Translations (play)

Translations is a play by the Irish playwright, Brian Friel. It is set in Baile Beag, a small village at the heart of 19th Century agricultural Ireland. The play deals with a wide range of issues, stretching from language and communication to cultural imperialism. Despite the 1833 setting, there are obvious mirrors with today's world.

The quiet community of Baile Beag, where many see no world outside the village, experiences a number of tests and changes as the English sappers arrive to make a detailed map of the area. Every character has a different view of the soldiers. Maire, a young woman, finds herself falling in love with Lieutenant Yolland, a wholly untypical English officer. The mysterious Donnelly twins, whom apparently no one has seen for weeks, are keenly sought by the army and the starchy Captain Lancey.

Day to day life is hard for the people of Baile Beag. Many have thoughts of the future, some seem stuck in the past. Yolland is tasked with the Anglicising of local place names, but is reluctant to do so as he views the world around him as extremely heavenly. However, something soon happens to disrupt the idyll, and the sides are very much set. The few left in the middle assess the conflict very philosophically, but they sense trouible ahead.