THE YALTA GAME. Developed from a theme in Chekhov’s 1899 story “The Lady with the Dog.” Two strangers meet on holiday and almost manage to convince one another that disappointments are “merely the postponement of the complete happiness to come…” (1 man, 1 woman.) THE BEAR. Elena Popova, a young and attractive widow, has immersed herself in the role of mourning for her philandering but now dead husband. Luka, her frail and ancient manservant, tries in vain to snap her out of it. Then Gregory Smirnov barges in… (2 men, 1 woman.) AFTERPLAY. 1920s Moscow, a small, run-down café. Uncle Vanya’s niece, Sonya Serebriakova, now in her forties, is the only customer. Until the arrival of the Three Sisters’ put-upon brother Andrey Prozorov. (1 man, 1 woman.)

Brian Friel explores the most Chekhovian of themes in his three new works inspired by the great Russian dramatist: the absurd realm which lies between perpetual hope and a penchant for self-destruction. Whether exploring the loneliness of an unhappy marriage (in "The Yalta Game," based on Chekhov's story "The Lady with the Lapdog"), or imagining the bittersweet meeting of Sonya (Uncle Vanya's niece) and Andrei (the brother of a certain three sisters) in a new work inspired by characters from two Chekhov plays, Friel shows his own masterful range.

This third collection by Brian Friel contains two original works: Performances, which considers the relationship between the private life and public work of the composer Leos Janácek; and The Home Place, set in Ballybeg, Donegal, at the dawn of Home Rule. There are three masterful plays based on stories by Chekhov; and Friel's exquisite versions of Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya, of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and of Turgenev's A Month in the Country. Performances 'A minor work the way Thomas Mann's Death in Venice or Beckett's Endgame is a minor work. Deceptively brisk and light in tone but taut and gravely pregnant with meaning... for Friel, life creates its own symbolism and poetry, and so it does in this play.' Sunday Times The Home Place 'A rich, allusive, densely layered play, which has echoes of Friel's masterly Translations while reminding one that he has spent much of his recent life adapting and translating Chekhov... Friel hauntingly conveys the pathos of exile and the delusion of ownership.' Guardian Hedda Gabler 'Across the gulf of the 20th century one great playwright is talking to another... neither a simple translation nor, as the official title has it, or a 'new version', but something altogether larger.' The Irish Times

This book considers the hundred years of re-writes of Anton Chekhov's work, presenting a wide geographical landscape of Chekhovian influences in drama. The volume examines the elusive quality of Chekhov's dramatic universe as an intricate mechanism, an engine in which his enigmatic characters exist as the dramatic and psychological ciphers we have been de-coding for a century, and continue to do so. Examining the practice and the theory of dramatic adaptation both as intermedial transformation (from page to stage) and as intramedial mutation, from page to page, the book presents adaptation as the emerging genre of drama, theatre, and film. This trend marks the performative and social practices of the new millennium, highlighting our epoch's need to engage with the history of dramatic forms and their evolution. The collection demonstrates that adaptation as the practice of transformation and as a re-thinking of habitual dramatic norms and genre definitions leads to the rejuvenation of existing dramatic and performative standards, pioneering the creation of new traditions and expectations. As the major mode of the storytelling imagination, adaptation can build upon and drive the audience's horizons of expectations in theatre aesthetics. Hence, this volume investigates the original and transformative knowledge that the story of Chekhov's drama in mutations offers to scholars of drama and performance, to students of modern literatures and cultures, and to theatre practitioners worldwide.

Modernity, Community, and Place in Brian Friel’s Drama shows how the leading Irish playwright explores a series of dynamic physical and intellectual environments, charting the impact of modernity on rural culture and on the imagined communities he strove to create between readers, and script, actors and audience.

These essays represent a selection of 40 years’ commentary on the political dimensions of cultural life. They address the entire spectrum of culture, from theories of international communication to the provision of cultural and leisure facilities at local level. As a former consultant to the Council of Europe, the author has developed a penetrating insight into the decision-making process between local authorities and citizens’ groups, which is discussed in two seminal papers from the 1980s which pioneered the concept of Cultural Democracy. In addition, the book’s close readings of novels and plays by Irish and Greek writers explore the way that all writing and forms of self-expression have a political message and repercussions.

This essential guide provides a deeply informed survey of the criticism of all the plays and major stories authored by Brian Friel. Scott Boltwood introduces readers to the key themes that have been used to characterise Friel's entire career, moving chronologically from his early work as a successful short story writer to the present day. This is an essential text for dedicated modules or courses on Modern or Contemporary British and Irish drama offered as part of English literature degrees, or for the literature and culture modules of undergraduate and postgraduate Irish studies degrees. In addition, this book is an ideal companion for A-level students reading Friel's plays, or anyone with an interest in this complex writer's career.