"In diaries covering the period of his artistic directorship of the Abbey, Ben Barnes offers a frank, honest, and probing account of a much commented upon and controversial period in the history of the national theatre. These diaries also provide fascinating personal insights into the day to day pressures, joys, and frustrations of running one of Ireland's most iconic institutions. For over a century now the Abbey has conducted its love/hate relationship with the Irish public and the wider international audience, and in Plays and Controversies Ben Barnes illuminates his own eventful chapter in that absorbing story - the impact of a fascinating still-remembered chapter in the story of the Abbey Theatre, related at first hand with a fire and a vigorous sense of commitment comparable to that of the founding fathers. Christopher FitzSimoms-Barnes addresses a moment in Irish cultural history which stands as a many-sided cautionary tale. It is the tale of an embattled man, a courageous man, who dares to borrow Yeats's title because he found himself for a time in similar circumstances running the national theatre though in altogether different conditions. Chris Murray. We believe that this book is an important historical record of a recent tumultuous period in relation to the Abbey Theatre and anticipate that it will make a worthwhile contribution to lively cultural debate on theatre, history and politics."--BOOK JACKET.