The Field is a play written by John B. Keane

John B. Keane

John Brendan Keane was an Irish playwright, novelist and essayist from Listowel, County Kerry.-Life and career:...

, first performed in 1965. It tells the story of the hardened farmer "Bull" McCabe and his love for the land he rents. The play debuted at Dublin's Olympia Theatre

Olympia Theatre, Dublin

The Olympia Theatre is a concert hall/theatre venue in Dublin, Ireland, located in Dame Street.-History:Built in 1879, it was originally called the "Star of Erin Music Hall". Two years later in 1881, it was renamed "Dan Lowrey's Music Hall" and was renamed again in 1889 to "Dan Lowrey's Palace of...

 in 1965, with Ray McAnally

Ray McAnally

Ray McAnally was an Irish actor famous for his performances in films such as The Mission, My Left Foot, and A Very British Coup.-Background:...

 as "The Bull" and Eamon Keane

Eamon Keane

Eamonn Keane was an Irish actor.Keane was born in Listowel, Co. Kerry and was a brother of the playwright, John B. Keane. He was a member of the Radio Éireann Players and appeared in many of the station's drama productions on both radio and television...

 as "The Bird" O'Donnell. The play was published in 1966 by Mercier Press. A new version with some changes was produced in 1987.

A film adaptation

The Field (film)

The Field is Jim Sheridan's 1990 film adaptation of John B. Keane's 1965 play of the same title.-Production:The Field starred Richard Harris as Bull McCabe, Sean Bean as Bull's son Tadhg, Brenda Fricker as Bull's wife Maggie, and John Hurt as Bird O'Donnell...

 was released in 1990, directed by Jim Sheridan

Jim Sheridan

Jim Sheridan is an Irish film director. A six-time Academy Award nominee, Sheridan is perhaps best known for his films My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, Get Rich or Die Tryin and In America.-Life and career:...

 with Richard Harris

Richard Harris

Richard St John Harris was an Irish actor, singer-songwriter, theatrical producer, film director and writer....

 in the lead role.
The Field is set in a small country village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in southwest Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Rugged individualist Bull McCabe (Harris) has spent many hard years of labour cultivating a small plot of rented land, nurturing it from barren rock into a fertile field.