Caitríona McLaughlin’s version of Brian Friel’s seminal play Translations is coming to Ireland’s national theatre, the Abbey, this summer. Her striking adaption shows how Friel’s masterpiece is as relevant today as it was when it was first performed in 1980.
Translations takes place in a hedge school in Baile Beag (Irish for small town), a fictionalised village in County Donegal, in 1833. Hedge schools – named after their ad-hoc, informal locations – sprung up in the early 18th century in response to the penal laws which banned Catholic schools. Here, Hugh and his son Manus teach a variety of subjects, including Latin and Greek classics, to their Irish-speaking students.
The British Royal Engineers have arrived to complete the first Ordnance Survey of Ireland and are accompanied by Hugh’s other son, Owen, who acts as their translator. They are somewhat misleadingly referred to as “English soldiers” throughout the play, but the majority of those working on the survey were not soldiers but civilians.
