Writers Theatre features Friel Classic

Glencoe’s Writers Theatre wasn’t always decked out in a gorgeous and comfy Jeanne Gang designed space: it started out so simply in the back of a bookstore and was dedicated to making words come to life, to making a good story the place to connect and contemplate our essential humanity.  In a way, the current production of Translations by esteemed Irish playwright Brian Friel takes us back to those roots.  It is a play that deals with a horrible history, and hearing this story right now makes us realize that the awful things we are facing have a terrible sameness to the ugly parts of many histories. 

Set in 1833 Ireland, the British military have arrived to begin mapping and renaming everything around in their language in a small town where the people speak Irish and study Latin and Greek at a hedge school (local and illegal). It is a classic narrative of the colonizing force erasing a culture.  Like many colonizers, they enlist a local to translate– and the nefarious agenda is defanged.  So much of this story is about how language corrupts– language is propaganda, language can create an alternative culture, language can erase. Government efficiency becomes criminal abuse.  In this instance some of the occupying force is charmed by the people, but when one of the lieutenants goes missing the officers exhort their power and destroy the people they are trying to subjugate. Whispers of the coming famine are also present: this play, despite being in English, is about the destruction of Irish culture.  And maybe that is the ultimate irony: in order to be understood, the story must be told in the destroyer’s language. 

This tale could be about any indigenous group losing its culture and language.  It is about how one group of humans sets itself above others and uses its power to ill and tragic ends. It is a play about love and insidious evil.  It is a warning and an elegy for a lost civilization, a world systematically and intentionally erased. It is impossible to view this play without seeing current events in the same lens.

Director Braden Abraham has assembled a marvelous ensemble: Casey Hoekstra’s Owen is optimistic and ambitious about his new role with the British Army. Andrew Mueller as his bright and dedicated but disabled brother Manus is deep. Kevin Gudahl plays Hugh, the alcoholic and flawed hedge school professor with intelligence and pathos. Tyler Meredith’s Maire is passionate and strong.  Erik Hellman’s Lieutenant Yolland is played sympathetically but hapless enough that one suspects trouble ahead for this lamb to the slaughter.  

Scenic designer Andrew Boyce plops us straight into rural Ireland. Dialect coach Eva Breneman has led this cast to solid accents that carry the tale. Everything in this production supports the narrative being told. 

A special kudo to the specialty mocktail that was a taste of spring: if you haven’t been to the theatre lately you may have missed this new little tradition: many of the theaters with bars have created cocktails that link to the production, and some of the more progressive spots now also have mocktails.  The Around the Maypole with dried strawberry garnish was a true delight and served to lift my spirits for this serious play.  There are laughs and there is love, but in the end Translations is a tragedy.

Translations is playing Wednesdays through Sundays through May 4, 2025 at Writers Theatre at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe. For tickets and information go to https://www.writerstheatre.org/events/translations

Photo by Michael Brosilow

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