Masquerade Drama Group Arklow | Next Production - Philadelphia, Here I Come! by Brian Friel
Philadelphia, Here I Come!
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Philadelphia here I come! By Brian Friel
“Philadelphia here I come” was first staged in 1964 as part of that years Dublin Theatre Festival, it subsequently ran on Broadway for almost a year.
This was Brian Friel’s fourth Play and stands out from all his early works. It was written after he had returned from a three month visit with Sir Tyrone Guthrie at his Theatre in Minneapolis. He said of his time there “it gave me a sense of liberation that conferred on me a valuable self-confidence and a necessary perspective so that the first play I wrote immediately after I came home “Philadelphia here I come” was a lot more assured than anything I had attempted before”. In “Philadelphia here I come” the deeply divided feelings of “Gar” a twenty five year old Donegal Man the night before he immigrates to the US are expressed by having two different actors portray the aspects of his character. This was a brave and very innovative way to portray a character on stage that was new to Irish Drama at the time.
“Private” who is unseen except by the audience is the inner man, the alter ego, and “Public” who is seen and interacts with all the others. This relationship gives light and colour to the different aspects of the dilemma which is the core of the Play. It is a memory play and the time frame in which the play occurs, less than twelve hours, tells us that what we see are the memories of Gar’s departure from home, as Private tell Public,” Just the memory of it- that’s all you have now, even so soon, it is being distilled of all its coarseness; and what’s left is going to be precious, precious gold.”
Through a series of scenes and flashbacks we meet Gar’s seemingly remote and distant Father, Madge the housekeeper, his old school Teacher Boyle, a former Girlfriend Kate, and his Aunt Lizzy. Through these interactions we discover the loss that he feels for his deceased mother and the emptiness of his life in the fictional Town of Ballybeg.
His solution is to leave and join his Aunt Lizzy in America, unless he can break through his Fathers silence and revive a connection he believes he once had.
In scenes that are both tragic and comic Gar struggles to find answers to his questions and to make that connection with his Father, the one thing he believes will save him from having to go away forever.
Kevin Duignan
The Charactors and cast
Madge Mulhern - Sheila Clancy
Public Gareth (Gar) O'Donnell - Conal O’Shiel
Private Gareth (Gar) O'Donnell - Jonny Holden
S.B. O'Donnell - Eamon O’Shiel
Kate Doogan - Ann Marie Kennedy
Senator Doogan - John Hall
Master Boyle - Frank Duffy
Liz Sweeney - Maggie Murphy
Con Sweeney - Rob Donnelly
Ben Burton - Tony Hickey
Ned - Alastair Dennehy
Tom - Martin Penn
Joe - Connor Duignan
Canon Mick O'Byrne - Mark Canavan
Director - Kevin Duignan