Dancing at Lughnasa By Brian Friel

The Ballymaloe Grainstore is delighted to announce Hunters Moon Theatre preforming Dancing at Lughnasa on November 30th.

Written by Brian Friel, directed by Philip O Byrne with a fabulous cast including Catherine Lyons as Kate, Elaine Lombard as Maggie, Maria Codd as Rose, Maeve Murphy as Agnes, Eimear Barry as Kate, Charlie Crowley playing Father Jack with Patrick O Sullivan as Gerry Evans and Rob Cogan as Micheal.

Dancing at Lughnasa is set in the small village of Ballybeg in Co. Donegal in the summer of 1936. Here the 5 Mundy sisters survive, love, fight and dance. The unforgettable summer brings the possibility of joy and love to these extraordinary women.

“Marconi” the erratic wireless set which has a mind of its own spontaneously sends the sister into sudden outbursts of wild dancing.

The return of their brother Fr. Jack from the missions in Uganda brings a whole new dimension to the status quo of the very Catholic family. What was the real reason for his homecoming and why did Kate lose her job as National schoolteacher. Had the numbers in the school really being falling. The visits of Gerry Evans the father of Michael who is Chris’s son throws more turmoil into the delicate fabric of the family. And the opening of the new knitting factory in Donegal town threatens the only income that Agnes and Rose have.

That summer of 1936 which promised so much joy to the sisters in that tiny cottage is now about to deliver a bombshell that shatters the fabric of the closely knit family.

The play is recounted by the adult Michael as he reflects on the summer of 1936 in that cottage as a 7 years old boy.

One of the great Irish classic plays Dancing at Lughnasa became a feature film starring Meryl Streep.