The Emerald Isle, or Ireland, is well-known for a nation with world-class literature, Nobel Prize winners, playwrights, and award-winning film directors. However, what makes the Irish good storytellers in particular? What prompts its artists to produce masterpieces over the generations? This course aims to uncover the diverse Irish experiences through drama, in attempt to explore how Ireland, as a largely Catholic nation and a former British colony--controversially, rebuilds and interrogates its history in the twentieth century. The issues to be discussed include the making of political identities, individuality versus religious authorities, cultural nationalism and de-colonization, sectarian violence, gender and racial divides, immigration and ethnic minorities.