Friel renaissance Translations National Theatre, London Aristocrats Nuffield Theatre, Southampton by Mark Coalter The works of Brian Friel have had a renaissance on the London stage of late. In 2005 Friel’s masterpiece Translations and the less-celebrated Aristocrats appeared in the National Theatre to sell-out audiences, whilst Home Place won the coveted Evening Standard Theatre Award … Read more
The rocky road to modernity Rocky Road to Dublin (1968) Directed by Peter Lennon by Luke Gibbons Film classics often seem ahead of their time, rather than of it. John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) was one of the first to suggest that the true savage on the frontier was the white man, but had to … Read more
Sir,—The Irish Committee of Historical Sciences, the body which represents the interests of History as an academic discipline wishes to express the alarm of all university teachers of History in Ireland at the prospect that pupils in Irish secondary schools may no longer be required to study History up to Junior Certificate level. Our concern … Read more
Both these books were commissioned and, like the newspapers they serve to commemorate, they are different in orientation. The one dedicated to The Irish News is a collection of twenty-six articles by academics, journalists and writers to honour its centenary in 1991, to pay tribute to the skill, courage and objectivity of its journalists during … Read more
D. George Boyce and Alan O’Day (eds) (Routledge, £17) ISBN 0415174228 The last decade has witnessed an increasing interest in the constitutional and political nature of the United Kingdom. More often than not this has taken the form of a critical assessment of the Union itself rather than an analysis of those who supported it. … Read more