The great Irish playwright Brien Friel based his play on observations of the lives of his mother and aunts who lived in the Glenties, on Ireland’s west coast of Donegal.
The play is set in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg, with the family going under the made-up name of the Mundy family.
The character of Friel is played by the narrator Michael Evans, who recounts the summer when as a seven year old he spent in a rundown cottage with his mum Chris, his four aunts, Rose, Agnes, Maggie and Kate, his grandfather Jack, and his separated father makes some cameo appearances to flirt with his mum.
Michael remembers the times as being difficult, with the family struggling financially and the personal loneliness. All the sisters were without partners. Whaf Michael remembers the most is when the five sisters would put on their new wireless Marconi radio and listen to the best in Irish music. The play’s most well known scene is when the five sisters decide to get up and dance and stomp around, some on top of the dining room table.
The show’s creatives team, those theatre makers we never see, who rarely get talked about, Director Isabella Milkovitch and her design team, have create a rich theatrical world. The cast moved with ease around Max Shaw’s very finely detailed set with the deeply symbolic large cracks in the cottage walls. Avalon Ormiston’s choreography, Paris Bell’s lighting, Lily Moody’s period costumes, Maddy Brigg’s soundscape, Naomi Belet’s singing coaching (and dramaturgical work) and Benjamin Purser’s accent coaching all play their part in telling and shaping the story.
A fine ensemble cast ‘nailed’ their roles. Credit goes to all the cast. Patrick Holman played the lead role of Michael, regularly switching himself as the man looking back at this particular part of his childhood, and the seven year old boy taking part in the play.
Iris Simpson was his sensitive, high spirited mother, Chris, too easily swayed by her ex, Gerry. Sebastian Gray was the eccentric, head in the clouds, fanciful Gerry. James Segrue was Father Jack, back from Africa, challenged by severe memory loss, and is now a burden for the family.
For the four sisters; Marisa-Claire Hissey played Kate, the eldest sister, stern, trying to hold the family together. Megan Bennetts played the very feisty, stirrer Maggie. Audrey Blyde was the quiet, nervous Agnes, and Tenielle Thompson played Rose with an intellectual disablity. There’s a scene where Rose goes missing, and the family go in to panic mode.
Wrapping up, I am a big fan of memory plays, as they are called, after Tennessee Williams classic The Glass Menagarie. Brien Friel’s play is a classic of this genre, and this New Theatre have come up with an impressive, well conceived production.
Brian Friel’s DANCING AT LUGHNASA is playing the New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown until the 16th May 2026.
Running time : 2 hours and 35 minutes.
Performances are Thursdays to Saturdays at 7.30pm and Sundays at 2pm
Photography by the legendary Bob Seary
