Dancing at Lughnasa

We all know what dancing leads to but the question Brian Friel seems to be asking is ”What leads to dancing?”
24 Feb 2006 to 4 Mar 2006 Wed to Sat at 8pm
This show has finished
Venue
Performance dates
  • 24 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Fri)Opening night
  • 25 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Sat)
  • 26 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Sun)
  • 27 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Mon)
  • 28 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Tue)
  • 1 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Wed)
  • 2 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Thu)
  • 3 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Fri)
  • 4 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Sat)

"Everyone in the cast is supreme...Melanie Munt's timing is immaculate. She effortlessly manipulates the audiences emotions...five wonderful actresses play 'five wonderful sisters' - Stephen Davenport - The Program

"This production has impeccable ensemble acting exuberance, subtlety and style" - John Wells - Adelaide Theatre Guide

"All of the acting was excellent. As the sisters, Melanie Munt, Viva Subizewski, Smiljana Glisovic, and Lucy Bath were marvellous. Penelope Jones was outstanding as Kate...Peter Green as Father Jack was superb..David Maquire was spirited and charming - Laraine Ball - Encore Magazine

"The cast is uniformly impressive and strong, but there is a particularly powerful and disquieting performance by Peter Green as Father Jack, while Melanie Munt is superb as the irrepressible Maggie..a wild Irish jig brings the house down" Keryn Goldsworthy - The Messenger

This show has finished
Venue
Performance dates
  • 24 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Fri)Opening night
  • 25 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Sat)
  • 26 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Sun)
  • 27 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Mon)
  • 28 Feb 2006 7:30pm (Tue)
  • 1 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Wed)
  • 2 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Thu)
  • 3 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Fri)
  • 4 Mar 2006 7:30pm (Sat)

DANCING AT LUGHNASA

We all know what dancing leads to, but what leads to dancing?

Unseen Theatre Company is proud to present, in association with some newly graduated performers from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts – Brien Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa.

The production, originally directed by Andrew Lewis, was performed at WAAPA in July this year to critical acclaim.

This production for the Adelaide Fringe will be directed by Paul Komadina (a talented, experienced director from WAAPA), produced by Pamela Munt and will feature most of the original cast, as well as some previous WAAPA graduates and Adelaide’s Peter Green.

Dancing at Lughnasa is set in the fictional village of Balybeg, in County Donnegal, Ireland in 1936. It is a gripping and moving memoir of a long lost summer in the lives of five unmarried Irish sisters and those they loved. Each sister has her own way of getting through the rugged emotional landscape that is family, but dancing to an unreliable Marconi radio unites them all – awakening long-buried desires, vanishing dreams and a last chance at happiness in this poetic and heartwarming story. Despite, or perhaps because of, their completely diferent characters, the sisters’ family bonds are almost tangible as they sustain and support each other through the isolation of traditional Irish life and a time of economic depression.

Dancing at Lughnasa features as the five sisters: – Penelope Jonas as “Kate”, Melanie Munt as “Maggie”, Viva Skubiszewski as “Agnes”, Smiljana Glisovic as “Rose”, Lucy Bath as “Chris”, Tim Major as “Michael” and Dave Maguire as “Gerry”. These actors complete the cast coming from Perth and Artistic Direcor of the Bakehouse Theatre Company Peter Green will join the ensemble in the role of “Father Jack”

Brian Friel is acknowledged as Ireland’s greatest living playwright and Dancing At Lughnasa is widely regarded as his masterpiece. His plays have been performed continuously around the world for over 40 years. Dancing at Lughnasa premiered in Ireland and won the 1991 Olivier Award. It also went to London’s West End, and then Broadway, where it won three Tony Awards in 1992, including Best Play. In 1998 it was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep. Some of Friel’s other plays include “Translations” (which was recently nominated by The National Theatre, London’s Board of Review, as one of the 25 most significant plays of the 20th Century), “The Faith Healer” and “The Freedom of the City”.