Brian Friel

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brian Friel
Brian Friel by Bobbie Hanvey
Born
Bernard Patrick Friel

(1929-01-09)9 January 1929
Killyclogher, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Died2 October 2015(2015-10-02) (aged 86)
EducationSt. Patrick's College, Maynooth (BA, 1949)
St. Joseph's Training College, Belfast (1950)
Notable workPhiladelphia, Here I Come! (1964)
Aristocrats (1979)
Translations (1980)
Dancing at Lughnasa (1990)
SpouseAnne Morrison
AwardsTony Award Nominations:
Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1966)
Lovers (1969)
NY Drama Critics Circle Award (1989)
Olivier Award (1991)
Writers' Guild of Britain Award (1991)
Tony Award for Best Play for
Dancing at Lughnasa (1992)

Brian Friel (9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. Until his death, he was thought to be one of the greatest living English-language dramatists.[1][2][3] Friel is best known for plays such as Philadelphia, Here I Come! and Dancing at Lughnasa, but has written more than thirty plays in a career spanning for sixty years.

Death[change | change source]

Friel died after a long illness on 2 October 2015 in Greencastle, County Donegal. He was 86.[4]

References[change | change source]

  1. Nightingale, Benedict. "Brian Friel's letters from an internal exile". The Times. 23 February 2009. "But if it fuses warmth, humour and melancholy as seamlessly as it should, it will make a worthy birthday gift for Friel, who has just turned 80, and justify his status as one of Ireland's seven Saoi of the Aosdána, meaning that he can wear the Golden Torc round his neck and is now officially what we fans know him to be: a Wise Man of the People of Art and, maybe, the greatest living English-language dramatist."
  2. Canby, Vincent."Seeing, in Brian Friel's Ballybeg". The New York Times. 8 January 1996. "Brian Friel has been recognized as Ireland's greatest living playwright almost since the first production of "Philadelphia, Here I Come!" in Dublin in 1964. In succeeding years he has dazzled us with plays that speak in a language of unequaled poetic beauty and intensity. Such dramas as "Translations," "Dancing at Lughnasa" and "Wonderful Tennessee," among others, have given him a privileged place in our theater."
  3. Kemp, Conrad. "In the beginning was the image". Mail & Guardian. 25 June 2010. "Brian Friel, who wrote Translations and Philadelphia ... Here I Come, and who is regarded by many as one of the world's greatest living playwrights, has suggested that there is, in fact, no real need for a director on a production."
  4. "Brian Friel: Famed playwright dies aged 86". BBC News. BBC. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.

Other websites[change | change source]