Brian Friel is widely recognized as Ireland's greatest living playwright, winning an international reputation through such acclaimed works as Translations (1980) and Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). This 2006 collection of specially commissioned essays includes contributions from leading commentators on Friel's work (including two fellow playwrights) and explores the entire range of his career from his 1964 breakthrough with Philadelphia, Here I Come! to his most recent success in Dublin and London with The Home Place (2005). The essays approach Friel's plays both as literary texts and as performed drama, and provide the perfect introduction for students of both English and Theatre Studies, as well as theatregoers. The collection considers Friel's lesser-known works alongside his more celebrated plays and provides a comprehensive critical survey of his career. This is a comprehensive study of Friel's work, and includes a chronology and further reading suggestions.
1. Introduction Anthony Roche; 2. The early plays Thomas Kilroy; 3. Surviving the sixties: three plays by Brian Friel 1968-71 Frank McGuinness; 4. Friel and the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' play Stephen Watt; 5. Family affairs: Friel's plays of the late seventies Anthony Roche; 6. Five ways of looking at Faith Healer Nicholas Grene; 7. Translations, the Field Day debate and the re-imagining of Irish identity Martine Pelletier; 8. Dancing at Lughnasa and the unfinished revolution Helen Lojek; 9. The late plays George O'Brien; 10. Friel's Irish Russia Richard Pine; 11. Friel and performance history Patrick Burke; 12. Friel's dramaturgy: the visual dimension Richard Allen Cave; 13. Performativity, unruly bodies and gender in Brian Friel's drama Anna McMullan; 14. Brian Friel as postcolonial playwright Csilla Bertha; Select bibliography; Index.
