The reception of Brian Friel's recent Dancing at Lughnasa confirms his status as Ireland's leading dramatist. The body of work that he has produced is outstanding in its breadth of sympathy and interest, its dramaturgical invention and its wide cultural and intellectual purview. This book addresses the variety and complexity of Friel's drama by bringing to bear a range of academic and other professional and creative approaches in order to highlight particular aspects of his work and thought. Hence, contributors include a playwright, poet, theater-producer, historian and various specialists in relevant literatures. In this way, the book suggests the intellectual richness, humanity, and protean skill and invention of the work. Contributors: Elmer Andrews, Terence Brown, Sean Connolly, Neil Corcoran, John Cronin, Seamus Deane, Joe Dowling, Seamus Heaney, Thomas Kilroy, Desmond Maxwell, John McVeagh, Christopher Murray, Fintan O'Toole, Alan Peacock, Robert Welch, and Richard York.