Wonderful Tennessee, Brian Friel's first original play since Dancing at Lughnasa, is set — in the present — on the pier in Ballybeg, County Donegal.

Three married couples wait for a boatman to arrive to ferry them to Oileán Draíochta, Island of Otherness or Mystery.

In the course of a night they talk, sing (the play is laced with songs and music), and tell stories; and what started as an escapade assumes the semblance of a pilgrimage. Gradually, in a beautifully orchestrated and exuberant work, their true relationships and frailties are revealed.