Frank McGuinness

Professor Frank McGuinness (born 1953) is an Irish writer.

As well as his own plays, which include The Factory Girls, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me and Dolly West's Kitchen, he is recognised for a "strong record of adapting literary classics, having translated the plays of Racine, Sophocles, Ibsen, Garcia Lorca, and Strindberg to critical acclaim".

He has also published six collections of poetry, and two novels.

In 1972, in Derry, British soldiers shot unarmed civilians who were taking part in a march against internment and killed 14 people.

McGuinness has described Carthaginians as "My play on the Catholic imagination …", stating that "the keyword in [the play] is the word 'perhaps'".

It has been claimed that Carthaginians should be placed primarily "within a body of translations and adaptations of ancient Greek tragedy in the Irish theatre of the 1980s and 1990s".

A number of critics have suggested that Ibsen is the main influence in the plays of McGuinness, something corroborated by the writer himself, who has also explained that "... there is of course another influence, that of Shakespeare...".

It was this influence that triggered the composition of Carthaginians and "Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme".

In the author's own words: "I decided, right, let's grab the unicorn by the horn, and see what happens".

McGuinness has declared that he had "wanted to construct a five-act Shakespearean play", and to use "narrative in a way that I hope no one had done before".

He has described the play as "a big brute", adding that, among his works to date, "I suspect 'this play will last'".

The Glass God, a one-act play written by McGuinness for the company Platform Group Theatre, was premiered at the Lourdes Hall Theatre in Dublin in 1982.

It was one of three one-act plays presented under the collective title of Shrapnel.

McGuinness' first full-length play, The Factory Girls, also premiered in 1982, and dealt with a group of female workers facing redundancy from a small town in Donegal.

McGuinness explained that he was inspired by "the women in my family".

A critic has highlighted its "Wednesday to Sunday time frame", in a link to Catholic imagery which, surprisingly given its theme, indicates that this is in fact "a passion play".

"When I wrote 'The Factory Girls'," McGuiness has explained, "I desperately wanted to bring across the audience a sense that I came from a sophisticated background, [because] I come from a background where language is very dangerous, where language is very layered."

McGuinness' second play, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme, was first staged in 1985.

The play, about a group of Protestant soldiers in the First World War, was not primarily political in intent, but, according to the playwright, was originally inspired by "a great story".

Observe the Sons of Ulster has been described as "a theater of ghosts", a play where "a community is figured as spectral".

The play which followed, Innocence, dealt with the painter Caravaggio.

It took its name from one of his paintings, The Sacrifice of Isaak, about the Biblical story of the father whose faith is tested by God's request that he kill his son.

In the painting, a sheep watches the sacrifice about to take place and looks appalled at human cruelty, its innocence shattered.

McGuinness was inspired by "this innocent sheep" who, at the end of the story, will be sacrificed instead of the child.

"Only Caravaggio would remember the sheep" in the story, McGuinness says.

His next play, Carthaginians, premiered in 1989, was concerned with the Bloody Sunday events in Northern Ireland.

McGuinness's first poetry anthology, Booterstown, was published in 1994.

Several of his poems have been recorded by Marianne Faithfull, including Electra, After the Ceasefire and The Wedding.

McGuinness previously lectured in Linguistics and Drama at the University of Ulster, Medieval Studies at University College, Dublin and English at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Then he was a writer-in-residence lecturing at University College Dublin before being appointed Professor of Creative Writing in the School of English, Drama and Film there.

Frank McGuinness has explained, "My earliest writing was … song lyrics. I would have loved to have been … Paul McCartney … Joni Mitchell".

Desiring to write something "substantial", however, he "tossed a coin" between a play and a novel, and decided to write a play.

McGuinness was Professor of Creative Writing at University College Dublin (UCD) from 2007 to 2018.

McGuinness was born in Buncrana, a town located on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal, Ireland.

He was educated locally and at University College Dublin, where he studied Pure English and medieval studies to postgraduate level.

He first came to prominence with his play The Factory Girls, but established his reputation with his play about World War I, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, which was staged in Dublin's Abbey Theatre and internationally.

The play made a name for him when it was performed at Hampstead Theatre, drawing comments about McGuinness's Irish Catholic background.

It won numerous awards including the London Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright for McGuinness and the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize.

He has also written new versions of classic dramas, including works by Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, and Euripides, adapting the literal translations of others.

In addition, he wrote the screenplay for the film Dancing at Lughnasa, adapting the stage play by fellow Ulsterman Brian Friel.