Dancing at Lughnasa: A Play

It was in verry good shape, and the shipping time was OK.

Set in Donegal in 1936, during Ireland's change from an agrarian to a more industrial economy, Brian Friel's haunting ensemble drama of five sisters and their priest brother reveals the economic, social, and religious pressures in the rural community of Ballybeg on the eve of the harvest festival of Lughnasa. Forty-ish Kate, who sees herself "in charge," is the only real wage earner in the family. Rigid, severe, and completely lacking in humor, she believes pagan celebrations, such as Lughnasa, which provide fun and enjoyment in the countryside, are "uncivilized." Her brother Jack, the priest, however, on furlough from his missionary work in Uganda, is now virtually a pagan himself. His work has shown him the need of the poor for happiness, dancing, and community celebration, even if it is not church-sanctioned. The other Mundy sisters help illustrate the ironic chasm between Kate's attitudes and those of Fr. Jack. Maggie, the fun-loving, free-spirited, and most humorous of the sisters, constantly bursts into song and dance and longs to go to the town dance. Christina feels no shame whatever about her love-child and thoroughly enjoys the summer visit of his father, Gerry Evans, with whom she dances spontaneously. Aggie and Rose, who earn small wages knitting gloves, work tirelessly as the family's sad, "unpaid servants," constantly chafing against Kate's imposition of her own values on them. When the local priest fails to rehire Kate because of Fr. Jack's apparent paganism, the family is devastated, but it is at that moment that they recognize the need to celebrate life itself. The narrator is Michael, Christina's love-child, now in his fifties, who sets the scene and comments on the action throughout. Though Michael himself participates in the action as a child, the child is invisible to the audience. The characters speak to him as if he were real, and the adult Michael responds, but to the actors on stage, it is the narrator who is invisible. The message of the play is far stronger here than that of its film version, starring Meryl Streep. In the play Kate is more hostile, and the fates of Aggie and Rose are revealed early, not withheld till the end. Fr. Jack's paganism is not regarded as a mental aberration in the play, and the "clan of the round collar" is opened to scrutiny. The play, though dark, is ultimately a joyful celebration of life itself, a life not bound by organized religion. Mary Whipple

What follows is an adapted version of the liner notes I wrote in the production program of Dancing At Lughnasa which I recently directed. The production closed on May 18 2002."Careful, if you breathe, it breaks." Laura"The play is memory, and being a memory play, it is sentimental, it is dimly lit, it is not realistic."both quotes from The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams"I'd always heard that your entire life flashes in front of you the second before you die. First off, that second isn't a second at all. It stretches on forever like an ocean of time . . . you have no idea what I"m talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry .. . you will."Lester from American Beauty written by Alan BallBrian Friel's gentle and poetic narrative seeks to capture the fragile and imperceptible line standing between nostalgia and history. "Dancing At Lughnasa" does not seek to be a documentary. It is not based so much on harsh reality as say McCourt's "Angela's Ashes". The six adult siblings as viewed through the retrospective eyes of the adult narrator Micheal all share the common bond of blood, time and space. Their collective sense of love, compassion and interdependence makes them, I believe true heroes. In every family, there comes a time when the unit must break apart and each member must find their own independent way. the struggle against inevitable change, while it may appear foolish to some, I find admirable in the poetic sense. This struggle appears to provide the family with a history, a sense of place and purpose. Ultimately they find thier identity within the bird's nest ( in Friel's play, the hen house). The family also serves as the proving found. It defines, strengthens and completes its members. Perhaps in history before the radio of Marconi, the family found itself able to sustain and even thrive in one place.Friel appears to use Dancing At Lughnasa as a vehicle for freezing in memory the final time before a family splinters off.Memory often proves a decietful beast. Frequently we all remember things as we wish them to exist. This almost always contrasts with the factual. Micheal (Friel's alter ego) desires to hold this specific moment in time the way he wants to remember it, as an idealized image forever frozen in glass. Who really can blame us (and Micheal) for favoring nostalgia over fact? For like some sort of cruel trick, we amost never realize our key life events until long after they have played out.The play's earthy philosopher Maggie even states, "just one quick glimpse-that's all you ever get. And if you miss that . . ." Dancing At Lughnasa serves as Friel's quick glimpse at a moment long gone.Lughnasa is not a play of simple entertaiment. It is a complex work of art, filled with personal revelations, symbols and ideas that work together to reveal universe. It is a great play because it holds up to close reading and scrutiny. Enjoy and savor.

This play is based in the small town of Ballybeg. A small town where the people have small, closed off minds. Life is hard back then, as the adult Michael comments the industrial revolution only comes to Ballybeg at the end of the play, and this is te 30's and Ireland is going through an economic depression.. This is the story of the 5 Mundy sisters, Kate, Agnes, Maggie, Christina and Rose. All with different, totally unique personalities. Also in the family are Father Jack, who has returned from African missionaries who has become "sick" and nativeised and the illegitimate son os Christina. The father is Gerry, an irresponsible, charming man from Wales. The play follows their lives through the month of August (Lughnasa = the irish word for August, coming from "Lugh" the pagan god of the old irish). I thought this was a very good book, nothing seems to happen, yet everything changes irrevocably. It is a page turner, I was warped into the world of the Mundys, so different to my own. Emotions, feelings and fears are woven into this masterpiece of Irish literature.The best part of the play for me, was the ending. Absolutely brilliant.

I was recently in Ireland and heard about Friel, an Irish native, and his powerful work. When I returned, I ordered Dancing at Lughnasa and didn't put it down until the last scene was complete. This is a riveting story of the family dynamic among five sisters and the men in their lives. Beautifully written I could hear each voice, each accent!, could see the sisters as they knitted in the kitchen and danced in the garden. One of the most interesting techniques Friel uses is the non-existant son of one of the sisters. His words are mouthed by the narrator and I'd be interested to know how it fleshes out on stage, but it is wonderfully done here. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in theatre, Irish culture, or good reads.