Making History (play)

Making History
Script cover
Written by	Brian Friel
Characters	Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone Mabel Bagenal Harry Hoveden Hugh Roe O'Donnell Mary Bagenal Peter Lombard
Date premiered	September 20, 1988 (1988-09-20)
Place premiered	Guildhall, Derry
Original language	English
Subject	Irish nationalism, Nine Years' War, historiography
Genre	History play
Setting	Dungannon, Sperrin Mountains and Rome, 1590s

Making History is a 1988 play written by Irish playwright Brian Friel, which premiered at the Guildhall, Derry on 20 September 1988. ^[1] It focuses on the life and legacy of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who led a combined Irish-Spanish alliance against the English during the Nine Years' War. 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 play's other main theme is O'Neill's unexpected third marriage to the much younger Anglo-Irish Protestant Mabel Bagenal, daughter and sister of two of his most implacable enemies, which the play presents as a genuine though ill-fated love marriage. ^[2]

Characters

Character	Original production	Ref.
Hugh O'Neill	Stephen Rea	[3] [4] [5]
Harry Hovenden	Niall O'Brien	[4] [5]
Hugh O'Donnell	Peter Gowen	[4] [5]
Archbishop Lombard	Niall Tóibín	[3] [4] [5]
Mabel Bagenal	Clare Holman	[3] [4] [5]
Mary Bagenal	Emma Dewhurst	[3] [4] [5]

References

1. "PROGRAMME: Making History, by Brian Friel (1988)". Field Day. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
2. Peacock, Alan J. The Achievement of Brian Friel Rowman and Littlefield 1993
3. Morgan, Hiram (2007). "Playing the Earl: Brian Friel's "Making History"". History Ireland. 15 (4): 62–63. ISSN   0791-8224.
4. "Production of Making History". Theatricalia. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
5. "Making History". Playography Ireland. Irish Theatre Institute. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2025.

Further reading

• Campbell, Patrick J. (1989). "Brian Friel's 'Making History'". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 13 (2): 291–293. ISSN   0488-0196. JSTOR   29742391.
• Costero, Maria Gaviña (2016). "When Heroes Become Heroines: Brian Friel Re-Makes History". Nordic Irish Studies. 15 (1): 41–57. ISSN   1602-124X. JSTOR   44363743.
• Dennis, Mary Kate Lowrey (1992). The Irish theatre of Brian Friel: Texts and contexts (PDF). Greensboro, North Carolina.
• de Souza, Michelle Andressa Alvarenga (August 2024). "A purposeful reshaping of a National hero: an analysis of the history and exile of Hugh O'Neill in Brian Friel's play Making History". International Journal of Arts and Social Science. 7 (8): 155–161. ISSN   2581-7922.
• Hewson, Helen, ed. (2003). Brian Friel Papers (PDF).
• McNally, Frank (27 May 2016). "All chieftains great and small – An Irishman's Diary about Hugh O'Neill (and some of his followers)". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
• Morgan, Hiram (25 February 2000), O'Faoláin's Great O'Neill (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2024
• Morgan, Hiram (2016b). "The Long Shadow of Seán Ó Faoláin's Great O'Neill". Dúiche Néill: Journal of the O’Neill Country Historical Society. XXIII: 19–26.
• Richtarik, Marilynn (2019). "FORGING A USABLE PAST: BRIAN FRIEL'S MAKING HISTORY". ELH. 86 (4): 1089–1123. ISSN   0013-8304. JSTOR   26866629.
• Ricketts, Elizabeth (February 2020). "Disrupting Mythological Foundations of Identity: Hugh O'Neill, Making History, and the Troubles". Critical Inquiries into Irish Studies. 2 (1). doi:10.70531/2576-6414.1004.
• Sloan, Barry (1 September 1994). "'The overall thing': Brian Friel's 'making history'". Irish Studies Review. doi:10.1080/09670889408455448.