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Living Quarters is a play written by Brian Friel
Brian Friel

Brian Friel is an Irish people dramatist and theatre director from Northern Ireland....
 and first performed in the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre

The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904, and despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, has remained active to the present day....
 in Dublin
Dublin

Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region....
, Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, in 1977.

iving Quarters is a memory play set in a soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
's home in Donegal
Donegal

Donegal is a town in County Donegal, in the Province of Ulster, in Republic of Ireland. Donegal is not the county town of County Donegal, despite being its namesake....
, near Friel's favourite fictional town
Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
 of Ballybeg. It tells the story of the fateful day that Commandant Frank Butler returns a hero
Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, the offspring of a mortal and a deity,their Greek hero cult being one of the most distinctive features of Religion in ancient Greece....
 from a successful UN mission in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. His four children from his first marriage
Marriage

Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
 all return home for the celebration
Celebration

Celebration may refer to:*Party, a social gathering*The celebration of the Eucharist*The observance of a feast day or holidayCelebration may also be:...
s, along with Frank's young wife
Wife

A wife is a female spouse, or participant in a marriage....
, Anna.

The extent to which Commandant Butler's first wife dominated the family
Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
 (deceased) is obvious; Frank's Son
Son

A son is a male reproduction; a boy, man, or male animal in relation to either or both of his parents. The female equivalent is a daughter....
 (Ben) suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous Breakdown

Nervous Breakdown was the first Extended play#The 7" EP in punk rock by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag . It was released in 1978 and was the inaugural release on SST Records....
 on her death, while eldest daughter
Daughter

A daughter is a female reproduction; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements....
 Helen is still scarred by her mother's opposition to her marriage to a private soldier.

Unique is the way in which the story is told: not through conventional flashbacks, but through an artificial narrator
Narrator

A narrator is, within any story , the entity that tells the story to the audience. The narrator --or, the archaic female equivalent, narratress-- is one of three entities responsible for story-telling of any kind....
, called Sir, who acts as arbiter
Arbiter

Arbiter may refer to:*Arbiter , in computing and electronics a circuitry component*Arbiter , a character in the Halo video game series*Arbitration, in law a method of dispute resolution...
 and director, making sure that the characters' memories reflect reality
Reality

Reality, in everyday usage, means "the state of things as they actually exist". In a sense it is what is real. The term reality, in its widest sense, includes everything that being, whether or not it is observation or comprehension....
.






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Living Quarters is a play written by Brian Friel
Brian Friel

Brian Friel is an Irish people dramatist and theatre director from Northern Ireland....
 and first performed in the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre

The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904, and despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, has remained active to the present day....
 in Dublin
Dublin

Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region....
, Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, in 1977.

Summary

Living Quarters is a memory play set in a soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
's home in Donegal
Donegal

Donegal is a town in County Donegal, in the Province of Ulster, in Republic of Ireland. Donegal is not the county town of County Donegal, despite being its namesake....
, near Friel's favourite fictional town
Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
 of Ballybeg. It tells the story of the fateful day that Commandant Frank Butler returns a hero
Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, the offspring of a mortal and a deity,their Greek hero cult being one of the most distinctive features of Religion in ancient Greece....
 from a successful UN mission in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. His four children from his first marriage
Marriage

Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
 all return home for the celebration
Celebration

Celebration may refer to:*Party, a social gathering*The celebration of the Eucharist*The observance of a feast day or holidayCelebration may also be:...
s, along with Frank's young wife
Wife

A wife is a female spouse, or participant in a marriage....
, Anna.

The extent to which Commandant Butler's first wife dominated the family
Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
 (deceased) is obvious; Frank's Son
Son

A son is a male reproduction; a boy, man, or male animal in relation to either or both of his parents. The female equivalent is a daughter....
 (Ben) suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous Breakdown

Nervous Breakdown was the first Extended play#The 7" EP in punk rock by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag . It was released in 1978 and was the inaugural release on SST Records....
 on her death, while eldest daughter
Daughter

A daughter is a female reproduction; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements....
 Helen is still scarred by her mother's opposition to her marriage to a private soldier.

Unique is the way in which the story is told: not through conventional flashbacks, but through an artificial narrator
Narrator

A narrator is, within any story , the entity that tells the story to the audience. The narrator --or, the archaic female equivalent, narratress-- is one of three entities responsible for story-telling of any kind....
, called Sir, who acts as arbiter
Arbiter

Arbiter may refer to:*Arbiter , in computing and electronics a circuitry component*Arbiter , a character in the Halo video game series*Arbitration, in law a method of dispute resolution...
 and director, making sure that the characters' memories reflect reality
Reality

Reality, in everyday usage, means "the state of things as they actually exist". In a sense it is what is real. The term reality, in its widest sense, includes everything that being, whether or not it is observation or comprehension....
. In an environment of people trying to reestablish connections with their family, Ben has a secret he shares with Anna, and the attempts to reveal that secret temporarily bring father and son back together, but ultimately lead to a grim conclusion. Living Quarters deals with accepting responsibility for one's actions.

Critical acclaim was initially muted, but the play has enjoyed increased popularity in recent years, including a season at the Greek National Theatre.

Many have considered this play (a proud family with three sisters and a weak brother) to be a forerunner to Friel's masterpiece Aristocrats.

External links