A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Freedom of the City

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 16m

Brian Friel

"Friel fleshes the awful, numbing casualty statistics and gives them breath and life." - The Sunday Telegraph

The Freedom of the City

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 16m
  • Suggested Use
    • UIL Approved

Details

Summary
Set in Londonderry in 1970, this gripping drama by the acclaimed author of Faith Healer and Translations explores the ongoing Irish “troubles” that plague the country to this day. An unauthorized Civil Rights March has been dispersed, and three demonstrators, two young men, and a middle-aged mother of eleven take refuge in the Town Hall. Hysterical rumor inflates the trio to forty armed rebels, and they are besieged. When they surrender, they are shot.
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Media

"Friel fleshes the awful, numbing casualty statistics and gives them breath and life." - Sunday Telegraph

"Friel has written the best Northern Irish play since the present troubles began; it is also the least tainted by propaganda or the simplifications to which such a subject becomes prone." - Financial Times

Licensing & Materials

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Authors

Brian Friel

Brian Friel

Brian Friel (1929-2015), largely considered modern Ireland’s leading playwright, was born to a schoolmaster and a postmistress. After working as a teacher in Derry for ten years, he married Anne Morrison and moved to Donegal to begin writing in earnest. His first significant ...

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