“Look at yourselves, will you! Just look at yourselves! Dancing at our time of day?... No, no, we’re going to no harvest dance.” (Kate, Act I)
Next Stage Theatre Company is proud to present Brian Friel’s Olivier Award-winning play performed in-the-round. A semi-autobiographical exploration of the playwright’s memories of growing up in rural Donegal, surrounded by his mother and her four sisters. Immerse yourself in their loving and chaotic household where financial hardship battles the sisters’ fire and spirit.
The play is set over two days during the August and September of 1936 when Michael is seven years old. The village of Ballybeg celebrates the Festival of Lughnasa, named after the Celtic God of the Harvest. The arrival of the family’s first wireless set, christened ‘Marconi’, coincides with the homecoming of Father Jack, 25 years a Missionary in Uganda and recovering from malaria. Internal frustrations and thwarted dreams collide with Pagan forces and Christian mores. Things are changing, change which is as devastating as it is inevitable.
“When I remember it, I think of it as dancing. Dancing with eyes half closed because to open them would be to break the spell.” (Michael, Act II)