STONEHILL THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS DANCING AT LUGHNASA

The award-winning play, Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel, will be performed by the Stonehill Theatre Company (STC) on April 10, 11, and 12 at 8:00 p.m. in the Hemingway Theatre. 

Dancing at Lughnasa is set in Ballybeg, a fictional landscape that Friel created based on his experiences living in Donegal in northwest Ireland.

One of his most popular and successful plays, this tale of five Irish sisters received three Tony Awards in 1992, including Best Play.  In 1998, Meryl Streep gave a stunning performance in Pat O'Connor's film adaptation of the play.

Stonehill guest director Stephen Benson will direct this nostalgic tale, as told through the voice of eight-year-old Michael who, as an adult, reveals his memories of the summer of 1936.

The story centers on the five unmarried Mundy sisters living on a rugged farm outside a small town in Ireland. The sisters, different in temperament and talent, provide support for one another during hard times. 

During that fateful summer, Michael’s Uncle Jack returns from 25 years spent as a missionary in Uganda and Michael’s absentee father returns to announce that he is on his way to Spain.

The arrival of the men and the acquisition of the sisters’ first wireless radio set the stage for a dramatic unleashing of unspoken emotions.

Friel, one of Ireland’s most prominent playwrights, is no stranger to the Stonehill community. In 1991, he visited the College with another of Ireland’s acclaimed literary figures, Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney.

Then President Rev. Bartley MacPháidín, C.S.C., hosted Friel when he spoke in Donahue Hall.  “Having Brian Friel and Seamus Heaney in the same room, along with a large enthusiastic audience, was a special occasion, a real highlight,” noted MacPháidín. 

"Brian’s work is so powerful and so human. Some say he is better than Chekov.  I know the STC will do a great job bringing his work to life on the stage at Stonehill.”

The play is presented by the Stonehill Theatre Company and the Department of Fine Arts and Theatre Arts. Tickets are currently on sale ($8 general admission / $5 students and senior citizens), and reservations can be made by calling the box office at 508-565-1458. 

For the location of the Hemingway Theater, please visit here.

Issued 03/11/08