Philadelphia,here I come by Brian Friel
Philadelphia, Here I Come! is a play written by Brian Friel about a young man, Gar, who struggles in his relationship with his father. The play is set in Donegal the night before Gar is planning to emigrate to Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Here I Come! Contains themes of Communication, Love, Escape and Memory running through the play in a kind of muddled up stream of consciousness way.
This play is interesting in the way that the character Gar, is divided into his private persona and his public persona. The private side of Gar (which operates only inside his head) is unrestrained in what he thinks and says so it gives us a real insight into his immature mind and heart, whereas his public side is more restrained and careful. The tragedy of this play is the inability of Gar to communicate effectively with his father and the father’s inability to relate to his son, or express true emotion towards him.
I remember having to study this play in school myself many moons ago and absolutely hating it. I hated all the sexual obsessing and profane language in the play and thought it very unsuitable for a classroom setting. I still do…..
(Pauline, Co.Donegal)
I'm not happy for my son or daughter to be reading profanity aloud in the classroom although I know that Irish people do not find it upsetting. My family are growing up here now and I do want them to learn about Irish culture but I do not like that so many of the books on your national curriculum promote profanity. It shows lack of respect for God and for students like my children, who are coming from other backgrounds. Also, your books like to show bad relationships between Fathers and their sons and I think this is a sad, and very bad idea.
J.M. Co.Dublin (Father, originally from Syria)
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