Sean O'Casey stormed the citadel of English cultural imperialism in his native Ireland with powerhouse plays promoting Irish nationalism. Born and bred in the Dublin slums, illiterate until the age of 14, and a self-taught reader, writer, and theater-goer, O'Casey maintained a strong bias towards the

Dark, Feminist, Gritty, Irish renaissance, Lyrical, Political

The dramatic duo of Victorian London, playwright Sir William Schwenck Gilbert and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, turned a theatrical corner with the creation of their wildly successful comic operas. For more than 20 years, the pair created a host of now-classic light operas, such as "HMS Pinafore" (1

Dramatic, Lyrical, Musical theater, Overflowing, Pathos, Playful

The story of Satyajit Ray is intertwined with the story of a nation and begins with his birth into a political reformist family in Calcutta in 1921. His father was a satirist, his grandfather a writer and publisher; however, Ray's career began in advertising. Ray's growing reputation as an illustrato

Layered, Lyrical, Sincere, Sublime

As Anglo-Irish tensions tore his country apart, William Butler Yeats sought to give Ireland songs of identity rooted in the island's particular history and myth. Invoking a strong sense of place and folk tradition, Yeats attempted to counter the rapid growth of industry and materialism that he saw as

Lyrical, Modernist poetry, Mythic, Rebel, Sublime, Tragic