Marilynn Richtarik (NHC Fellow, 1998–99)

Fellowship Work Summary, 1998–99

Marilynn Richtarik completed several chapters of a critical biography of Northern Irish dramatist Stewart Parker, under the working title Stewart Parker: The Conjuror's Art. She wrote a lengthy essay entitled "Stewart Parker, Belfast Playwright"; completed an article called "Stewart Parker's Heavenly Bodies: Dion Boucicault, Showbusiness, and Ireland"; edited and introduced Stewart Parker's screenplay, Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain for the autumn/winter 1998 edition of Irish University Review; and wrote a program note for a production of Stewart Parker's play Northern Star at the Belfast Festival. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she lectured on "Religion, Politics, and Ireland's Recurring Troubles" for the Program in the Humanities and Human Values, and on "Stewart Parker, Belfast Playwright," for the Department of English. She presented a lecture on "Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland," for the West Triangle Chapter of the United Nations Association. She was a regular participant in the Triangle Irish Studies Group, and was a featured participant in an NEH seminar on "One Hundred Years of Irish Theatre," held in Bloomington, Indiana.