Making History (play)
Encyclopedia
Making History is a play
written by Irish
playwright Brian Friel
in 1989. It is set in Ireland
in August 1591 and 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 other main theme is O'Neill's unexpected third marriage to the much younger, English-born Mabel Bagenal, daughter and sister of his most implacable enemies, which the play presents as a genuine though ill-fated love marriage.
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
written by Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
playwright Brian Friel
Brian Friel
Brian Friel is an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. He is considered to be the greatest living English-language dramatist, hailed by the English-speaking world as an "Irish Chekhov" and "the universally accented voice of Ireland"...
in 1989. It is set in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in August 1591 and focuses on the real-life plight of Aodh Mór Ó Néill, Earl of Tyrone
Earl of Tyrone
The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.It was first created as part of the Tudor attempt to establish a uniform social structure in Ireland by converting the Gaelic kings and chiefs into hereditary nobles of the Kingdom of Ireland...
, 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 other main theme is O'Neill's unexpected third marriage to the much younger, English-born Mabel Bagenal, daughter and sister of his most implacable enemies, which the play presents as a genuine though ill-fated love marriage.
Characters
- Aodh Mór Ó Néill
- Aodh Rua Ó DomhnaillHugh Roe O'DonnellAodh Rua Ó Dónaill, anglicised as either Hugh Roe O'Donnell or Red Hugh O'Donnell , was An Ó Domhnaill and Rí of Tir Chonaill . He led the Irish forces against the English conquest of Ireland from 1593 and helped to lead the Nine Years' War from 1595 to 1603...
- Harry Hoveden
- Peter Lombard
- Mabel Bagenal
- Mary Bagenal