(William) Denis Johnston - Works

Playwright, born in Dublin, Ireland. He studied at Cambridge and Harvard, and was called to the bar in England (1925) and Northern Ireland (1926). His first play, an Expressionistic satire called Shadowdance, was rejected by Lady Gregory for the Abbey Theatre. Retitled The Old Lady Says ‘No’, it became a major success at the Gate Theatre in 1929. He had a further triumph with The Moon on the Yellow River (1931) and several other plays over the next three decades. His autobiographical Nine Rivers from Jordan (1953) recounted his experiences as a war correspondent.

Denis Johnston (June 18, 1901 – August 8, 1984) was an Irish dramatist whose first play helped establish the worldwide reputation of the Dublin Gate Theatre, and whose second has been performed around the globe in numerous productions, starring Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains and Errol Flynn among others.

Johnston later moved to the United States and taught at Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and other universities.

His daughter Jennifer Johnston is a respected novelist and playwright, and his grandson Alex Johnston is also a playwright.

Works

Plays

The Old Lady Says 'No!' (1929) The Moon in the Yellow River (1931) A Bride for the Unicorn (1933) Storm Song (1934) Blind Man's Buff (1936) (with Ernst Toller) The Golden Cuckoo (1939) The Dreaming Dust (1940) A Fourth for Bridge (1948) 'Strange Occurrence on Ireland's Eye' (1956) Tain Bo Cuailgne - Pageant of Cuchulainn (1956) The Scythe and the Sunset (1958)

Biography

In Search of Swift (1959) John Millington Synge (1965)

Autobiography

Nine Rivers from Jordan (1953) Orders and Desecrations (1992) (ed. Rory Johnston)

Non-Fiction

The Brazen Horn (1976)

Opera Libretti

Six Characters in Search of an Author (1957) Nine Rivers from Jordan (1968)