DANCING AT LUGHNASA
“I want to dance, Kate. It’s the Festival of Lughnasa. I’m only thirty-five. I want to dance.”
It’s the summer of 1936, during the pagan festival of Lughnasa, and young Michael watches his five aunts navigate the fragile joys and looming hardships of rural Irish life. Brief moments of freedom, hope, and love flicker through the household only to be threatened as economic pressures and family upheaval close in.
Widely regarded as Brian Friel’s masterpiece, this semi-autobiographical memory play is a haunting and affectionate portrait of five unmarried sisters whose fierce spirit and resilience shine even as their world begins to change forever.
“Exquisite… a finely crafted memory play… an exploration of nostalgia… the way we choose to reconstruct the past.” The Guardian
Feedback/Comments
Excellent show
It slowly unwound like a thread on a spool, scene by scene gathering little pieces of memory and feeling, until the final image touched something deeply hidden — that quiet, fragile feeling of childhood we carry inside us forever.
Beautiful theater, great cast and brilliant performance!
Exellent show
Beautifully heart-wrenching love letter to rural Irish life and the women who, somehow, kept on keeping on in the face of poverty.
Great show
I loved the frivolity of the show, the music, the dancing and the singing.I found it most entertaining.
Enjoyed the show. Wonderful story with great acting.
Well acted and directed
Interesting but at times can’t get th3 gist of the story line
A moving nostalgic play, well-acted. Lovely intimate feel in New Theater, Newtown.
Interesting play especially how the joy and dancing vs the melancholy and routine of their lives was depicted.