Translations (1981)

Translations is a three-act play by Irish playwright Brian Friel, written in 1980. It is set in Baile Beag (Ballybeg), a County Donegal village in 19th-century Ireland. Friel has said that Translations is "a play about language and only about language", but it deals with a wide range of issues, stretching from language and communication to Irish history and cultural imperialism. Friel said that his play "should have been written in Irish" but, despite this fact, he carefully crafted the verbal action in English, bringing the political questions of the play into focus. Baile Beag ("Small Town") is a fictional village, created by Friel as a setting for several of his plays, although there are many real places called Ballybeg throughout Ireland.

Performance and publication

Translations was first performed at the Guildhall, Derry, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, 23 September 1980. It was the first production by the Field Day Theatre Company founded by Friel and Stephen Rea. It was directed by Art Ó Briain and featured the following cast:

Mick Lally (Manus)

Ann Hasson (Sarah)

Roy Hanlon (Jimmy Jack)

Nuala Hayes (Máire)

Liam Neeson (Doalty)

Brenda Scallon (Bridget)

Ray McAnally (Hugh)

Stephen Rea (Owen)

David Heap (Captain Lancey)

Shaun Scott (Lieutenant Yolland)

The staging in Derry was significant for a number reasons. Friel and Stephen Rea thought of Derry as a clean slate where they could have more creative control over their work. Rea also thought that the play had a much profounder impact being staged in Derry than if it had been staged in Dublin. Art Ó Briain also pushed for a Derry staging. Furthermore, Guildhall's proximity to the play's County Donegal setting and the strong Northern accents of the mostly Ulster cast created a strong sense of "local pride" and "community passion". Derry itself was also the subject of a name dispute, fitting for a play "concerned with place names".

The play opened in London at the Hampstead Theatre in May 1981, before transferring to the Lyttelton stage at the National Theatre in August of that year.

Translations received its American premiere at Cleveland Play House in 1981, starring Richard Halverson as Hugh. The production was directed by Kenneth Albers with scene and lighting design by Richard Gould. The play was staged in New York City later that year by the Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Barnard Hughes. It was briefly revived on Broadway in 1995 in a production starring Brian Dennehy. In 2006–2007, the Manhattan Theatre Club returned it to the stage at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey and the Biltmore Theatre in New York, directed by Garry Hynes.

The play was published in 1981 by Faber and Faber, who still publish it today. It is published in the United States and performance rights are held by Samuel French Inc. It is a set text on the Leaving Certificate English curriculum in Ireland and, in the United Kingdom, it remains a popular set text among English and Drama & Theatre A-Level students. It won the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize for 1985.

An Irish-language version of the play has been produced. The play has also been translated into Welsh by Elan Closs Stephens. The Welsh version has visited a number of venues in Wales and was first published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, under its Welsh title Torri Gair ("Breaking the Word"), in 1982.

The play was staged in 2003 in Greece by "Aplo Theatre" directed by Antonis Antypas. One of the last performances was attended by the author himself. According to Kathimerini newspaper, the photos of the Athenian performance that arrived at his home in Donegal made him decide to make the not easy journey. The physiognomies of the actors played a decisive role.

Translations was adapted for Belarus in 2009 by Mykalai Pinygin at Janka Kupala Theater. Irish characters speak Belarusian in the play, and the English speak Russian, which draws parallels with the period of russification of Belarus by Imperial Russia in 19th-20th century.

Translations was adapted as a radio play directed by Kirsty Williams, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, on 4 September 2010 (see Translations (radio play)).

Translations was adapted for a Catalan audience in February, 2014 by Ferran Utzet, and performed at the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Library of Catalonia) in Barcelona. It was produced by Perla 29.

In 2017 Translations was directed by Bill Kerr at University of Manitoba’s Black Hole Theatre Company.

Translations was performed at the Olivier Theatre from 22 May to 11 August 2018, starring Colin Morgan as Owen and Ciarán Hinds as his father. It was directed by Ian Rickson.

In 2022 Translations was translated into te reo Māori by Hēmi Kelly, a full-time lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology. It was commissioned by the Embassy of Ireland in Aotearoa New Zealand and is the first major Irish literary work available in the language.

Translations premiered in Ukraine amidst the Russian invasion of 2022. Kyrylo Kashlikov directed it at Lesya Ukrainka Theater and in 2023 the play toured in Dublin's Abbey Theater in Ukrainian with English subtitles.

In 2025, the play was staged in Senegal in French.

In 2026, the play was staged in Cyprus in a bilingual production co-translated by Patrick Myles and Andreas Tselepos and directed by Myles, with Greek Cypriot replacing the original Gaelic.