The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary Irish Playwrights is an authoritative single-volume guide to the work of twenty-five Irish playwrights from the 1960s to the present, written by a team of twenty-five eminent scholars from Ireland, the United States, Britain and Germany contributing individual studies to the work of each playwright.

Each of the twenty-five chapters provides: a biographical introduction to the playwright and their work; a survey and concise analysis of each of the writer's published plays; a discussion of their style, dramaturgical concerns and the critical reception; and a full bibliography of published plays, listing of premieres and a select list of critical works.

Playwrights covered include: Tom Murphy, Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr, Brian Friel, Thomas Kilroy, Martin McDonagh, Frank McGuinness, Mark O'Rowe, Christina Reid, Enda Walsh and many more.

Unrivalled in its coverage of recent work and writers, this collection surveys and analyses the breadth, vitality and development of theatrical work to emerge from Ireland over the last fifty years.