In diaries covering the period of his artistic directorship of the Abbey (2000-2005) Ben Barnes offers a frank, honest, 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.