I last saw this 1980 play by the late Brian Friel in Sam Mendes’ Donmar Warehouse Theatre production twenty-five years ago. Ian Rickson’s revival in the National’s Olivier Theatre makes a virtue of the bigger space and it works even better on this scale, with a superb design by Rae Smith, beautifully lit by Neil Austin, making great use of the Olivier stage (something that lately hasn’t been said that often!).
We’re in rural Ireland in 1833, in an independent and potentially illegal ‘Hedge School’, giving a classical education to adults in Latin and Irish. The school is run by Hugh and his son Manus. Hugh’s other son Owen is working as a translator for the British army, which is mapping this part of Ireland, renaming places in English. When British army Lieutenant Yolland and Manus’ girlfriend fall for each other, events take a dramatic turn. The disappearance of Yolland incurs the wrath of the British, who threaten to kill animals, evict people and demolish homes. The true purpose of the British forces mission becomes clear.
It all takes place in a school room, with a large green space behind and brooding clouds above providing an atmospheric and evocative picture of rural Ireland. It takes a while before you realise the Irish are speaking Irish (Gaelic) and the British speaking English; at this time English was rarely spoken by the people of Ireland. Ciaran Hinds is great as Hugh, with Seamus O’Hare as Manus and Colin Morgan as Owen both excellent. In a fine supporting cast, Dermot Crowley shines as the erudite, knowledgable but often drunk Jimmy Jack Cassie, who studies Greek and Latin.
This is an excellent revival of a fascinating play, anchored in history, beautifully staged and performed.
Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog 
Gosh, we must have posted our views on this play within minutes of each other. I really enjoy your reviews, by the way.
Anchored in history? “The historian Sean Connolly described it as a distortion of the real nature and causes of cultural change in 19th century Ireland so extreme as to go beyond mere factual error”. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/distorting-the-past-true-to-the-present-1.72407 – and read what J. H. Andrews, the great authority on Irish mapping, whose book “A Paper Landscape” inspired the play, had to say of it on numerous occasions. Even the title of the play is an “untruth”.