Economic Expansion and Moral Conservatism (1957–1966)

While the late 1950s and early 1960s are marked by abrupt change in political policies with the Republic of Ireland committed to a new plan of economic expansion, societal transformation was not sudden as this turnabout in approach aimed to continue nationalist objectives of a united Ireland and preserve a way of life based on agriculture. Women’s bodies and sexuality remained contained and policed by a patriarchal society dominated by strict Catholic dogma. This chapter tells how theatre productions confronted these issues. It also charts how the roles of directors, designers and producers rose to prominence at this time buoyed by exposure to international work through the Dublin Theatre Festival and audiences' appetite for non-naturalistic staging methods.