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Speaking of Stories transforming
short stories from the page to the stage
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BRIAN FRIEL Born 9 January 1929, Catholic, in Omagh, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, Brian Friel is one of Ireland's most prominent playwrights. In addition to his published plays, he has written short stories; screenplays; film, TV and Radio adaptations of his plays; and several pieces of non-fiction on the role of theatre and the artist. In 1939 the family moved to Derry, where Friel's father had a teaching position at the Long Tower school. Friel attended the same school and then went on to Saint Columb's College, Derry. He attended the Republic of Ireland's national seminary, Saint Patrick's College, near Dublin but instead of going on to the priesthood, he took a post-graduate teaching course in Belfast. He started teaching in Derry in 1950 and wrote in the meantime. His first radio play A Sort of Freedom aired on the BBC in 1958. In 1959 his first short story, The Skelper, appeared in the New Yorker and his first stage play, The Francophile, was performed at the Group Theatre, Belfast. In 1960 he retired from teaching to write full-time. He had joined the Nationalist Party in Derry but had left in 1967, disappointed with its lack of initiative. Many of his plays are set in Ballybeg, "a remote part of Donegal". In 1980, Friel helped found the Field Day Theatre Company which is committed to the search for "a middle ground between the country's entrenched positions" and to help the Irish explore new identities for themselves. His short story collections are A Saucer of Larks and The Gold in the Sea. He has edited The Last of the Name (Memoirs of a Donegal Tailor). His plays are The Enemy Within (Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1962); Philadelphia Here I Come! (Gaeity Theatre, Dublin, 1964); The Loves of Cass Maguire (Helen Hayes Theatre, New York, 1966); Lovers (Gate Theatre, Dublin, 1967); Crystal and Fox (Gaeity Theatre, 1968); The Mundy Scheme (Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 1971); The Freedom of the City (Abbey Theatre, 1973); Volunteers (Abbey Theatre , 1975); Living Quarters (Abbey Theatre, 1977); Aristocrats (Abbey Theatre, 1979); Faith Healer (Longacre Theatre, New York, 1979); Translations (by Field Day Theatre in The Guildhall, Derry, 1980); Three Sisters (by Field Day Theatre in The Guildhall, Derry, 1981); The Communication Cord (by Field Day Theatre in The Guildhall, Derry, 1982); Fathers and Sons (Lyttleton Theatre, London, 1987); Making History (by Field Day Theatre in the Guildhall, Derry, 1988); Dancing At Lughnasa (Abbey Theatre, 1990); The London Vertigo (Andrews Lane Theatre, Dublin, 1992); Wonderful Tennessee (Abbey Theatre, 1993); Molly Sweeney (Gate Theatre, 1995); Give Me Your Answer, Do! (Abbey Theatre, 1997). Brian Friel married Anne Morrison in 1954 and has four daughters and one son.
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