The 1999 Brian Friel Festival, running between April and August, was announced in Dublin yesterday. The first of two Friel plays to be staged at the Abbey Theatre, The Freedom of the City, will open on April 28th and run to May 29th. The second, Dancing at Lughnasa, runs between June 9th and July 17th.
Other festival productions are Give Me Your Answer Do! at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast between April 20th and May 15th; Lovers: Winners and Losers at the South Dublin Civic Theatre, Tallaght (May 3rd to 8th), later moving to Andrew's Lane Theatre (May 31st to June 12th); Aristocrats at the Gate Theatre (May 4th to June 19th); Living Quarters (May 19th to June 19th) and Making History (June 30th to August 7th), both at the Peacock Theatre; as well as A Month in the Country at the Gaiety Theatre (June 8th to June 12th), featuring the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Pre-show talks open to the public will take place before or after some productions.
An exhibition of the playwright's letters, scripts and photographs will take place at the National Library at Kildare Street, Dublin between May 6th and July 10th. A conference on Friel's work will be held at Newman House at St Stephen's Green on May 15th and 16th.