BROADWAY is to dim its iconic lights next month in memory of Irish playwright Brian Friel who died in October aged 86.
Theatres in the famous New York district will pay the tribute to Friel who was as popular with US audiences as he was with those back home in Ireland.
The playwright's early drama `Philadelphia, Here I Come!' was first staged on the Great White Way almost 50 years ago, and he won a Tony theatre award in 1992 for `Dancing at Lughnasa'.
The Broadway League announced that lights will be dimmed for one minute at 6.45pm on December 8.
"Known as a gifted storyteller whose work achieved international acclaim for more than four decades, Brian Friel's writing explored social and political life in Ireland through lyrical dramas which played notably on the Broadway stage," Charlotte St Martin, president of the Broadway League, said.
The last Broadway production of his work was Manhattan Theatre Club's 2007 revival of `Translations', set in his fictional town of Ballybeg in the 19th century.
