SOURCE: "Chekov in Ireland: Brief Notes on Friel's Philadelphia," in Comparative Drama, Vol. VII, No. 3, Fall 1973, pp. 191-97.

In the following essay, Coakley draws parallels between Friel's methods and themes in Philadelphia, Here I Come! and the "artistic, poetic and moral" procedures of Russian author Anton Chekov.

Probably no recent Irish play of more than passing interest has been so largely ignored by critics as has Brian Friel's Philadelphia, Here I Come! A success in Dublin and New York, it enjoyed inclusion in the annual, dreary volume which grants the title of "Best" to scripts sometimes, though not always, "Good" or "Better" than most of the commercial theatre's products. But box office returns or fame in the marketplace do not necessarily guarantee recognition in the study, and the play's considerable virtues, both literary and dramatic, have gone unnoticed, perhaps overlooked in the ballyhoo surrounding "the longest running Irish...