Born in 1880 and schooled on the streets of Dublin, Sean O'Casey became in turn newspaper-seller, docker, stonebreaker, railway worker, builder's labourer, dramatist and, ultimately, a giant of modern Irish literature. The dramatic technique he learned by reading Shakespeare came to fruition in his own canon of great plays, first for Dublin's Abbey Theatre and later for the major stages of the world.

The comedy 'The End of the Beginning' and the sketch 'A Pound on Demand' were both published in 1934 as part of the collection of essays, verse and fiction, entitled 'Windfalls'. 'Hall of Healing', 'A Sincerious Farce', 'Bedtime Story' and 'Time to Go', 'A Morality Comedy', were written in 1951. From the author of 'The Plough and the Stars' and 'Juno and the Paycock', these five plays offer the greatness of O'Casey in vivid microcosm.