Leeney, Cathy and Deirdre McFeely, eds. The Plays of Maura Laverty: Liffey Lane, Tolka Row, A Tree in the Crescent. Liverpool: Liverpool UP, 2023. 274 pp. ISBN 978-1-80207-791-9

Abstract

This review examines a recent edition of Maura Laverty’s Dublin Trilogy—Liffey Lane, Tolka Row, and A Tree in the Crescent—highlighting its role in recovering the work of a once-neglected Irish playwright. It emphasizes the editors, Cathy Leeney's and Deirdre McFeely's substantial introduction, which situates the plays within 1950s Irish theatre and underscores Laverty’s engagement with urban life, social tensions, and taboo subjects. The volume is presented as a significant contribution to Laverty scholarship, foregrounding her innovative focus on Dublin’s underrepresented communities and her nuanced treatment of issues such as gender, class, and social change.