Writing (Irish) Histories on the Body: DruidShakespeare, Gender, and the Shakespearean History Play

Abstract

This essay explores the relationship between Irish Shakespeare performance, gendered bodies, and theatrical convention, using Druid Theatre Company’s 2015 production DruidShakespeare as a case study. Using Shonagh Hill’s theories of women’s embodied mythmaking in Irish theater, I show how the performances and gendering of Derbhle Crotty and Aisling O’Sullivan as Henry IV and Henry V respectively can be read within (following Hill) a broader genealogy of creative female corporeality. I do so through exploring Crotty’s performance of undress, nudity, and femininity as Henry IV, before demonstrating how O’Sullivan’s anti-heroic Henry V negotiated the histories and iconographies of Irish and Shakespeare performance. Ultimately, I argue that this corporeal exploration of gender and history was integral to DruidShakespeare’s political project, and integral to its desire to adapt and represent Shakespeare meaningfully for and to Irish audiences.