Synopses & Reviews
Plays Two:
Dancing at Lughnasa
Fathers and Sons
Making History
Wonderful Tennessee
Molly Sweeney
Introduced by Christopher Murray, this second collection of Brian Friel's plays includes some of his most acclaimed work for the stage.
From the troubled family life of five sisters in 1930s Donegal that is the core of Dancing at Lughnasa (now a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep) to the current-day birthday celebration that is the major external event of Wonderful Tennessee, Brian Friel demonstrates his emotional range and empathy for his characters. He evokes not simply the interior landscape of human beings trapped in their domestic situation but the wider landscape-interior and exterior-of which they are a part.
Brian Friel was born in Omagh, County Tyrone (Northern Ireland) in 1929. He received his college education in Derry, Maynooth and Belfast and taught at various schools in and around Derry from 1950 to 1960. He is the author of many plays that have taken their place in the canon of Irish Literature, including Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964), Lovers (1967), Translations (1980), The Communication Cord (1982), and Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). In 1980 he founded the touring theatre company, Field Day, with Stephen Rea.
Introduced by Christopher Murray, this second collection of Brian Friel's plays includes some of his most acclaimed work for the stage. This edition includes Fathers and Sons, Making History, Wonderful Tennessee, Molly Sweeney and Dancing at Lughnasa, which was made into a major motion picture by Sony Pictures.
Dancing at Lughnasa
"The play, brilliantly constructed, is the best Friel has yet written."The Observer
Fathers and Sons (after Turgenev)
"A delicately written play that subtly alters the emphasis of Turgenev's book in the light of modern experience."The Guardian
Making History
"This is Friel's most accomplished and important play since Translations . . . It has the same suppleness of argument and beauty of writing."Financial Times
Wonderful Tennessee
"Friel is a master . . . The play is a brilliantly notated fugue of laughter and lament."The New Yorker
Molly Sweeney
"A dramatic poem of cumulative power and irresistible poignancy."The Observer
"Of all the contemporary authors, there is no one I admire more highly than Brian Friel . . . Molly Sweeney is magnificent, and I read it with great joy."Peter Brook
"Once again, Friel has achieved a masterpiece."The Independent on Sunday
Review
Dancing at Lughnasa"The play, brilliantly constructed, is the best Friel has yet written."--Observer
Fathers and Sons (after Turgenev)
"A delicately written play that subtly alters the emphasis of Turgenev's book in the light of modern experience."--Guardian
Making History
"This is Friel's most accomplished and important play since Translations...It has the same suppleness of argument and beauty of writing."--Financial Times
Wonderful Tennessee
"Friel is a master...The play is a brilliantly notated fugue of laughter and lament."--New Yorker
Molly Sweeney
"A dramatic poem of cumulative power and irresistible poignancy."--Observer
"Of all the contemporary authors, there is no one I admire more highly than Brian Friel...Molly Sweeney is magnificent, and I read it with great joy."--Peter Brook
"Once again, Friel has achieved a masterpiece."--Independent on Sunday
Synopsis
Plays Two:
Dancing at Lughnasa
Fathers and Sons
Making History
Wonderful Tennessee
Molly Sweeney
Introduced by Christopher Murray, this second collection of Brian Friel's plays includes some of his most acclaimed work for the stage.
From the troubled family life of five sisters in 1930s Donegal that is the core of Dancing at Lughnasa (now a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep) to the current-day birthday celebration that is the major external event of Wonderful Tennessee, Brian Friel demonstrates his emotional range and empathy for his characters. He evokes not simply the interior landscape of human beings trapped in their domestic situation but the wider landscape-interior and exterior-of which they are a part.
Synopsis
Plays Two:
Dancing at Lughnasa
Fathers and Sons
Making History
Wonderful Tennessee
Molly Sweeney
Introduced by Christopher Murray, this second collection of Brian Friel's plays includes some of his most acclaimed work for the stage.
From the troubled family life of five sisters in 1930s Donegal that is the core of Dancing at Lughnasa (now a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep) to the current-day birthday celebration that is the major external event of Wonderful Tennessee, Brian Friel demonstrates his emotional range and empathy for his characters. He evokes not simply the interior landscape of human beings trapped in their domestic situation but the wider landscape-interior and exterior-of which they are a part.
About the Author
Brian Friel was born in Omagh, County Tyrone (Northern Ireland) in 1929. He received his college education in Derry, Maynooth and Belfast and taught at various schools in and around Derry from 1950 to 1960. He is the author of many plays that have taken their place in the canon of Irish Literature, including
Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1964),
Lovers (1967),
Translations (1980),
The Communication Cord (1982), and
Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). In 1980 he founded the touring theatre company, Field Day, with Stephen Rea.
Table of Contents
Dancing at Lughnasa -- Father and sons -- Making history -- Wonderful Tennessee -- Molly Sweeney.