Christopher Murray is Emeritus Professor of English and Drama at University College, Dublin, where he was the founder member and first director of the UCD Drama Centre offering MA and PhD in Modern Drama Studies. His many publications include Twentieth-Century Irish Drama: Mirror up to Nation (2000). He is chair of the board of directors of the Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin.Csilla Bertha teaches at the University of Debrecen, Hungary. She is a member of the advisory board of Irish University Review, the editorial board of the Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, and a founding member of CISLE.David Krause was Professor of English at Brown University, USA, until his death in 2011. He was the author of the critical biography Sean O'Casey: The Man and His Work (New York: Macmillan), and a four-volume edition of the Letters of Sean O'Casey (1975-1992). He was also author of the critical study The Profane Book of Irish Comedy (1982).Shaun Richards is Emeritus Professor of Irish Studies at Staffordshire University, UK. Professional Research Fellow at St Mary's University College, London, UK. He is editor of The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Irish Drama (2004) and co-author with Chris Morash of Mapping Ireland: Theories of Space and Place (2013).

A Critical Companion to the theatre of Ireland's foremost living playwright; Christopher Murray's study is the definitive guide to Brian Friel's work for students and theatre-goers alike.A Critical Companion to the theatre of Ireland's foremost living playwright, whose work spans fifty years and has won numerous awards, including three Tonys and a Lifetime Achievement Arts Award. Christopher Murray's study is the definitive guide to Brian Friel's work for students and theatre-goers alike.

Provides both a detailed study of individual plays, while offering a thorough consideration of opposing strands running throughout the playwright's oeuvre.

Acknowledgements1. Situating Friel 2. Coming of Age: Philadelphia, Here I Come! 3. Formation of an Aesthetic: The Loves of Cass McGuire and Crystal and Fox 4. Speaking Out: The Freedom of the City and Volunteers 5. Uncertainty, Memory, Tragedy: Living Quarters and Faith Healer 6. A Kind of Trilogy: Making History, Translations and The Home Place 7. The Chekhov Factor and Gender Issues: Aristocrats, Dancing at Lughnasa and Molly Sweeney 8. 'The Vodka-and-Tonic Society': Wonderful Tennessee and Give Me Your Answer, Do! 9. Critical Perspectives: Shaun Richards, 'Placed Identities for Placeless Times: Brian Friel and Post-Colonial Criticism'; David Krause, 'The Failed Words of Brian Friel'; Csilla Bertha, 'Art as a lieu de memoire in Brian Friel's The Home Place'10. Performances11. General ConclusionNotes Selected bibliography Index

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.