By Brian Friel
Directed by Carmel O'Reilly
February 17-20 at 7:30 P.M.
February 21 at 2:00 P.M.
This hauntingly lyrical play is about nothing less than language as the soul of a nation. Set in 1833 in Ireland, it tells of the British army's campaign to replace the native Gaelic with English, an attempt to end centuries of fighting by setting up a political union based on a common language. Against a beautiful backdrop, Lieutenant Yolland, a British soldier falls in love with Marie, a peasant girl, and with Ireland. They are truly a pair of star crossed lovers: when he is murdered, she goes mad and the British soldiers pillage the countryside in revenge.
"Gleams with that old bardic poetry." N.Y. Post.
"A funny and bitter portrait of Irish peasants caught in the midst of a quiet social upheaval." N.Y. Times.
Carmel O'Reilly recently directed Trojan Barbie by Christine Evans at the A.R.T. and was nominated for an Elliot Norton Award for her direction of The Seafearer by Connor McPherson at the SpeakEasy Stage Company.