Philadelphia, Here I Come! (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Brian Friel
- First Published: 1965
- Type of Plot: Comedy
- Time of Work: The 1960’s
- Setting: Ballybeg, County Donegal, Ireland
- Principal Characters: Madge, Gareth “Gar” O’Donnell, Gareth O’Donnell, S. B. O’Donnell, Kate Doogan, Lizzy Sweeney, Ned, Tom, Joe
- Genres: Bildungsroman, Drama, Comedy
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, 1960’s, Memory, Parents and children, Communication, Immigration or emigration, Fathers, Personality, Ireland or Irish people
- Locales: Ireland, Ballybeg, County Donegal, Ireland
The Play
Philadelphia, Here I Come! begins the evening before Gar O’Donnell is to leave home for Philadelphia. He has finished his last day of work in his father’s dry-goods store. He jokes with Madge, the housekeeper, as she prepares his tea, and then he begins to fantasize about life in the United States.
This fantasy, like all of his private thoughts, appears to the audience in the character of Private Gar, unheard by the other characters and unseen by anyone. Gar’s first fantasy is wild and exuberant, with images of flying in a plane and playing...
[The entire page is 2528 words long]
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