Details

Gar O'Donnell is torn. Ireland. America. What's the difference? On the face of it, an easy decision - an invitation from Aunt Lizzy to a job and a better life in America free from his humdrum existence in Baile Beag, a place that lives up to its name as 'small town'. He is promised a fresh start in the land of opportunity - a chance to escape the monotony of working in his father's grocery shop, making up two-pound pokes of flour and gutting and salting the fish, not to mention the awkward silences at the dinner table night after night between a father and son who have nothing to say to each other. What else has Gar to stay for? Katie Doogan, the girl who made his heart burst with happiness, has married a richer man with better prospects. Gar dreams of swapping the Aran sweater and the Irish Sweepstakes for drives-ins and Cadillacs, air-conditioning and colour TVs, hamburgers, cokes and blueberry pie in the vast, restless place ?that doesn't give a curse about the past.? And yet, on the eve of his flight to Philadelphia, Gar's inner voice sows the seeds of doubt about leaving behind the only place he has ever called home.

Cast/Performers

Peter Coonan (Gar Public), Gavin Drea (Gar Private), Niall Cusack, Stella McCusker, Des McAleer, Marty Maguire, Susan Davey, Dermott Hickson, James McCullagh-Murphy, Terence Keeley, Enda Oates, Marion O'Dwyer

Creatives/Company

Author: Brian Friel
Producer: Lyric Theatre Belfast
Director: Andrew Flynn