2 Plays: Crystal and Fox, The Mundy Scheme

by Brian Friel

CRYSTAL AND FOXThis play is about Irish fit up theaters offering shows from simple plays to performing dogs. Fox Melarkey is the proprietor and Crystal is his adored wife. At the height of success, Fox inexplicably began to drop the variety acts. The show is down to an Irishman (billed as Pedro once of the Moscow Circus) with a trained dog and El Cid and Tanya, an acrobatic team. Fox insures the latters' resignation by insulting them. Then their lost son returns whom Fox drove off years ago. He is now a drifter wanted by the English police. Fox does his best to kill all hopes for fame or success even poisoning Pedro's dog! A sensitive sometimes shocking study of decline by mandate or self will?THE MUNDY SCHEMEIn Friel's political satire, the Taoiseach(Prime Minister) F.X. Ryan is at home suffering from the panic attacks, his Minister for Finance returns from Switzerland empty handed, the country is falling asunder and his Foreign Minister is gone AWOL. Mick, the Foreign Minister, who started life as a bookie's clerk, returns with the scheme to save Ireland. The scheme is simple; valuable urban lots worldwide are occupied by useless graves. Mr. Mundy of Texas, makes an offer of $100 per acre for tracts of 'valueless' non-urban land in the West of Ireland, which he sees as the perfect relocation for the dead of the civilized West. There are of course objections from backbenchers but F.X. is complex enough to deal firmly with any challengers.

317 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1970

About the author

Brian Friel is a playwright and, more recently, director of his own works from Ireland who now resides in County Donegal.

Friel was born in Omagh County Tyrone, the son of Patrick "Paddy" Friel, a primary school teacher and later a borough councillor in Derry, and Mary McLoone, postmistress of Glenties, County Donegal (Ulf Dantanus provides the most detail regarding Friel's parents and grandparents, see Books below). He received his education at St. Columb's College in Derry and the seminary at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth (1945-48) from which he received his B.A., then he received his teacher's training at St. Mary's Training College in Belfast, 1949-50. He married Anne Morrison in 1954, with whom he has four daughters and one son; they remain married. From 1950 until 1960, he worked as a Maths teacher in the Derry primary and intermediate school system, until taking leave in 1960 to live off his savings and pursue a career as writer. In 1966, the Friels moved from 13 Malborough Street, Derry to Muff, County Donegal, eventually settling outside Greencastle, County Donegal.

He was appointed to the Irish Senate in 1987 and served through 1989. In 1989, BBC Radio launched a "Brian Friel Season", a series devoted a six-play season to his work, the first living playwright to be so distinguished. In 1999 (April-August), Friel's 70th birthday was celebrated in Dublin with the Friel Festival during which ten of his plays were staged or presented as dramatic readings throughout Dublin; in conjunction with the festival were a conference, National Library exhibition, film screenings, outreach programs, pre-show talks, and the launching of a special issue of The Irish University Review devoted to the playwright; in 1999, he also received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Times.

On 22 January 2006 Friel was presented with a gold Torc by President Mary McAleese in recognition of the fact that the members of Aosdána have elected him a Saoi. Only five members of Aosdána can hold this honour at any one time and Friel joined fellow Saoithe Louis leBrocquy, Benedict Kiely (d. 2007), Seamus Heaney and Anthony Cronin. On acceptance of the gold Torc, Friel quipped, "I knew that being made a Saoi, really getting this award, is extreme unction; it is a final anointment--Aosdana's last rites."

In November 2008, Queen's University of Belfast announced its intention to build a new theatre complex and research center to be named The Brian Friel Theatre and Centre for Theatre Research.