The Aristocrats by Brian Friel:
Linguistically Rich and Symbolically Charged
VANCOUVER - United Players' next play at the Jericho Arts Centre in November is Brian Friel's Aristocrats. Many Irish actors will take part in the production including well-known local Irish actor Gerry Floyd and Dubliner Jane Purcell.
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| JANE PURCELL |
Purcell attended University College in Dublin and played the lead in the very popular Irish TV show Fair City. She was in the movie Omagh and is cousin to Rosdaleen Linehan (who was in the original Dancing at Lughnasa).
In the production, an aristocratic Irish Catholic family come together for the wedding of the youngest sibling, Claire, at their ancestral home at Ballybeg Hall.
What should be a joyful occasion turns somber as the uncertain future of the family permeates the occasion. The once lush and green croquet lawns give way to the apparent decay and cracks which appear in the old house.
The family is also not in the state it once was. As they teeter on the fault line between their ancient ancestry and the pressures of modernism, lost dreams are exposed and a past era of Irish decadence draws to a close.
This is an intricate, linguistically rich, and symbolically charged exploration of the slow death of one part of Irish society and the effect this passing has on those left behind.
Aristocrats is one of Friel's best known works. Set in an environment rich with history, culture, politics, and human emotion, Friel's play deals with very real people in very real, if peculiar, situations.
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| GERRY FLOYD |
The Aristocrats is directed by Adam Henderson (Democracy, The Lady's Not for Burning) and runs at the Jericho Arts Centre located at 1675 Discovery from November 17 to December 10 on Thursday through Sunday at 8 PM. Tickets $12 and $16 and available at the door. Preview is November 16 and all tickets are $6. For reservations and more information, call (604) 224-8007, or visit www.unitedplayers.com.
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