Making History (play)
Appearance
Making History | |
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![]() Script cover | |
Written by | Brian Friel |
Characters | Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone Mabel Bagenal Harry Hoveden Hugh Roe O'Donnell Mary Bagenal Peter Lombard |
Date premiered | September 20, 1988 |
Place premiered | Guildhall, Derry |
Original language | English |
Subject | Irish nationalism, Nine Years' War, historiography |
Genre | History play |
Setting | Dungannon, Sperrin Mountains and Rome, 1590s |
Making History is a play written by Irish playwright Brian Friel in 1988, premiered at the Guildhall, Derry on 20 September 1988.[1] It focuses on the real-life plight of Aodh Mór Ó Néill, Earl of Tyrone, who led an Irish and Spanish alliance against the English in an attempt to drive them out of Ireland. The play is set before and after the Battle of Kinsale. The battle does not directly feature in the play, although it is central to the plot.
The play's other main theme is O'Neill's unexpected third marriage to the much younger, English-born Mabel Bagenal, daughter and sister of two of his most implacable enemies, which the play presents as a genuine though ill-fated love marriage.[2]
Characters
- Hugh O'Neill, the second Earl of Tyrone
- Hugh O'Donnell, a younger Earl of Tyrconnel
- Harry Hoveden, private secretary to O'Neill
- Peter Lombard, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh
- Mabel Bagenal, third wife of the O'Neill and daughter of Nicholas Bagenal
- Mary Bagenal (later Mary Barnewall), her sister
References
- ^ "PROGRAMME: Making History, by Brian Friel (1988) - Field Day". Field Day. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
- ^ Peacock, Alan J. The Achievement of Brian Friel Rowman and Littlefield 1993