Marina Carr facts for kids

By the Bog of Cats at Wyndhams Theatre, London in 2005

Marina Carr is a famous Irish playwright. She writes amazing plays that are performed all over the world. One of her most well-known plays is called By the Bog of Cats.

Early Life and Education

Marina Carr was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1964. She grew up mostly in Pallas Lake, County Offaly, near Tullamore. Her father, Hugh Carr, was also a playwright. Her mother, Maura Eibhlín Breathnach, was an Irish poet. When Marina was a child, she and her siblings, John and Deirdre, even built their own theatre in their shed!

Marina studied English and philosophy at University College Dublin. In 2011, her old university gave her an honorary Doctorate of Literature. This was a special award for her achievements.

Career Highlights

Marina Carr has worked as a writer-in-residence at the Abbey Theatre. This means she was a writer who worked closely with the theatre. She has also taught at many universities. These include Trinity College Dublin, Princeton University, and Villanova University. In 2016, she taught in the English department at Dublin City University. Marina Carr is also a member of Aosdána, which is a special group for Irish artists.

Awards and Recognition

Marina Carr has won many awards for her plays. Her play The Mai won the Best New Irish Play award in 1994–1995. Portia Coughlan won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 1996–1997. She also received The Irish Times Playwright award in 1998.

Other important awards include the E. M. Forster Award and The Hennessy Award. In 2017, she received the Windham-Campbell Literature Award. This award is given by Yale University. Marina was the second Irish writer to win this prize.

Her Plays

Marina Carr has written many original plays and adaptations.

Original Plays

• Ullaloo (1989)
• The Deer's Surrender (1990)
• This Love Thing (1991)
• Low in the Dark (1991)
• The Mai (1994)
• Portia Coughlan (1996)
• By the Bog of Cats (1998)
• Ariel (2000)
• On Raftery's Hill (2000)
• Meat and Salt (2003)
• Woman and Scarecrow (2004)
• The Cordelia Dream (2006)
• The Giant Blue Hand (2007)
• Marble (2007)
• 16 Possible Glimpses (2009)
• Hecuba (2015)
• iGirl (2021)
• Girl on an Altar (2022)
• The Map of Argentina
• Phaedra Backwards
• Audrey or Sorrow (2024)

Adaptations

• Blood Wedding
• Anna Karenina

By the Bog of Cats

By the Bog of Cats is one of Marina Carr's most famous plays. It was first performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play opened on October 7, 1998. It ran for 45 performances. Patrick Mason directed the play. The main actors included Siobhán Cullen, Olwen Fouéré, and Conor McDermottroe.

The play is about deep feelings like sorrow and love. It explores what happens when people are driven by strong emotions.

Woman and Scarecrow

Woman and Scarecrow is about a woman who is dying. She thinks about her life as her time on Earth comes to an end. The play takes place in a simple room, mostly with just a bed. A mysterious wardrobe is also in the room. It seems to represent death getting closer.

Another character in the play is Scarecrow. It's not clear exactly what Scarecrow is, maybe a part of the woman's own thoughts. The characters in the play are often called by names like "Woman," "Him," or "Scarecrow." This makes them feel like they could be anyone.

The Woman in the play is a mother of eight children. She thinks about her role as a mother and a wife. She learns to value herself and find her own strength.

Woman and Scarecrow was first performed in London in 2006. Fiona Shaw and Bríd Brennan played the main roles. Later, it was also performed in Dublin and New York.

The Mai

The Mai tells the story of a woman in her late 30s. Her husband, Robert, had left her and their children for a long time. Now he has returned and wants to try again. The play is split into two parts. The first part shows the summer of 1979 when Robert comes back. The second part shows what happens a year later.

The main character, The Mai, struggles with her marriage. Robert often cheats on her. Her family wants her to leave him. In the end, she tells her daughter, Millie, that she can't imagine being happy without Robert. But she also can't imagine being happy with him. Millie is the narrator of the story.

The Mai was first performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1994. The play explores how women balance their roles as mothers and wives. It also looks at how family relationships affect each other.

Marble

Marble first opened in Dublin in 2009 at The Abbey Theatre. The play has four characters: a married couple named Ben and Catherine, and another couple named Anne and Art. The play lasts about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Marble was also translated into Spanish as Mármol. It was performed in Madrid, Spain, in 2016.