Letterkenny's very impressive new Grianan Theatre opened its account last Wednesday with its own production of Brian Friel's Translations, a play said by the author to be rooted in Donegal and its people. That alone made the choice an apposite one for the occasion, and the audience's clamorous reception vindicated it.
The occasion made me consider again a play on which I have blown hot and cold over the years. For me, the story it tells carries too great a burden of linguistic philosophy, linked to nationalism, to be altogether convincing. And the central contrivance, of having the Irish-speaking natives and their English soldier-visitors hopelessly unable to communicate - they all speak in English for the play's purposes - wears thin soon enough.
The drama works best for me when it focuses strongly on the individual characters and their place in a society destined to change. It is an approach which, for instance, diminishes the role of Hugh, the erudite, alcoholic hedgeschool teacher; he becomes a clear anachronism in his promulgation of Greek and Latin classics to struggling farmers. And it distributes the surplus, shall we say, to others who want to make a better life for themselves, perhaps in other countries.
This is indeed the approach taken here by director Frank Laverty, and it is easy to warm to it. Two scenes in the play have always been test cases, as it were, for my sensitivities. When the girl Maire (Morna Regan) and Lieutenant Yolland (Tim Ruddy) seek to articulate their mutual attraction by reciting Gaelic placenames, it can be mawkish or humorously touching. This time it works. The final scene, with a drunken Hugh mouthing his erudition while a holocaust threatens, heralds a dying fall, here genuinely sad.
The excellent cast has the feel of a harmonious ensemble, individually committed and mutually supportive. Aussie Bryson is Hugh, Conor Grimes plays Manus, Dessie Gallagher is an engaging Owen and Pauline Hutton a touching Sarah. Paul McGlinchey, Dianne O'Keefe, Guy Carleton and Jack Quinn complete a very effective team. Monica Frawley's colourful set makes splendid use of the spacious stage.
Runs until November 6th, then goes on national tour. To book phone 074-20777
