Dancing at Lughnasa November 20, 2010

Brian Friel's joyous memory piece recounts the yearnings and sublimation of love by the five Mundy sisters. Living out a mundane existence in the rural village of Ballybeg in 1936, the family's reputation is precariously balanced between the shame of the youngest sister's illegitimate son, Michael, and their pride for the eldest brother, Father Jack. Brian Friel uses the Irish pagan festival of the harvest, La Lughnasa, as the flash point: Father Jack returns from his African missionary much changed from the young priest revered by all, while the re-appearance of Michael's itinerant father tests more than one sister's resolve. A full-grown Michael recounts the heart-wrenching details of his family's unraveling with poignancy, humor and powerful lyricism.