Translations

A brilliant work of historical fiction, Translations explores the dilemma of traditions and national identity juxtaposed with colonialism and changing times in the politically charged landscape of early 1800s Ireland. Inhabitants of a small town in County Donegal experience repercussions as the British Royal Engineers Ordinance Survey come through their area Anglicizing Gaelic place names along the way. Set mostly in a ’hedge school’ in Baile Beag (renamed Ballybeg), the locals try to deal with what is happening, and where and how they each fit in. Friel’s drama touches the heart as sympathetic characters on both sides of the language barrier reach out to one another. Mark A. Rhea’s direction of Translations in 1997 earned Keegan its first Helen Hayes nomination.