Three Plays After : The Yalta Game, The Bear, Afterplay

Brian Friel explores the most Chekhovian of themes in his three new works inspired by the great Russian dramatist: the absurd realm which lies between perpetual hope and a penchant for self-destruction. Whether exploring the loneliness of an unhappy marriage (in The Yalta Game, based on Chekhov's story The Lady with the Lapdog), or imagining the bittersweet meeting of Sonya (Uncle Vanya's niece) and Andrei (the brother of a certain three sisters) in a new work inspired by characters from two Chekhov plays, Friel shows his own masterful range.

“Remarkable . . . Takes us close to the heart of Chekov.” —Michael Billington, The Guardian

“Brian Friel has come up with an idea more marvellous yet; a world where a character from one Chekhov play meets a character from another, a real Moscow in the 1920s where the three sisters' brother, Andrei, meets Uncle Vanya's niece, Sonya. Afterplay is the finest production I have seen this year. . . . To say that I long to see these productions again is rank understatement.” —Alastair Macaulay, Financial Times

“Friel's [The Bear] is superbly funny, vivid, keenly alert to Chekhov's modern sensitivities to gender issues. . . . [Afterplay is] is finest production I have seen this year.” —Alastair Macaulay, Financial Times

“As an autumnal, middle-aged idyll, [Afterplay] is a little gem in Friel's output--a short story in 3-D--a total delight.” —Michael Coveney, Daily Mail

“[Friel is] a mighty man, a mighty writer, and one of the world's great theater figures.” —Frank McGuinness