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LIN Yi-xuan
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2025.02.001
Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
Owen McCafferty’s Quietly (2012), a two-hander set in an Irish pub, explores how the Troubles continue to shape everyday life in Northern Ireland—an aspect often overlooked in official narratives that celebrate the success of the peace process. The presence of an immigrant character and modern communication devices in the traditional Irish pub setting signifies a new phase of Northern Irish society following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. However, the tense and fragmented conversation between the protagonists, along with their sense of disorientation, reveals the persistence of sectarian divisions and the paralysis of everyday life, which, in turn, reinforce narrow conceptions of identity and lead to the ongoing cycle of violence. By bringing the two protagonists together to confront their past and jointly recount the most devastating day of their lives under the witness of a third party, McCafferty presents the possibility of transcending decades of division at the everyday level, suggesting that true peace requires not only political agreements but also open dialogue between opposing sides and a renewal of values through the enrichment of individual lived experiences.
everyday life, Post-conflict Northern Ireland, Irish theatre, Owen McCafferty, Quietly
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, February 2025, Vol. 15, No. 2, 53-59
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