Living Quarters is a play written by Brian Friel and first performed in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, in 1977 in a production directed by Joe Dowling.
Living Quarters is a memory play set in a soldier's home in Donegal, near Friel's favourite fictional town of Ballybeg.
The extent to which Commandant Butler's first wife (deceased) dominated the family is obvious; Frank's son (Ben) suffered a nervous breakdown on her death, and eldest daughter Helen is still scarred by her mother's opposition to her marriage to a private soldier.
Unique is the way in which the story is told: not through conventional flashbacks, but through an artificial narrator, called Sir, who acts as arbiter and director, making sure that the characters' memories reflect reality.
Critical acclaim was initially muted, but the play has enjoyed increased popularity in later years, including a season at the Greek National Theatre.