Sam Thompson and modern drama in Ulster

This two-part study written in the English language describes the most important stages in the historical development of drama in Ulster (one of the four original provinces of Ireland and roughly equal in size to today's British province of Northern Ireland). The study attempts to show that drama in Ireland (North and South) has always been deeply affected by and involved in the fight for social and spiritual freedom on the island. Against this background, the plays of the worker-writer Sam Thompson of Belfast (1916-1965) are presented as realistic drama of a strongly political and humanistic character, attempting to heal the wounds and bridge the violent antagonies produced by centuries of sectarian strife.