Abbey Theatre and Lyric Theatre, Belfast to Co-Produce Brian Friel's TRANSLATIONS

Today the Abbey Theatre and Lyric Theatre in Belfast announced a major new co-production of Brian Friel's Translations. Friel's modern classic excavates small town, rural Ireland to interrogate language, the impact of words and how we communicate.

This hotly anticipated co-production will open in the Lyric Theatre Belfast in April, before moving to Dublin and a summer run on the Abbey stage from 13th June to 13th August.

Abbey Theatre Artistic Director and Donegal native Caitríona McLaughlin who hails from Carndonagh in Inishowen, is deeply connected to the people and stories in this play, those found amongst the stark rural textures of stone, vegetation and grey skies.

Translations is set in August 1883 in the townland of Friels' fictional Baile Beag/Ballybeg where an Irish-speaking community in Donegal has become the unlikely focal point of a changing world. Plans for a new English-speaking national school are in motion, and a group of English Royal Engineers have arrived to map the area.

Many of Friel's plays centre around a rural town where language, myth and history thrive within a small community, and the geography of north Donegal is crucial for this production. The play has many levels to it, but primarily it is about language. While the play is performed in English throughout, the central premise is that all characters speak in their native language, so the English characters cannot understand the Irish characters and vice versa. Friel brilliantly explores the idea that real communication is not about language. It is about understanding and a commitment to engage fully in what makes us different from each other. Translations takes place at a moment of possibility and change in Ireland but not everyone is sure that change is needed. Landmarks and town names are given alternate meanings and the characters of Baile Beag work through the defacing of their heritage and history.

"My Great Grandfather, Charles MacConigley, was 'the master' of a new schoolhouse in 1905, in Fanad, County Donegal. He had been teaching for 23 years at that stage, where exactly he taught before then, we don't know. I like to imagine it was wherever he could, in a barn perhaps or a hedge? I do know his son, my grandfather, would quote Latin and Greek and spoke Irish. I grew up myself amongst the placenames and politics at the centre of this story, surrounded by Brigids, Doaltys and Jimmy Jacks. I love the play, it's world and language and of course, it could not be more pertinent today, not only in the context of Brexit, as we are looking more and more to Europe and the EU for partnership and collaboration, but also because as a nation we are once more in a moment of change and possibility, a time when our language and how we communicate is central to who we are, who we will become and the kind of society we want to live in" said Caitríona McLaughlin, Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre. "It is a matter of great pride to be able to bring this production to audiences in both Belfast and Dublin with our co-producers at the Lyric Theatre."

Jimmy Fay, Artistic Director/Executive Producer of the Lyric Theatre said "Brian Friel created unforgettable and vivid characters, and his work transcends the Irish cultural landscape. Brian had a long and warm relationship with the Lyric Theatre over the decades. In recent history we produced Molly Sweeney (2014), Dancing at Lughnasa (2015) and Lovers(2018), and we are delighted to continue this journey with our partners, the Abbey Theatre. His presence, his kindness and his work will always live in this playhouse."

Casting to be announced in the coming weeks with auditions taking place in both Dublin and Belfast. Tickets on sale now.

Lyric Theatre

Dates: 23rd April - 28th May 2022
Previews: 23rd - 27th April 2022
Opening night: 28th April 2022
Times: Mon - Sat 7.30pm, Sat matinees 2.30pm

Booking: lyrictheatre.co.uk

Abbey Theatre

Dates: 13th June - 13th August 2022
Previews: 13th - 14th June 2022
Opening night: 15th June 2022
Times: Mon - Sat 7.30pm, Sat matinees 2pm

Booking: abbeytheatre.ie

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