Dancing at Lughnasa is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in County Donegal, Ireland in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator. He recounts the summer in his aunts' cottage when he was seven years old.
Contents
Background
This play is loosely based on the lives of Friel's mother and aunts who lived in Glenties, a small town in the south-west of County Donegal. Set in the summer of 1936, the play depicts the late summer days when love briefly seems possible for five of the Mundy sisters (Maggie, Chris, Agnes, Rose, and Kate) and the family welcomes home the frail elder brother, Jack, who has returned from a life as a missionary in Africa. However, as the summer ends, the family foresees the sadness and economic privations under which they will suffer as all hopes fade.
The play takes place in early August, around the festival of Lughnasadh, the Celtic harvest festival. The play describes a bitter harvest for the Mundy sisters, a time of reaping what has been sown.
Plot
The five Mundy sisters (Kate, Maggie, Agnes, Rosie, and Christina), all unmarried, live in a cottage outside of Ballybeg. The oldest, Kate, is a school teacher, the only one with a well-paid job. Agnes and Rose knit gloves to be sold in town, thereby earning a little extra money for the household. They also help Maggie to keep house. Maggie and Christina (Michael's mother) have no income at all. Michael is seven years old and plays in and around the cottage.
All the drama takes place in the sisters' cottage or in the yard just outside, with events from town and beyond being reported either as they happen or as reminiscence.
Recently returned home after 25 years is their brother Jack, a priest who has lived as a missionary in a leper colony in a remote village called Ryanga in Uganda. He is suffering from malaria and has trouble remembering many things, including the sisters' names and his English vocabulary. It becomes clear that he has "gone native" and abandoned much of his Catholicism during his time there. This may be the real reason he has been sent home.
Gerry, Michael's father, is Welsh. He is a charming yet unreliable man, always clowning. He is a travelling salesman who sells gramophones. He visits rarely and always unannounced. A radio nicknamed "Marconi", which works only intermittently, brings 1930s dance and traditional Irish folk music into the home at rather random moments and then, equally randomly, ceases to play. This leads the women into sudden outbursts of wild dancing.
The poverty and financial insecurity of the sisters is a constant theme. So are their unfulfilled lives: none of the sisters has married, although it is clear that they have had suitors whom they fondly remember.
There is a tension between the strict and proper behaviour demanded by the Catholic Church, voiced most stridently by the upright Kate, and the unbridled emotional paganism of the local people in the "back hills" of Donegal and in the tribal people of Uganda.
There is a possibility that Gerry is serious this time about his marriage proposal to Christina. On this visit, he says he is going to join the International brigade to fight in the Spanish Civil War, not from any ideological commitment but because he wants adventure. There is a similar tension here between the "godless" forces he wants to join and the forces of Franco against which he will be fighting, which are supported by the Catholic Church.
Characters
Kate Mundy
Kate is the eldest of the Mundy sisters and behaves as a mother figure towards the others. As a schoolteacher, she is the only wage-earner in the house, but her reputation as "The Gander" in the schoolroom is seen to extend into the household. She is a fiercely devout Catholic, indicated by her distaste for the pagan practices at Lughnasa and Jack's loss of faith. However, her sensitivity is evident throughout the play and through the narratives provided by Michael, who claims she was "inconsolable" when Father Jack died.
Maggie Mundy
In place of a career, Maggie acts as the chief family homemaker. Throughout the play she is revealed as serving a deeper purpose as the "joker" of the family, defusing tensions as they arise. She cheekily challenges Kate's authority by calling her "Kitty", whilst being her confidant at the same time. Maggie is seen to have dreams of her own when she learns of her best friend's success. Her sudden quiet contemplation in her monologue is deeply contrasted with her usual fun-loving way of speaking.
Christina Mundy
At 26 years old, Chris is the youngest of the Mundy sisters, and, like Maggie, has no paid job. Gerry Evans fathered her son, Michael, seven years ago and is seen as walking in and out of their lives as he chooses. As a result, Chris fluctuates between falling into a deep depression when he leaves, yet being renewed with optimism that his next visit will be a permanent stay. Her lack of income can lead Chris to be defensive on the upbringing of her son, shown when Kate buys Michael a new spinning top at the beginning of the play.
Rose Mundy
Rose is 32, but behaves much younger than her years, due to a developmental disability. This condition makes her particularly vulnerable to an unseen character, Danny Bradley, a married man, whom Rose believes is in love with her. However, her sisters believe that Bradley is exploiting Rose's simple nature for his own gain. She is particularly close to her older sister, Agnes, with whom she knits gloves to sell in the town. We learn through Michael's narrative that, after leaving home with Agnes, Rose eventually dies in a hospice for the destitute in Southwark, London, in the 1950s.
Productions
Original production
The play was originally presented at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1990. It transferred to London's National Theatre in 1991, winning the Olivier Award for Best Play, later at the Phoenix Theatre and the Garrick, then subsequently to Broadway's Plymouth Theatre where it won the Tony Award for Best Play as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Play. The original cast included Frances Tomelty and later Rosaleen Linehan as Kate, Anita Reeves as Maggie, Bríd Ní Neachtain as Rose, Bríd Brennan as Agnes, Catherine Byrne as Chris, Gerard McSorley as Michael, Paul Herzberg and later Stephen Dillane as Gerry Evans and Barry McGovern and later Alec McCowen as Fr. Jack. The original Broadway cast included Rosaleen Linehan as Kate, Dearbhla Molloy as Maggie, Bríd Ní Neachtain as Rose, Bríd Brennan as Agnes (winning a Tony Award for her performance), Catherine Byrne as Chris, Gerard McSorley as Michael, Robert Gwilym as Gerry and Donal Donnelly as Fr. Jack.
1999/2000 Dublin Revival
The play was revived ten years after its original production, again at the Abbey Theatre with the same production team headed by Patrick Mason. The cast included the original Maggie, Anita Reeves in the role of Kate, with Jane Brennan as Agnes, Lynn Cahill as Rose, Des Cave as Fr. Jack, Steve Elliott as Gerry Evans, Anna Healy as Maggie, David Parnell as Michael and Ali White as Chris.
2004 Dublin Revival
In April 2004, Joe Dowling directed a new production of the play at the Gate Theatre. The cast included Aisling O'Neill as Chris, Derbhle Crotty as Maggie, Catherine Walsh as Agnes, Dawn Bradfield as Rose, Andrea Irvine as Kate with John Kavanagh, Peter Gowen and Ben Price.
2009 London Revival
In 2009, the Old Vic Theatre in London presented a well-received production of the play starring Sorcha Cusack, Niamh Cusack, Sinéad Cusack and Andrea Corr.
2010 National Tour (Ireland)
Second Age Theatre Company presented a revival of the play which toured Ireland as part of a National Tour. Directed by David Horan, the cast included Donna Dent, Susannah de Wrixon, Maeve Fitzgerald, Kate Nic Chonaonaigh and Marie Ruane.
Film adaptation
Dancing at Lughnasa was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name starring Meryl Streep as Kate Mundy and directed by Pat O'Connor. Brid Brennan won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Female Role.
LIFF
The first Lughnasa International Friel Festival (LIFF) occurred in August 2015. Dancing at Lughnasa, in the year of its 25th anniversary, was chosen as its signature production.
Awards and nominations
Awards
1991 Olivier Award for Best Play of the Year (BBC Award)
1992 Tony Award for Best Play
1992 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – Brid Brennan as Agnes
1992 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – Patrick Mason
1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – Patrick Mason
1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance
1991 Evening Standard Award for Best Play
1992 New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play
Nominations
1991 Olivier Award for Best Director of a Play – Patrick Mason
1991 Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreography – Terry John Bates
1991 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play – Anita Reeves as Maggie
1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play - Brian Friel
1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design – Trevor Dawson
1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design – Joe Vanek
1992 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – Rosaleen Linehan as Kate