Writer: Brian Friel
Director: Elizabeth Newman
Dancing at Lughnasa, a largely autobiographical work by Brian Friel, is Elizabeth Newman’s first production since taking over as artistic director of Sheffield Theatres. Newman wanted to begin her tenure with a “big play that asks big questions.” Taking place over the summer of 1936, Friel challenges the nature of faith, fear, passion, oppression, and duty. Five sisters in a cottage far from the town work to maintain their home and reputations while battling the onslaughts from the outside world and their own inner yearnings.
Dancing at Lughnasa is a memory play, told from the perspective of the character Michael, who tells the audience about the summer he was seven years old. Michael is the son of Chris, the youngest of the sisters. The other sisters; Rose, Maggie, Agnes, and Kate, all maintain the home and take turns in looking out for Michael. The women also have to care for their brother, Father Jack, a priest who has spent the previous 25 years in Uganda. He has contracted malaria and struggles to maintain his memories and his grasp on language, now feeling more at home in Swahili than in English. Kate, the older sister, teaches at the local school. Agnes and Rose knit gloves to help support the family. Otherwise, they have no further income to maintain the house of seven. With little food and money, the house is filled with the palpable longing for something else. For some, this is something they want; for others, it is something they have lost. But there is warmth in their home, there is laughter and music, often provided by their wireless and often by the sisters themselves.
The company is small but mighty. The core ensemble of the five sisters is superb. They interact with a tender familiarity, the love and frustration that can only come from intensely close siblings. Natalie Radmall-Quirke is electric as Kate, the devout catholic and morally upright school teacher whose sole desire is to protect the reputation and safety of the family. Siobhán O’Kelly is a whirlwind as Maggie. A charismatic powerhouse, always keen to make her family laugh, rejoice in the joys found in food, a joke, or a cigarette. Kwaku Fortune, as Michael has the unique task of predominantly delivering large chunks of exposition directly to the audience, then merging back into the scene to play the voice of the younger version of the character. A singular challenge that Fortune executes elegantly.
The set, designed by Francis O’Connor, is rich with detail and texture that reflects the rustic home and rural landscape of the Mundy home. As Newman points out, the audience on three sides of the Crucible stage, “literalism doesn’t serve the work – instead we aim for a theatrical reality”. The stage is teaming with authentic props and set, but an enormous harvest moon hangs in the sky, and an oil painting serves as the backdrop. The play is rich with contrasts and struggle, and this is reflected through the staging.
A play that is seemingly about nothing and everything. A sweeping drama that throws an intense look over a family under the strains of financial ruin, religious conflict and personal discord all under the heat of the summer sun. Friel’s work is revered by many and doubtless will draw those faithful fans to the theatre. If this work is new to you, Dancing at Lughnasa is a warm welcome to the world of Irish drama.
Runs until 4th October 2025
