Over the past two decades, Brian Friel has become one of Ireland's best-known playwrights. Following the example of William Butler Yeats, John Millington Synge, Sean O'Casey, and others who were part ...
Read more
In the following essay, Maxwell provides a sociopolitical and historical context to Friel's short fiction and delineates the major thematic concerns in his stories.
I
Brian Friel's &#...
Read more
In the following essay, Miner considers the theme of disillusionment in “Among the Ruins” and “Foundry House.”
Brian Friel is probably best known to both Americans and C...
Read more
In the following essay, Deane explores the essential and enduring qualities of Friel's short stories.
If a story takes its form from the author's desire, it also gives form to the des...
Read more
In the following essay, Dantanus outlines the nature of Friel's literary landscape through an examination of his short stories.
Rural Ireland Visited and Transformed
In the Introduction and ...
Read more
In the following essay, O'Brien underscores the unifying aspects of Friel's stories and traces his transition from short fiction to drama.
Brian Friel was born near Omagh, County Tyro...
Read more
In the following essay, Pine elucidates the defining thematic concerns of Friel's short stories.
Silence once broken will never again be whole
—Samuel Beckett1
Divination
Friel...
Read more
In the following essay, Bonaccorso deems “Foundry House” Friel's best-known story, and asserts that is one of his most impressive achievements “given its cultural interest,...
Read more
In the following essay, Cronin unfavorably compares Friel's short stories to his drama and accentuates the significance of the past in his work.
The great short story writers tend, naturally...
Read more
In the following essay, Bonaccorso explores the dynamics between society and the individual in “The Flower of Kiltymore” and “The Saucer of Larks.”
Between 1964 and 1967...
Read more
In the following essay, O'Connor argues that Friel's stories are radical in the way they provoke thought about the social, moral, and political problems that face his characters.
The ...
Read more
In the following essay, Leary examines the themes of "life and death, exile and home, being and loss, " which recur throughout Friel's work.
Some day when I'm awf...
Read more
In the essay below, Deane explores the functions of the "secret stories" that lie at the center of many of Friel's plays.
A closed community, a hidden story, a gifted outsider ...
Read more
In the essay below, Tillinghast offers a survey of Friel's plays, focusing on his "deft touch with theatrical devices and dramatic structure. "
Hugh: Indeed, Lieutenant. A ric...
Read more
In the following essay, Hawkins analyzes the "familial/ communal interactions" that produce a schizoid condition, which is found in both the characters and communities in Philadelphia, H...
Read more
In the following study of "The Flower of Kiltymore," and "The Saucer of Larks," Bonaccorso considers Friel's more private story-telling voice.
Between 1964 and 19...
Read more
In the following essay, Hawkins establishes some characteristics of Schizophrenia and applies these to an analysis of the characters and situations in Friel's work.
In Saints, Scholars, and ...
Read more
In the following essay, Miner addresses the theme of disillusionment in Friel's "Among the Ruins" and "Foundry House" by examining the details of the characters�...
Read more
In the following essay, Throne studies the features of the fathers in Friel's plays, drawing conclusions about the social and political implications of the characters.
In his introduction to...
Read more
In the following essay, Binnie considers Friel's plays and his involvement with Field Day Theatre Company, drawing parallels to the work of Bertolt Brecht.
In the ancient and troubled fronti...
Read more
In the following essay, Tillinghast discusses the function of language in Friel's plays and its pertinence to issues of Irish society.
HUGH: Indeed, Lieutenant. A rich language. A rich lite...
Read more
In the following review, Tracy considers the Dionysian motifs in Wonderful Tennessee and in some of Friel's other work.
A Donegal pier fills the stage left to right, one of those long stone ...
Read more
In the following essay, Lojek establishes the concept of "translation" as a central metaphor for Friel's concerns as a playwright.
The tremendous success of Brian Friel'...
Read more
In the following essay on Friel's drama and his association with Field Day Theatre Company, Pelletier examines Friel's treatment of Irish history.
As a short-story writer and as a pla...
Read more
It’s a pity that Brian Friel’s wonderful Translations at the Biltmore Theatre is talked about as particularly “relevant” to the Iraq War. Relevance has become a nagging mant...
Read more
Background Info
Rufus
Sewell
was born on October 29 1967 to a Welsh mother and an Australian father. A young tearaway, he grew up between Twickenham, Soho and Wales, regularly skipping school. De...
Read more
The intoxicating spirit of freedom — political, cultural and social — flows throughout "Rock 'n' Roll," Tom Stoppard's surprisingly heartfelt drama set against the backdrop of more than...
Read more
A few words about the wonderfully vulgar Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, sometimes known as “The Big Yin” or “The World’s Only Violent Hippie”:
What I love most abo...
Read more
A few words about the wonderfully vulgar Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, sometimes known as “The Big Yin” or “The World’s Only Violent Hippie”:
What I love most ab...
Read more
I love Brian Friel’s heart and soul, suffering though they are. Mr. Friel stands above the new generation of Irish dramatists, Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson, and you have only to see hi...
Read more
I love Brian Friel’s heart and soul, suffering though they are. Mr. Friel stands above the new generation of Irish dramatists, Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson, and you have only to see hi...
Read more
The June 11 Tony Awards ceremony on CBS is sure to be the usual riveting event, and I’ll certainly be watching the broadcast along with the other 322 viewers across the nation. Not to be too ...
Read more
The June 11 Tony Awards ceremony on CBS is sure to be the usual riveting event, and I’ll certainly be watching the broadcast along with the other 322 viewers across the nation. Not to be too ...
Read more
Brian Friel
Critical Essay by D. E. S. Maxwell
Found in Translation: Brian Friel\'d5s Irish Soul
