Two Plays of War and Peace

Publication date: 24th April 2025

A father seeks out his son on the battlefields of the Crusades, calling into question the senselessness of the bloodshed he encounters. A platoon of British soldiers sit in their trench, awaiting the order to go over the top, and debating amongst themselves the point of it all. These two one-act plays by Rodney Quinn tackle the difficult subject of war and peace with his characteristic wit and irreverence.

“I think there’s an anger in these two plays. It’s kind of an anti-rich thing. They’re kind of socialist plays about the rich controlling the poor, making the poor do their dirty work for them, in the disguise of honouring your country and all that.” (Rodney Quinn)

Both plays were first performed at the Cork Arts Theatre, Ireland, with ‘Over The Top’ winning their prize for best new writing. They have since been performed in London and Australia.

As well as being plays that would appeal to theatre companies looking to perform works critical of war and its consequences, they could also be of interest for school drama and history departments, offering a possibility for students to explore at first-hand what war means.

Rodney Quinn

Rodney Quinn grew up County Wicklow, Ireland, until his mother moved to London with him and his siblings. From early on he travelled around a lot. Backwards and forwards to Ireland: Galway, and later Cork. A Buddhist group in Leicester. Glasgow. Rodney started writing in the early 1990s when in Cork. Being dyslexic, he began messing around with wordplay poems. He started writing plays in 2004, when he was involved with the Cork Arts Theatre. It was then that he wrote ‘Over The Top’ and ‘Birds Still Fly’. He has continued writing since, with performances of his plays in Ireland, London, Scotland and Australia. He is currently based in London.