The Irish woman Cass returns home to Ireland. She has worked hard in America for fifty years and gone through quite a bit of pain. Cass hopes to find a haven of rest with her dear brother’s family in the homeland she has yearned for. Yet nothing there is like she hoped it would be. Everyone has their own shrouded worries, and she is not needed. Cass does not find a home she can call her own, but she nevertheless finds a refuge. Together with other inhabitants of the boarding house, she lives in her memories, out of which bitterness drains over time, turning them into dreams and legends.
The Irish playwright Brian Friel (1929–2015) earned the highest recognition for creative artists in his homeland, the honorary title of Saoi, which is bestowed for life and which up to seven people can bear simultaneously at any given time (five during his lifetime). The world of Friel’s works is gentle and melancholy, witty and passionate. Friel has been called the voice of Ireland, as well as the Irish Chekhov. The Loves of Cass McGuire (1966) is one of the first plays of his writing career, which spanned half a century. Priit Pedajas has repeatedly staged Friel’s works, of which Aristocrats (2000), The Home Place (2006), and Dancing at Lughnasa (2012, diploma performance of the Estonian School of Theatre Arts) were produced at the Estonian Drama Theatre.