Dancing at Lughnasa (2017)
by Brian Friel
Performances: Tue 21st – Sat 25th March 2017, Upper Hall, Stanley Halls
Contents
Introduction
The award-winning play about the lives, loves and hopes of the five Mundy sisters, set during the festival of Lughnasa in the final days of the summer of 1936 in County Donegal in rural Ireland. This lyrical tale has become a modern classic that combines romance, humour and heartbreaking tragedy.
Cast
- Michael Evans - Eugene Duffy
- Christina Mundy (Michael's mother) - Roisín Deady
- Maggie Mundy - Caroline Beckett
- Rose Mundy - Catherine Ellis
- Agnes Mundy - Amy Flinders
- Kate Mundy - Naomi Liddle
- Father Jack - Derek Dempsey
- Gerry Evans (Michael's father) - Jason Salmon
Crew
- Executive Producer - Fiona Daffern
- Stage Manager - Sam Dempsey
- Lighting Designer - Bryon Fear
- Sound Designer - Adam Crook
- Operator - Alan Slater
- Props - Fiona Daffern
- Set and technical advice - Chaz Doyle
- Scenic Artist & Props - Hazel Hindle
- Rooster - Carole Ironside & Naomi Liddle
- Programme Design - Bryon Fear
- Choreography - Kait Feeney-Nash
Reviews
Suzy Jacobsen Late post re Dancing at Lughnasa but I was dancin in me wellies.... So-where to begin...well the casting was superb-every character had their own nuances and the power play between them captured so effortlessly by the actors. A ' fly on the wall ' insight before they were ' a noo fangled ting' where the life lived by the Mundys is about what s NOT said, what SHOULDNT be said and finally what can NEVER be said to our nearest and dearest. For me the dancing was such a bittersweet motif of a Catholic family with so much love and life to give but which must be sublimated into the religious mores of the time. The unravelling of faith, like the unravelling of the knitting wool, comes with Father Jack's gradual revelations of baser styles of worship and is a symbolic herald to the modern age-a slow puncture in the idealistic bubble they defend. True to human nature we prefer to look back fondly, through a misty veil of nostalgia,as does the playwright here who similtaneously edits out the tensions, sacrifice, poverty, limitations preferring to exhalt domestic banalities as proof of a life simply,but authentically lived. It is in the tragic final monologue where truth resides-for all the beauty and simplicity of their lives seen from the outside in-we learn the damage of placing faith above family. Visually beautiful set and costume, so many stand out moments from every cast member but seeing Derek Dempsey going native in a ladies cardie has to be one memory I m filing for posterity! Congrats one and all! YEEZ WERE NAWT SHOITE!!
David Carr Well done cast and crew for a wonderful show this evening.
Laura Yandell Well done to the cast and crew of Dancing In Lughnasa. I really enjoyed it. It's one of my favourite plays so thank you Lisa Thomas for putting it on ☺️ xx
Isabella Jade Harrison Fantastic job Lughnasa cast! I was completely transported! Sooooo good!!!
Kait Feeney-Nash OK, I'm biased, but I so thoroughly enjoyed Lughnasa last night. Well done to all &, if you haven't already, get a ticket to see it!
Owen Chidlaw Today has been a good day. And what better way to round it off then a trip to South Norwood/county Donegal? Totally absorbing performances from all the cast of Dancing at Lughnasa (seriously, last orders felt like it was called an hour early, thats how quickly the time flew by). If I was to comment on any of the performances specifically, that would be a disservice to the rest of them! So I'll just say great show, very funny in places, very moving in others, but always captivating. Go see.... now!
Gallery
- Photos by Kait Feeney-Nash
Reminiscences and Anecdotes
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