Dancing at Lughnasa

Dancing at Lughnasa opens with a monologue by Michael, who introduces his nostalgic memories of the summer of 1936, when he was seven years old. His mother and aunts, the five Mundy sisters, all unmarried, live in a small cottage outside of town. Kate, the oldest, is a school teacher and the only sister with a job. Agnes and Rose knit gloves to be sold in town and help keep the house with Maggie and Chris (Michael's mother) who have no income at all. Their brother Jack, who recently returned home, is a priest who has lived as a missionary in a leper colony in Uganda for 25 years. He is suffering from malaria and has trouble remembering many things, including the names of the sisters and his English vocabulary. In addition to Jack’s return the summer is marked by another major event in Michael’s memory: the acquisition of the family’s first wireless radio. The radio, which breaks down more than it works, unleashes unarticulated emotions in the five women, who spontaneously break into song and dance, with or without its aid. Chris was never married to Michael’s father, Gerry Evans, who deserted her and the child, and Gerry only returns without warning every couple of years to see her. He is charming but completely unreliable, a clown and a vagabond. At the time of the play he is working as a traveling gramaphone salesman, and has returned to tell Chris he is joining the International Brigade to fight against Franco in the Spanish Civil War . Before leaving, he proposes to Chris. By the end of the year, as the older Michael explains in monologue, two of the sisters, Rose and Agnes, have run off, never to return, and Uncle Jack has died of a heart attack. Later in life Michael learns that his father has another family back in Wales . The play was first produced in 1990 at the Abbey Theater in Dublin . It then moved to Broadway . The most recent major production was at Dublin's Gate Theater in 2004. In 1998 , it was adapted into a film under the direction of Pat O'Connor, and starred Meryl Streep as Kate. Hear Director David McCall's interview about the play at http://www.radiorpt.com/dancingatlughnasainterview.mp3 PERFORMANCE ON THE 3RD OF SEPTEMBER 2006 IS A MATINEE STARTING AT 2:00PM