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Based on the women characters in six of Brian Friel's plays Devised and compiled by Anne Mekitarian Tuesday May 11th 2010 Moat Theatre Naas One Night Only!

The women of Ireland have, for generations, struggled for and rebelled against their environment.  Their survival is deeply rooted in the soil of their forebears and in the loins of their children.  Women have striven for progress and betterment, but tried to keep the ecological and social balance. 

This presentation is based on the women characters in six of Brian Friel's early plays.  The breadth of this production encompasses the lives of Irish women from the 1840s to the present day – from adolescence to old age, and against a variety of social backgrounds.  We meet Mag, the contemporary teenager, coping with pregnancy and exam pressures; Máire, the hedge-school pupil, who sees emigration as her only escape;  Judith, the dutiful daughter from the Big House, who sacrificed her youth to look after her father; Grace, who breaks the social barriers for love; Lily, the Northern mother caught up in the Troubles, by being in the wrong place at the wrong time; and the tragic Cass, who sailed to America at eighteen and returns now, aged seventy years – to what?

Each in her own way is searching for a solution to her problems.  Each hopes that, at least for her, there will be “no hay to be saved in Brooklyn.”(Translations – Act III)

 

Edinburgh Fringe reviews

Fringe gem is a real sparkler. . . The effect of the whole is immensely poignant and moving. The subtlety and insight of Friel’s writing, together with some of the best acting you could hope to see, amounts to a celebration of humanity that is not to be missed.  See it. Then see it again.   *****  Edinburgh Evening News

For anyone seeking some first rate acting this is a treat ***** The Scotsman

Performance History:

US Tour 1990 - Des Moines Iowa, Detroit Michigan, Brighton Michigan.

Edinburgh Fringe 1995. 

Celtic Festival Gothenberg Sweden 1996.

Irish Tour – Keadeen Newbridge, Garter Lane Theatre Waterford, St. Kieran’s College Kilkenny, Taidhbhearc na Ghaillimhe, Bog Lane Ballymahon, Corn Mill Carrigallen, Riverbank Newbridge, Moat Theatre Naas.

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