Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Norwegian poet and playwright, was one of the shapers of modern theatre, who tempered naturalism with an understanding of social responsibility and individual psychology. His earliest major plays, Brand (1866) and Peer Gynt (1867), were large-scale verse dramas, but with Pillars of the Community (1877) he began to explore contemporary issues. There followed A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881) and An Enemy of the People (1882). A richer understanding of the complexity of human impulses marks such later works as The Wild Duck (1885), Rosmersholm (1886), Hedda Gabler (1890) and The Master Builder (1892), while the imminence of mortality overshadows his last great plays, John Gabriel Borkman (1896) and When We Dead Awaken (1899). Brian Friel (9 January 1929 - 2 October 2015) wrote thirty plays across six decades and is widely regarded as oneof Ireland's greatest dramatists. He was a member of Aosdána, the society of Irish artists, the American Academyof Arts and Letters, the Irish Academy of Letters, and the Royal Society of Literature where he was madea Companion of Literature. He was awarded the Ulysses Medal by University College, Dublin.Plays include Hedda Gabler (after Ibsen), The Home Place, Performances, Three Plays After (Afterplay, The Bear,The Yalta Game), Uncle Vanya (after Chekhov), Give Me Your Answer Do!, Molly Sweeney (Winner of the NewYork Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play), Wonderful Tennessee, A Month in the Country (afterTurgenev), The London Vertigo (after Charles Macklin), Dancing at Lughnasa (Winner of 3 Tony Awards includingBest Play, New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Olivier Award for Best Play), Making History, TheCommunication Cord, American Welcome, Three Sisters (after Chekhov), Translations, Aristocrats (Winner of theEvening Standard Award for Best Play and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play), FaithHealer, Fathers and Sons, Living Quarters, Volunteers, The Freedom of the City, The Gentle Island, The MundyScheme, Crystal and Fox, Lovers: Winners and Losers, The Loves of Cass Maguire, and Philadelphia Here I Come!
