Book description
The action takes place in late August 1833 at a hedge-school in the
townland of Baile Beag, an Irish-speaking community in County Donegal.
In a nearby field camps a recently arrived detachment of the Royal
Engineers, making the first Ordnance Survey. For the purposes of
cartography, the local Gaelic place names have to be recorded and
rendered into English. In examining the effects of this operation on
the lives of a small group, Brian Friel skillfully reveals the
far-reaching personal and cultural effects of an action which is at
first sight purely administrative. "Translations" is a
modern classic. It engages the intellect as well as the heart, and
achieves a profound political and philosophical resonance through the
detailed examination of individual lives, of particular people in
particular place and time." Daily Telegraph "This is Brian
Friel's finest play, his most deeply thought and felt, the most deeply
involved with Ireland but also the most universal: haunting and hard,
lyrical and erudite, bitter and forgiving, both praise and
lament." Sunday Times
Brian Friel was born in Omagh, County Tyrone, in 1929. His plays
include Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Translations, Faith Healer, Making
History and Dancing at Lughnasa.
