective story, joyous comedy, and emotionally rich exploration of love and loss.

As we record this episode a wonderful new production of Arcadia is playing at the Duke of York’s theatre in London’s West End, following its acclaimed run at the Old Vic theatre earlier this year. I am delighted to share the challenge and the pleasure of exploring Stoppard’s dazzling drama with the director of the new production, Carrie Cracknell.