Ilha do Desterro (May 2020)

Brian Friel on the french stage: from Laurent Terzieff to women directors of Dancing at Lughnasa

  • Martine Pelletier

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2020v73n2p85
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 73, no. 2
pp. 85 – 97

Abstract

Read online

The success of Brian Friel's drama on stage in the English-speaking world is beyond dispute. Many plays of his plays have also been widely translated leading to numerous productions worldwide. My concern in this article is with French-language productions. The focus in this article will be, first, on the association between Brian Friel and the late great French actor and director Laurent Terzieff, who introduced French theatre professionals and audiences to Friel; and secondly on Dancing at Lughnasa, the play that has been most often performed on French stages, with specific reference to productions twenty years apart by two women directors, Irina Brook (1999) and Gaëlle Bourgeois (2019).

Keywords