Brian Friel was born in County Tyrone in 1929 and worked as a teacher before turning to full-time writing in 1960. His first stage success was in 1964 with , which established his claim as heir to such distinguished predecessors as Yeats, Synge, O'Casey, and Behan. In 1979 he and actor Stephen Rea formed the Field Day Theatre Company, whose first theatrical production was Friel's in 1980. Also included in this selection are , set in Londonderry in 1970; , which Desmond MacAvok in the called "one of the most fascinating and, in the end, truly moving evenings. . .in Irish Theatre"; , a metaphoric depiction of the artist and his gift' and , "as fine and as stimulating and as warm a piece of writing as had appeared on the Irish stage for many years," according to David Nowland, the --------------------------------------------------------------------------------