Irish Repertory Theatre marked its 35th anniversary last year with a tribute to the great Brian Friel that delivered some of the best shows in town. To launch its 36th season, the company has selected a work by a contemporary Irish playwright, Nancy Harris, and I suspect that Friel, were he still with us, would heartily approve of the choice.

“The Beacon,” first produced at Dublin five years ago, is set on an island off the coast of West Cork, where Ms. Harris spent time during her childhood as her father, also a writer, did research. It appears to be the kind of small community where many of Friel’s plays unfolded, where even the pettiest and most comical tensions can reflect larger social and historical dilemmas.