Artist:
Dancing at Lughnasa
Genre: Off Broadway
Background:
Dancing at Lughnasa is a play by Brian Friel. The story is based in a fictional town called Ballybeg, in Ireland's Donegal County, and the year is 1936. The play is narrated by Micheal who recollects the summer he spent at his aunt's cottage when he was seven years old.
The story revolves around the Mundy family that consists of five sisters Kate, Maggie, Agnes, Chris and Rose. All five are unmarried. Kate is the oldest of the five and is a teacher. She is the only sister with a job. Agnes and Rose knit gloves that are sold in town and help Maggie and Chris with the household chores. Chris is the mother of our narrator Michael.
Dancing at Lughnasa starts out so simply with the routines of daily life. The life of the sisters seem complete with their cooking and cleaning, dancing and singing, and whining and joking. Everything changes when their lives are rudely interrupted by the two visitors. One is their Uncle Jack who has recently returned from Uganda after serving there as a missionary for 25 years. He is unwell and is suffering from malaria. The second visitor is a Welshman, Gerry, who is visiting Ballybeg after seven years. He is a swagger and a vagabond who always arrives unannounced but visits very rarely. On his last visit, seven years back, he had pursued Chris and impregnated her. This had led to the birth of the play's narrator Michael. He had returned this time to inform Chris that he was joining the International Brigade to fight in the Spanish Civil War.
Dance is one of the passive traits of the story. Deep in the woods of Lughnasa a pagan ritual takes place to honor Lugh, the God of Sun worshiped by the ancient Celts. A Boy has been painfully burnt in this year's ritual . By the end of the play, every character will be by burnt someway or the other. The play was first performed on April 24th, 1990 at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, from where it moved to Broadway. The play was directed by Patrick Mason. The original cast included Frances Tomelty as Kate Mundy, Anita Reeves as Maggie Mundy, Bríd Ní Neachtain as Rose Mundy, Bríd Brennan as Agnes Mundy, Catherine Byrne as Christina Mundy, Gerard McSorley as Michael Evans, Paul Herzberg as Gerry Evans and Barry McGovern as Jack.
Dancing at Lughnasa was also made into a film in 1998 starring Meryl Streep as Kate Mundy and was directed by Pat O'Connor. It is a play that will definitely keep you engaged till the final scene. Contact your on line ticket vendor at the earliest and get the tickets!
|
