Stage Directions and the Insistent Narrator in Brian Friel

Abstract

This is a study of the covert narrator in Brian Friel’s plays and is part of a growing interest in narratology in theater. The covert narrator is revealed to readers by means of stage directions, divided into two types: those that can reach the audience and those that must stay with the reader. The character of the covert narrator is revealed principally in directions that are impossible to carry out, which contain free indirect discourse and which editorialize—things only readers can fully appreciate but which are still relevant to the production of the play since the covert narrator is in effect a character in the play. The article presents a close reading of plays from virtually all stages of Friel’s career to demonstrate that it is at those points when communication between on-stage characters breaks down that the covert narrator comes closest to revealing his hand.