The legendary Field Day Theatre Company is back in Derry~Londonderry after an absence of almost two decades as they rehearse for the first of a series of commissions and exhibitions to take place as part of the City of Culture celebrations.
The company makes a historic return to the stage for the first time since 1995 with a double bill of Farewell by Clare Dwyer Hogg and Half a Glass of Water by David Ireland, which will run at The Playhouse from December 3 to December 8, directed by Stephen Rea.
Thirsty Dust, will take place at The Playhouse in May 2013. In November 2013 a new play by internationally acclaimed playwright, actor and director Sam Shepard will be held at the Guildhall.
An exhibition in the Verbal Arts Centre (HYPERLINK), Stable Lane and Mall Wall will reintroduce the narrative of the accredited ‘Field Day Story’ to its home town. Taking place from May until September 2013, the exhibition will feature archived materials from the National Library of Ireland.

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Founded by Stephen Rea and playwright Brian Friel in 1980, Field Day became established as one of the most significant elements of contemporary Irish culture. The highly acclaimed theatre company has contributed to the success of Liam Neeson, Colm Meaney and Ciaran Hinds, among others.
In 1980, the duo set out to launch a production of Friel's recently completed play, Translations. They decided to rehearse and premiere the play in Derry with the hope of establishing a major theatre company for Northern Ireland. The production and performance of Translations generated a level of excitement and anticipation that unified, if only for a short time, the various factions of a divided community.
Although Field Day has never put forth a formal mission statement, their intention was to create a space, a 'fifth province,' that transcended the crippling oppositions of Irish politics. The term 'fifth province' — Ireland consists of four provinces — was coined by the editors of an Irish Journal, The Crane Bag, to name an imaginary cultural space from which a new discourse of unity might emerge. In addition to being an enormous popular and critical success, Field Day's first production created just such a space. After the production of Translations, Seamus Heaney, Ireland's most prominent poet, recognized the importance of what they had accomplished and urged Brian Friel to continue with the project: "this was what theatre was supposed to do" (cited in Richtarik, 65).

The fact that the company was established in Derry, Northern Ireland's "second city," is significant. Although Friel knew the city well (he had lived there until 1967), Derry, being close to the border, is a hot-spot in the north-south tensions known as "The Troubles". Furthermore, its western location and its relationship to Belfast, Northern Ireland's east coast capital, underline a second historically older division in Ireland — the division between the cosmopolitan east and the rural, romantic west.
Farewell is written by up-and-coming Antrim writer Clare Dwyer Hogg and addresses issues of death and betrayal. It stars Rea alongside Brid Brennan, Eugene O’Hare and Charlie Bonner.

Clare said: “I do not consider myself in the league of any of the writers who have made Field Day great. This makes it all the more of a privilege to have been given such an opportunity.”

Half a Glass of Water is penned by award-winning Northern Irish writer David Ireland. Set design for both plays is by Bob Crowley.

The double bill is the first part of a range of Field Day commissions and exhibitions to take place in the city over the coming year, all of which are being are part-funded by the British Council.