KEANE, John B. The Field. Signed copy (Every good wish, John B. Keane).

Cork: Mercier Press, 1991. pp. 81. Pictorial wrappers. A fine signed copy of one of the most celebrated Irish plays of the twentieth century. This edition, issued by Mercier Press in 1991, contains the revised text prepared by Ben Barnes, then Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre. The front endpaper bears Keane’s bold inscription in blue ink: “Every good wish / John B. Keane.”

The Field, first performed at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin in 1965, remains Keane’s best-known work, a tragic study of greed, land hunger and rural power struggles in the west of Ireland. Its status as a modern classic was confirmed by Jim Sheridan’s acclaimed 1990 film adaptation, starring Richard Harris as Bull McCabe.

Copies signed by Keane are now increasingly scarce, particularly of this revised edition, which ensured the play’s continued life on the Irish stage in the 1990s. An excellent association piece for collectors of modern Irish drama and one of Kerry’s most enduring literary figures.

[L3 8D]