John B. Keane
John B. Keane was an influential Irish playwright and author, born on July 21, 1928, in Listowel, County Kerry, where he spent most of his life until his death on May 30, 2002. He was the son of a primary school teacher and a patriotic mother, which likely influenced his artistic sensibilities. Keane’s works are deeply rooted in the cultural and social landscape of his hometown, highlighting the themes of isolation, alienation, and the struggles of rural life. His first play, *Sive*, premiered in 1959, and he went on to have his works showcased by prestigious theatres, including the Abbey and the Gate Theatre.
Keane’s plays often blend humor with darker themes, featuring characters whose dreams are thwarted, leading to dramatic outcomes, as seen in *The Field* and *Big Maggie*, the latter achieving notable success on Broadway. His later works shifted toward a more realistic style and incorporated social criticism. Despite a prolific career, his literary output diminished after his 1994 cancer diagnosis. Keane’s legacy continues to resonate in Irish theatre and literature, reflecting the complexities of human emotion and social dynamics.
On this Page
Subject Terms
John B. Keane
- Born: July 21, 1928
- Birthplace: Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland
- Died: May 30, 2002
- Place of death: Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland
Biography
John B. Keane was born July 21, 1928, in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland, the son of William B. Keane, a primary school teacher and literary enthusiast, and Hannah Purtill Keane, a passionate patriot. Except for a brief two years in England, he spent his entire life in his hometown, and died there on May 30, 2002. His plays, stories, and novels are all set in that part of Ireland, an area that attracted the interest of other playwrights, such as John Millington Synge and Brendan Behan. County Kerry gave Keane an ear for colorful dialogue, a feeling for the isolation in the lives of workers and farmers, and a knack for charm and sentiment with an explosive undercurrent.
His first play, Sive, had these qualities. The local Listowel Drama Group produced it on February 2, 1959, and immediately James Healey acquired the rights for his professional company in County Cork, the Southern Theatre Group. Thereafter, Keane’s plays had their premieres with professional companies in the provinces followed by openings in Dublin. The Abbey Theatre, the Gate Theatre, and the Olympic Theatre all produced his plays. Two of his works, the novel Durango, and his play The Field, were made into films, the latter starring Richard Harris. His play Big Maggie had a run of sixty-three performances on Broadway in 1982.
Keane’s plays develop themes of isolation and alienation born out of frustration, with characters who find their dreams dashed or their lives twisted. The result is sometimes violence and other times quiet resignation. Sive, for example, ends with Sive killing herself after being sold by her aunt and uncle into a loveless marriage with a lascivious old farmer. The title of his next play, Sharon’s Grave: A Folk Play (1960), refers to a powerful whirlpool into which an idiot boy carries a deformed cripple, drowning the both of them. The Field (1965) ends with the murder of an outsider and the whole town refusing to say a word in order to protect their neighbor. The tendency toward the melodramatic is not merely sensational, but arises out of a seething frustration. The characters and the atmosphere are often rich and leavened with humor. In his later works, such as Big Maggie, he adopted a more subtle realistic style, relied less on the melodramatic, and employed richer themes of social criticism.
Keane had some eighteen plays produced between 1959 and 1982. He then seems to have quit writing for the stage, focusing instead on creating novels, poems, and newspaper columns. He also threw much energy into work with various organizations. However, his literary output declined after he was diagnosed with cancer in 1994, and he died eight years later.