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brian friel

overview

Brian Friel was born in Omagh in Co. Tyrone in 1929. He received his college education in Derry, Maynooth and Belfast, and taught at various schools in Derry from 1950 to 1960.

Friel began his writing career with short stories, but later switched to writing plays as his chosen medium. After the initial success of "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" In 1964, he wrote over twenty plays, confirming his reputation as a major dramatist of the twentieth century.

Friel's plays have been performed extensively in Dublin at the Abbey, The Gate and Olympia Theatres , in West-End theatres in London and on Broadway, while always addressing specifically Irish themes.

He co-founded The Field-Day Theatre Company with actor Stephen Rea in Derry, where Translations (1980), The Communication Cord (1982) and Making History (1988) Premiered. Field Day was set up with the intention of establishing the city as a theatrical centre. It raised the profile of Derry as a city drawing strength from both its Protestant and Catholic heritages and its strategic location near the border of the partitioned Ireland.

This film tells the story of an exceptional playwright and a notoriously shy man, reticent in public and sparing in his comments on his own work to a Beckettian degree.

contributors

Stephen Rea
Tom Murphy
Frank McGuiness
Prof. Anthony Roche
Seamus Heaney
Patrick Mason
Eamon Deane
Emer O'Kelly
Rufus Sewell
Dearbhla Molloy
Anthony Roche
Catherine Byrne
Michael Billington
Michael Coveney
 



Plays by Brian Friel

The Enemy Within (1962)
Philadelphia, Here I Come!
The Freedom of the City
Aristocrats
Faith Healer (1979) N.Y
The Munday Scheme (1969)
The Gentle Island (1971)
Dancing at Lughnasa
Living Quarters
Volunteers
Give me your Answer, Do
The Loves of Cass Maguire
Lovers
Three Sisters (translation)
Making History
Wonderful Tennessee
Molly Sweeney