This thesis presents an exploration of Paul Mercier’s plays, written and first performed between the
period 1980 and 2006: Drowning (1984), Wasters (1985), Spacers (1986), Buddleia (1995),
Kitchensink (1997), Native City (1998) and Homeland (2006). Its principal focus is on how Mercier’s
plays dramatise elements of globalisation and the Celtic Tiger. Firstly, I situate a theoretical and
cultural lens before examining how his plays characterise and perform an urban-world into which we
are drawn, to witness and reflect on situations that are both those of others and of ourselves. Material
for this thesis includes: unpublished manuscripts of the plays, theatrical reviews, the general body of
work on culture, drama and theatre, and finally philosophy and sociology texts.
The principal argument of my thesis is that Paul Mercier’s plays, through their characterisation and
performance, dramatise the complexity of our nation-state in a world of globalisation and the
ephemeral era of the Celtic Tiger. His plays bring us to the periphery of social contexts; they remain
focussed on the humanity of the everyday, while, at the same time, embracing imagination, creativity,
inspiration, humour, the aesthetic, Greek Tragedy, Celtic mythology and kitchen-sink drama.
While Mercier’s dramatisation of the everyday might appear to be insular, in that the setting is local
and Irish, neither his characters nor their stories are pre-occupied with issues of historical and national
identity, at least not within a post-colonial context. Rather, his pre-occupation is with contemporary
issues of a different kind of colonisation, that of globalisation and the era of the Celtic Tiger.
My study advances the canon of work on Paul Mercier; it critiques nuances of globalisation and the
Celtic Tiger through the lens of drama and performance.