Dancing at Lughnasa – The Gate – Review
by Frank L.

Dancing at Lughnasa written by Brian Friel
Photo by Ros Kavanagh

Dancing at Lughnasa premiered in 1990. Friel was specific to the time and place of the play, setting it in August 1936 in Donegal. It describes a time that has passed. It is a memory of Michael (Terence Keeley) of his childhood and upbringing in the Mundy household, consisting of his mother Chris (Zara Devlin) and his aunts Kate (Ruth McGill), Maggie (Molly Logan), Agnes (Nicky Harley), and Rose (Lauren Farrell). Their brother and his uncle, Father Jack (Peter Gowen), has had his religious certainties altered by his missionary life in Uganda. Michael is a ‘lovechild’ as his mother is unmarried. His father, Gerry (Jack Meade), is a Welsh cad who is rarely present. He arrives intermittently and promises the world before disappearing just as quickly. These two men are the only two male influences on his upbringing. His mother Chris and her four sisters were the dominant influences on his life. He describes what he remembers of that August when the pagan festival of Lughnasa clashed with the dominant mores of Catholicism. That pagan festival had dance at its core.

What Michael remembers is a world in flux where new luxuries are disrupting the rural certainties of generations. In particular, he remembers the arrival of a battery-operated wireless which allowed all sorts of music to be heard, undermining the previous norms. What dominates is the everyday events of the five sisters. Each is an individual and very different from her siblings but together they are a unifying entity in Michael’s memory.

The set is austerely sparse with two metal uprights indicating an outline of a simple cottage with its roof represented by several similar metal rods. A stove stands alone towards the back beyond which a crop can be seen growing. There is a wooden table and several wooden stools. It perfectly captures their frugal lifestyle.

This sparseness allows Michael to bring you into his childhood home, exploring his memories of August 1936, his mother, his father, his uncle and above all his aunts. It is a small world in flux which is also aware of the more terrifying changes taking place in the wider world.

To make the play work there has to be chemistry between the five sisters and the director Caroline Byrne moulds them into a complex, dynamic quintet. The great set dance piece has references to traditions of dance that are far from Ireland but when Kate joins the dance she is a fine exponent of Irish set dancing. It is a terrific amalgam and mesmerising to observe. Byrne’s direction allowed each to be their own while also part of the overall collective.

In 1936, the Wireless was the cutting edge of new technology. Today there are new inventions which alter daily life in equally challenging ways. Lughnasa as a play shows how a band of individualistic women met those challenges. What Michael remembers is not always pretty but there is a magnificence to the underlying bravery of these five women.

The entire creative team at the Gate can be immensely proud of this beautifully executed production of what in its comparatively brief life in theatrical terms has become a classic. It was a great joy to be a member of the audience and once more enter into the vibrant world of the Mundy sisters.

Cast
Chris – Zara Devlin
Rose – Lauren Farrell
Father Jack – Peter Gowen
Agnes – Nicky Harley
Michael – Terence Keeley
Maggie – Molly Logan
Kate – Ruth McGill
Gerry – Jack Meade

Creatives
Director – Caroline Byrne
Set & Costume Designer – Chiara Stephenson
Lighting Designer – Paul Keogan
Sound Designer – Sinéad Diskin
Movement Director – Sue Mythen
Consultant – Jean Butler
Voice Director – Andrea Ainsworth
Casting Director – Sarah Jones
Assistant Director – Éadaoin Fox

Crew
Production Manager – Luke Child
Production Manager – Simon Godfrey
Deputy Stage Manager – Sophie Flynn
Assistant Stage Manager – Mark Jackson
Assistant Stage Manager – Niamh Williamson
Costume Dresser/Maintenance – Sarah Higgins
Hair & Make Up Artist – Sarah McCann
Lighting Programmer – Eoin Lennon
Production Lighting – Meaubh Brennan/ Rory Donnelly
Lighting Crew – Cathal Brace
Lighting Operators – Matt McGowan/ Niamh O’Farrell-Tyler
Production Carpenter – Aubrey Turner
Scenic Painter – Sandra Butler
Set Team – TPS / Ger Clancy
Stage Technicians – Aidan Crowe, Vincent Doherty, Tom Hogben, Jay Lambert, Darren Magnier, Ben Moore
Production Sound – Mark King
Sound Technicians – Paddy Creegan, Daniel O’Brien