Translations is a three-act play by Irish playwright Brian Friel written in 1980. A play, or stageplay, is a form of Literature written by a Playwright, almost always consisting of Dialogue between Fictional characters A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. Brian Friel (born 9 January 1929) is a playwright and more recently director of his own works from Northern Ireland who now resides in County Donegal Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) It is set in Baile Beag (Ballybeg), a small village at the heart of 19th century agricultural Ireland. Ballybeg is a generic name given to small Irish towns similar in meaning and context to Smallville in the Superman universe Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Friel has said that Translations is "a play about language and only about language", but it deals with a wide range of issues, stretching from language and communication to Irish history and cultural imperialism. Despite the 1833 setting, there are obvious parallels between Baile Beag and today's world. Year 1833 ( MDCCCXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common

Baile Beag may be presumed to be a fictional village, although such a placename does exist: as a working class suburb of Waterford, a village in County Wicklow and a village in County Down (all in Ireland). Waterford ( or Windy fjord;) is a city in Ireland. It is the primary city of the South East region and the fifth largest in the country County Wicklow (Contae Chill Mhantáin is a county on the east coast of Ireland, immediately south of Dublin. County Down, ( Ulster Scots: Coontie Doun. is one of the nine counties that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form However, it is also a generic name for a small village, which Friel uses in several of his other plays.

Contents 1 Performance and publication 2 Plot 3 Historical references 4 Notes

Performance and publication

Translations was first performed at the Guildhall in Derry, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, 23 September 1980. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Events 1122 - Concordat of Worms. 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) It was the first production by the Field Day Theatre Company founded by Brian Friel and Stephen Rea. The Field Day Theatre Company began as an artistic collaboration between playwright Brian Friel and actor Stephen Rea. Stephen Rea (born Graham Rea on October 31, 1946) is an Irish Actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his It was directed by Art O Briain and featured the following cast^[1]:

Mick Lally (Manus)

Ann Hasson (Sarah)

Jack Roy Hanlon (Jimmy Jack)

Nuala Hayes (Maire)

Liam Neeson (Doalty)

Brenda Scallon (Bridget)

Ray McAnally (Hugh)

Stephen Rea (Owen)

David Heap (Captain Lancey)

Shaun Scott (Lieutenant Yolland)

The play was staged in New York City in 1981 by the Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Barnard Hughes. Mick Lally (born 1945 is an Irish actor Lally was born in Ireland. William John "Liam" Neeson OBE (born June 7, 1952) is an Irish Actor. Ray McAnally ( March 30 1926 – June 15 1989) was an Irish actor famous for his performances in films such as The Mission Stephen Rea (born Graham Rea on October 31, 1946) is an Irish Actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his Shaun Scott (1954 -) is a Canadian television actor who appeared in the popular long-running series of The Bill where he played DI Chris Deakin. The City of New York Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 The Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC is a theater club in Manhattan, New York. Bernard Aloysius Kiernan “Barnard” Hughes ( July 16, 1915 – July 11, 2006) was an American Actor of theater It was briefly revived on Broadway in 1995 in a production starring Brian Dennehy. Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Brian Mannion Dennehy (born July 9 1938 is an American two-time Tony Award -winning Actor who has appeared in movies, on television and performed In 2006-07, the Manhattan Theatre Club returned it to the stage at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey and the Biltmore Theatre in New York, directed by Garry Hynes. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. McCarter Theatre is a not-for-profit professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton New Jersey. See also Princeton Township New Jersey, Borough of Princeton New Jersey Princeton Borough New Jersey Princeton Township New Jersey this The City of New York Garry Hynes (born June 10 1953 is an Irish Theatre director. Hynes was born in Ballaghadereen Roscommon County and educated at St ^[2]

The play was published in 1981 by Faber and Faber, who still publish it today. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Faber and Faber, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing In the UK it remains a popular set text among English and Drama & Theatre A-Level students. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education qualification in England, Northern Ireland and Wales,

Plot

The play is set in the quiet community of Baile Beag (later anglicized to Ballybeg), in County Donegal, Ireland. County Donegal (ˌdʌnəˈgɔːl Irish: Contae Dhún na nGall. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Many of the inhabitants have little experience of the world outside the village. In spite of this, tales about Greek goddesses are as commonplace as those about the potato crops, and many languages (ancient and modern) are spoken in the village. Friel uses language as a tool to highlight the problems of communication - lingual, cultural, and generational. In the world of the play, the characters, both Irish and English, "speak" their respective languages, but in actuality English is predominantly spoken. This allows the audience to understand all the languages, as if a translator were provided. However, onstage the characters cannot comprehend each other if a common language is not shared.

The action begins with Owen (mistakenly pronounced as Roland by his British counterparts), younger son of the schoolmaster Hugh and brother to aspiring teacher Manus, returning home after six years away in Dublin. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. With him are Captain Lancey, a middle-aged, pragmatic cartographer, and Lieutenant Yolland, a young, idealistic and romantic orthographer. The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific Writing system to write the language Owen acts as a translator and go-between for the British and Irish.

Yolland and Owen work to translate local placenames into English for purposes of the map: Druim Dubh becomes Dromduff and Poll na gCaorach becomes Poolkerry. While Owen has no qualms about anglicizing the names of places that form part of his heritage, Yolland, who has fallen in love with Ireland, is unhappy with what he perceives as a destruction of Irish culture and language.

Complicating matters is a love triangle between Yolland, Manus, and a local woman, Maire Chatach. A love triangle is a romantic relationship involving three people Yolland and Maire manage to show their feelings for each other despite the fact that Yolland speaks only English and Maire only Irish. Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Manus, however, had been hoping to marry Maire, and is infuriated by Yolland. He sets out to attack him, but in the end cannot bring himself to do it.

Unfortunately, Yolland goes missing overnight (it is hinted that he has been attacked, or worse, by any of a number of locals with rebellious intent), and Manus flees. Maire is in denial about Yolland's disappearance and remains convinced that he will return unharmed. The British soldiers, forming a search party, rampage across Baile Beag, and Captain Lancey threatens first shooting all livestock and then evicting and destroying houses if Yolland is not found. The play ends ambiguously, with the schoolmaster Hugh consoling himself by reciting the opening of the Aeneid, which tells of the impermanence of conquests. For the group of nine Ancient Egyptian deities see Ennead. The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd in Unfortunately, Hugh's stumbling attempts at recitation are evidence that our memory is also impermanent.

Friel's play tells of the current struggle between both England and Ireland during this turbulent time. The play focuses mainly on (mis)communication and language to tell of the desperate situation between these two countries with an unsure and questionable outcome.

Historical references

• The Englishmen in the play are a detachment of the Royal Engineers and function as part of the Ordnance Survey creating six-inch to the mile maps of all of Ireland. The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers ( RE) and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps Ordnance Survey (OS is an Executive agency of the United Kingdom government The characters of Lancey and Yolland are fictionalized representations of two real soldiers who took part in the survey: Thomas Colby and William Yolland. Thomas Frederick Colby ( 1 September 1784 &ndash 9 October 1852) a British major-general and director of the Ordnance Survey William Yolland (born 17 March 1810 in Plympton St Mary, Devon – died 5 September 1885 in Atherstone, ^[3]

• The character Maire contemplates emigration to America, reflecting the mass emigration of Irish people to America in the 19th century. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

• There are fearful references to potato blight, reminding the reader of the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, even though the play is set in 1833. Phytophthora infestans is an Oomycete that causes the serious Potato disease known as late blight or potato blight.

• Irish politician and hero Daniel O'Connell is mentioned and quoted as saying that Irish people should learn English and that the Irish language was a barrier to modern progress. Daniel O'Connell ( 6 August 1775 &ndash 15 May 1847) ( Dónal Ó Conaill) known as The Liberator, or The Emancipator Anglicization of place names, including Baile Beag (the setting), is prominent in the dialog, because it is Lieutenant Yolland's professional assignment. Anglicisation or anglicization (see -ise vs -ize) is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English

• A national school is to open in the town, replacing the existing hedge-school. A national school is a type of School. England and Wales See also Education in England, Education in Wales Historically

• Characters Hugh and Jimmy remember how they marched to battle during the 1798 rebellion against the British influence in Ireland, only to march back home upon feeling homesick. The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (Éirí Amach 1798 Turn Oot 1798 or 1798 rebellion as it is known locally was an uprising in 1798 lasting several months against the

Notes

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