As the Brian Friel festival gathers momentum, the Gate Theatre presents one of his most praised works, Aristocrats. Extending his grasp on the mythical Donegal community of his own creation, the author here goes upmarket to Ballybeg Hall, where a once-powerful legal dynasty is now in decay. The family has gathered, with all its tensions and pretensions, to celebrate the wedding of its youngest daughter. But death and disintegration are waiting in the wings, and the O'Donnells have to face a world that has changed irrevocably.
The word Chekhovian has often been applied to the work of Brian Friel, and never with more relevance than in this elegiac, haunting play.