Cast: Francesca Annis & Niall Buggy

In Afterplay, Brian Friel brings together two of Chekhov’s lost souls: Sonya, Uncle Vanya’s devoted niece, and Andrey, the three sisters’ henpecked brother.

Twenty years have passed since the events of Chekhov’s plays and, in those intervening years, the world of Russia has turned upside down. This new world is unforgiving, harsh and still tumultuous, but it is also a time of great idealism, hope and new ideas. Friel brings together these two refugees from an earlier time under the glass gazebo of a run-down Moscow café.

The two gradually reveal what has happened to their families – and to their own quiet hopes.

Afterplay catches an intimate, fragile moment set against the backdrop of a shattered world.

Presented in association with Parade Theatres

ON THE GATE | FRIEL SEASON

On 9 January 2009, Brian Friel, Ireland’s greatest living playwright, will celebrate his 80th birthday. In recognition of this, the Gate Theatre Dublin will produce a very special season of works by Friel to celebrate this significant anniversary. Sydney Festival is delighted to welcome back the Gate, who last visited in 2007 with the acclaimed Beckett Festival.

Credited with changing the face of modern Irish theatre, Brian Friel is a tragi-comedian who, over the course of a long and prestigious career, has explored the Irish psyche with unmatched insight and razor sharp wit. Recurrent in Friel’s work is his evocation on the spirit of place and the ever shifting shadows of language and meaning.

Friel’s career as a writer spans nearly 50 years and encompasses many genres including short stories, original stage plays and adaptations. Before turning to playwriting, Friel attended a Catholic seminary, worked as a schoolteacher for ten years, and published several short stories in The New Yorker.

The Gate has a long and rich association with Brian Friel, premiering many of his plays over the past 45 years.

The Gate Friel season is presented in association with Culture Ireland.

Also playing as part of the Gate | Friel Season are Faith Healer and The Yalta Game.

The film adaptation of Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa is screened as part of Festival Flicks.

FOOD AND DRINK AT THE PARADE THEATRES DURING THE GATE | FRIEL SEASON
The bar will be open an hour prior to each performance, serving light meals, confectionary and hot and cold beverages. The café at NIDA will be open Mon-Fri 9am-4pm and Sat-Sun 10am-2pm.

EAT DRINK TALK ART
Tue 27 Jan - Gate | Friel
Michael Colgan, Director of Dublin’s Gate Theatre, and performers from the company discuss the Gate’s special relationship with the works of Brian Friel, Ireland’s greatest living playwright, with Festival Director Fergus Linehan.
For more info on the Eat Drink Talk Art series, click here.

PHOTO: BOBBIE HANVEY

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WHAT THE PRESS SAID

“Afterplay is a bittersweet little drama. It is beautifully performed by Francesca Annis and Niall Buggy, two superb actors who can convey great depths of feeling in a brief gesture or a slight smile.” – The Australian – 27 January

“An exquisite hour on stage” - Sunday Independent

“As masterly a dramatist as the theatre possesses.” - The Times

"His [Friel's] contribution to Irish theatre over a period of 45 years has been immense...more" - The Independent

“…you have before you an encounter between two lonely souls flickering into eager life again like strangers chatting in a theatre foyer, after the play is over...more” - BBC

 

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COMMENTS

Jjune Donsworth 18/12/08

The combination of Chekov's characters and Brian Friel's dialogue sounds like theatre heaven.

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Mary Tang 01/02/09

This IS theatre heaven. The cast of the War of Roses should watch this play and learn how to speak clearly, for a start. I give this five stars purely for the two actors' performances; I would give it another five stars for the costume, stage and music. I couldn't leave the theatre afterwards so ended up buying a ticket to see Yalta Game on the same day. Eight hours of the War of Roses pale in comparison with 65 minutes of Afterplay. Here, less is definitely more.

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