Johnston, Denis (1901-1984), was an Irish playwright, director, and journalist. Johnston was director of the Gate Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, from 1931 to 1936. He was also associated with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. As a dramatist, Johnston is best known for his first two plays, The Old Lady Says “No!” (1929) and The Moon in the Yellow River (1931). The first play is a satire with music and poetry on Irish themes. The second play is a mixture of comedy, tragedy, and melodrama that portrays moral and political conflicts in Ireland following the Civil War of the early 1900’s. Johnston’s other plays include A Bride for the Unicorn (1933), Storm Song (1934), The Golden Cuckoo (1938), The Dreaming Dust (1954), and The Scythe and the Sunset (1958). He also wrote a biography of the Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift, In Search of Swift (1959).
William Denis Johnston was born on June 18, 1901, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. He attended St. Andrew’s College in Dublin, Cambridge University in England, and Harvard University in the United States. From 1942 to 1945, he worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation as a war correspondent, reporting events of World War II (1939-1945). From the 1960’s onward, Johnston held lecturing positions at various colleges in the United States. He wrote two autobiographical books, Nine Rivers from Jordan (1953) and The Brazen Horn (1977). He died on Aug. 8, 1984.
