Editorial Review
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.
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Customer Reviews
Provocative dramatic essay 
2004-10-09
I'll admit I had expected this play to be another political statement about disappearing languages and the hegemonic powers that threaten them--either that or a celebration of Irish Gaelic (I'm more with Joyce than Yeats when it comes to provincial sentimentality about a nation's older tongue). But Friel manages to make the reader/spectator ponder the seriousness of what can be lost in the translation of the marginal language into the majority discourse. In some instances, the signifer and signified, the sign and its referent are irrevocably separated. In such cases, the resulting loss is not merely to the "richness" of a country's culture but to human consciousness itself. What we can't say we can no longer know or even think.
Phlisophy hits home 2004-01-29
I enjoyed reading other reviews, but i was constantly getting the feeling that there was a real ingorance to the underlining theme of the play. On the surface it is about human emotions and the trials a change in culture can have on a society. Friel also challenges the sugnificance of language itself and forces us to seek the relevance of the communication we use. It is thought provoking causing us to realise that everything is subject to human perception, making us questionwhether any liguistic source is reliable, is language just a guise for the truth? Must read for anyone challenging the relevance of everything we know to be real.
the loss of languages 
2003-04-25
an eloquent, moving play about the love of one's native language (Irish) and the plight of lost languages (Latin, ancient Greek, and so on). Of course, it was written after the largely successful revival of the Irish language. There's your delayed "happy ending." (It's not the same, though, not by a long shot.)
the nice thing about friel's play is that he conveys the machine of colonialism with the appropriate complexity--it isn't "bad Englishman, good Irishman," but something much more complex. sometimes people like Owen, unwittingly or not, sell out their own. Sometimes others, for example the English soldier here, are part of the colonial apparatus, but not consciously or intentionally--and such people may end up being the colonized culture's greatest champions.
I liked it better than Dancing at Lughnasa. It reads well--and a lot of plays don't.
A sublime play... 2003-02-13
Friel does a wonderful job of using the beginnings of the
Irish Potato Famine and the callous attitude of the English
government as a backdrop for the far more interesting issue
of language and history- more specifically, how the words
we use can only imperfectly capture the feelings and connections
we feel about the object itself; and how the stories we
tell about history can be more important than what actually
happened. What is most poignant and touching to me is
the relationship between Maire, who speaks only Irish, and
Yolland, the British soldier who attempts to learn Irish
as they fall in love.
The politics that undo their relationship seem almost to
happen as an afterthought- the moments they share, and
their ability to communicate beyond language, make the
play sad and joyful.
Although this to me is certainly a very Irish play, its
impact and meaning(s) cannot be confined to Ireland. It
poses questions to all of us and the worlds we inhabit.
Language and identity 2002-10-17
This is without doubt my favourite play by Friel and one of my favourite plays of all time. However, what I find really frustrating about it is the fact that is nearly always interpreted as being simply about the death of the Irish language and the colonial relationship between the English and the Irish. In other words, it is constantly being interpreted as "uniquely Irish" and I feel this does the play a serious injustice by failing to underline its international appeal. I personally have always read the play as showing that the relationship between a word and what that word designates is not a purely arbitrary one, i.e. a rose by any other name would definitely not smell the same! For example, if someone suddenly started calling me John or Michael instead of Damian, I would feel that a vital part of my identity had been lost. The intricate link between language and identity is of universal significance - it is by no means restricted to Ireland! In fact, the play reminds me a lot of "Le premier jardin" by Anne Hebert and "Lost in translation" by Eva Hofmann.
Beauty Translates Itself 2001-04-01
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.
Stimulating, thought-provoking and very human 2000-09-09
Firstly, unlike many of the other reviews, I shall refer to this work by what it is - a PLAY! Half of the genius of Friels' writing can only be appreciated on stage, when performed by talented actors! Friel masterfully combines humour and tragedy, which results in a totally encapsulating play. For anyone at a loss of understanding when the troubles in Ireland are referred to, this play goes a way towards educating the audience as to the origins of the unrest. Read it, but if possible see it!
Seeing is Believing 1999-12-14
I had the privilege of performing in this play, and I must say that it is one of the most unspeakably beautiful pieces of theatre I have ever read. It challenges the reader/actor with its language, seduces him/her with its emotional power, and teaches an amazing lesson of love and change. I think it must be seen to be appreciated, but every time I read it I am staggered by its intelligence and poetry. (I did see a terrible production of it on Broadway, but a true interpretation of the play reveals it to be the masterpiece it is.)
That Good, I Directed the Play 1999-11-28
Over the past few nights I have directed this play at my college. I am studying the book as part of my English 'A' Level course, and you'd think I'd get bored of it, but no, I love this book. Being Irish, I feel that it captures the very essence of Irish culture, and the hatred portrayed by Manus toward the English soldiers, is caught so well by Friel. Definitive and Encapsulating, I love this story. Tragedy or no, it's one of the best books I have read about the fall of one's culture through Language. It challenges the typical stereotype of the Irish, and shows how pompus the English could be! BUY IT!
Brian Friel should be forced to eat every copy published! 
1999-10-11
What the hell was he thinking?! the book is as exciting as a German film festival - and makes as much sense! The play starts in the middle of nowhere, spends several acts going nowhere, and finishes(so I'm told, though I fell asleep 1/2 way through) at exactly the same point at which it started.Friel should be crucified.
