<DIV><P>Introduced by Patrick Lonergan<I>, The Methuen Drama Anthology of Irish Plays </I>brings together five major works from the Irish dramatic canon of the last sixty years in one outstanding collection.</P><br><P><B>Behan's <I>The Hostage</I></B>, depicting the capture and death<br>of a British soldier by the IRA, was first produced by Joan<br>Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in 1958 and was declared <B>'a masterpiece' </B>by <I>The Times. </I><B>Murphy's <I>Bailegangaire </I></B>(1985)<br>portrays a senile old woman's recitation of an epic tale to her two<br>granddaughters who struggle to free themselves from her and exorcise<br>the past. <B>Reid's <I>The Belle of the Belfast City</I></B>, <B>winner of the George Devine Award in 1986</B>,<br>examines the tensions present in three generations of women in a<br>Belfast-Protestant family during the week of an anti-Anglo-Irish rally.<br><B>Sebastian Barry's <I>The Steward of Christendom </I></B>won the London <B>Critics' Circle Award for Best Play 1995 </B>and was heralded by the <I>Guardian </I>as <B>'an authentic masterpiece'</B>. <B>McDonagh's 1996 play <I>The Cripple of Inishmaan</I></B> is a strange comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling. McDonagh was awarded the <B><I>Evening Standard </I>Award for Most Promising Playwright.</B></P></DIV>