Carroll, Paul Vincent (1900–68), Irish dramatist, who attacked the Catholic Church through his plays, and became as well known in England and the United States as in Ireland. He came into prominence with his second play,
Things that are Caesar's (1932; London and NY, 1933), produced at the
Abbey Theatre, Dublin, as were
The Wise have not Spoken (1933; London, 1946; NY, 1954) and
Shadow and Substance (1934; London, 1943). The last, about the conflict between a canon and a liberal-minded schoolmaster, is perhaps his best play, and had a long run on Broadway (1937–8), as did
The White Steed (NY, 1939; London, 1947). In 1942 a war play set in Glasgow,
The Strings,
My Lord, are False, was seen in Dublin at the
Olympia Theatre, where it was well received, and in New York. Among Carroll's later plays were
The Old Foolishness (London, 1943),
The Devil Came from Dublin (1952; London, 1953), and
The Wayward Saint (NY, 1955).
We Have Ceased to Live was published posthumously in 1972. Carroll was a schoolmaster in
Glasgow, 1921–37; he helped to found the Curtain Theatre there and later, with James
Bridie, the
Citizens' Theatre, for which he wrote
Green Cars Go East (1940), set in the Glasgow slums. All Carroll's plays are marked by sympathy, humour, and subtle characterization; his studies of Irish priests are especially memorable.
