The House in the Quiet Glen and the Family Portrait: Two Comedies

The playwright John Coulter was born in Belfast in 1888. His first plays were produced in Dublin and London, and he began to write for the BBC in the 1920s. In 1936 he moved to Toronto where he remained, and helped to found the Canada Council and the Stratford Festival.

This volume contains two of his best comic plays, which invoke the unique character of his Irish origins.

The House in the Quiet Glen was originally called Sally's Choice and was his first professionally produced play for the BBC in 1925. It was renamed, and went on to great success at the Canadian Dominion Drama Festival in 1937. Based on local stories told to him in the mountains of the Clogher Valley, Ireland, much of its dialogue was recorded verbatim by him, and communicates the unique colour of the local mixture of Gaelic and English.

The Family Portrait was written as a sequel to The House in the Quiet Glen, and was produced by BBC Radio in 1935.

George de Warfaz, who awarded The House in the Quiet Glen prizes at the Canadian Dominion Drama Festival, said of this play, "What a charming play! So simple. So refreshing. It is a perfect picture of peasant life at its funniest. The people...absolutely real. The dialogue...simply splendid."

This volume is in good condition with a dust jacket also in good condition. There are some tears to the dust jacket, particularly on the top of the front and around the top and bottom of the spine. The dust jacket also appears to be significantly bleached. The pages inside are discoloured with age, but otherwise are in excellent condition. There is some damage to the edge of one page, but it does nothing to the text, nor is it visible from the outside.

This copy may have been a publisher's retained copy, as it has a Macmillan book plate on the front pastedown. The dust jacket is also price clipped.