Aristocrats
Rathfarnham Theatre Group are proud to present Aristocrats by Brian Friel
The O’Donnell children have gathered for the pending wedding of the youngest daughter, Claire, while their father, District Justice O’Donnell, lies dying in his bedroom tended to by the eldest daughter, Judith. An air of decay and decline pervades the house and gardens.
First produced by the Abbey Theatre in 1979, Brian Friel’s Aristocrats is a touching and harrowing play about the decline of a once prosperous Catholic family, inhabiting the big house ‘Ballybeg Hall’ on a hill overlooking Ballybeg, a fictional village in Donegal.
The house is crumbling down as is the family. They are caught between two social and political worlds. It is the 1970s, the time of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and Ballybeg is just 20 miles away from the Bogside!
“An engrossing tale of decaying culture and rocky relationships” Michael Billington, The Guardian (Donmar Warehouse London Aug 2018).
“The world captured by Friel is long gone but …our proclivity to create myths about ourselves, our families, and our ‘origin’ stories is enduring. Juliet Hindell, Exunt NYC.com (Irish Repertory Theatre 2024).
View the programme here: Aristocrats Programme
- €20/ €18/ €16
- 7.30pm
- 2 hours 15 minutes
- Drama
