The Theatre of Brian Friel

Brian Friel is Ireland''s foremost living playwright whose work spans fifty years and has won numerous awards including three Tonys and a Lifetime Achievement Arts Award. Author of twenty-five plays and whose work is studied at GCSE and A level (UK) and the Leaving Certificate (Ire) besides at undergraduate level he is regarded as a classic in contemporary drama studies. Christopher Murray''s Critical Companion is the definitive guide to Friel''s work offering both a detailed study of individual plays and an exploration of Friel''s dual commitment to tradition and modernity across his oeuvre. Beginning with Friel''s 1964 work Philadelphia Here I Come! Christopher Murray follows a broadly chronological route through the principal plays including Aristocrats Faith Healer Translations Dancing at Lughnasa Molly Sweeney and The Home Place. Along the way it considers themes of exile politics fathers and sons belief and ritual history memory gender inequality and loss all set against the dialectic of tradition and modernity. It is supplemented by essays from Shaun Richards David Krause and Csilla Bertha providing varying critical perspectives on the playwright''s work.