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Dancing at Lughnasa

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Dancing at Lughnasa (see references to Lughnasa, or Lughnasadh, the ancient pagan ritual) is a play by Brian Friel set in Ireland's County Donegal in August 1936. Set in the fictional town of Ballybeg (Baile Beag - small town in Irish Gaelic), though many believe that Friel's true location is Glenties (Na Gleannta'), a small town in south-west County Donegal. It is a memory play told from the point of view of Michael, the narrator. He recounts the summer in his aunts' cottage when he was seven years old.

Summary

The five Mundy sisters (Kate, Maggie, Agnes, Chris, Rose), all unmarried, live in a small cottage outside of town. Kate, the oldest, is a school teacher and the only sister with a job. Agnes and Rose knit gloves to be sold in town and help keep the house with Maggie and Chris (Michael's mother) who have no income at all. Recently returned home is their brother Jack, a priest who has lived as a missionary in a leper colony in Uganda for 25 years. He is suffering from malaria and has trouble remembering many things, including the sisters' names and his English vocabulary. Gerry, Michael's father, is charming and completely unreliable. A clown and a vagabond he visits rarely and always unannounced. He has another family back in Wales, although that doesn't stop him from proposing to Chris. He has returned this time to tell her he is joining the International Brigade to fight in the Spanish Civil War.

Symbolism

The Rooster to Gerry

  • implies a cocky character.
  • When the fox snatches the rooster up, it sort of symbolizes England as the predator who nabs another Irish emigrant. In Irish culture they would celebrate people moving away in the same way they would celebrate a funeral, because when people moved away, typically they would leave and never return, nor was anything really sent back. The technology era has since shifted the tables back to Ireland turning it into an ideal spot for wealthy technologists and dot com'mers.

Broken Mirror, Luck, and other Pagan ideologies

  • Although the story at the surface portrayed these women as devout catholics, there is still hints to how they hold onto their pagan traditional past.
  • how the broken mirror must be kept for seven years or else bad luck would befall those who dropped it.

Toys: Broken Radio, Kite, Bike

  • This story from the character Michael (7 year old boy, son of Chris Mundy), shows the past as he perceives (narrates) it.
    • He pretty much portrays his father in this positive perspective. I think it's a way of saying he still wants his promised bike. After waiting for his bike for so many years, he still, even then in the future subconciously waiting because that is what he was used to, waiting and wishing for his father to pull through.

The Sweeny Kid

Locations

  • Town name: means village. Symbolizes that it could be any Irish town.
  • Donagh >> Derived from *Gaelic Spelling* Domhnach >> Means Church
  • Priests House
    • Priest comes back and stops being a priest

In-depth character portraits

Gerry Evans:

  • 33 years old.
  • Is the father of the child Michael in this story.
  • Very unreliable. Left Chris Mundy and child Michael to fend for themselves.
  • "Wanderer"-type personality
  • Comes back to Ballybeg, County Donegal, Ireland, the setting of this play
  • Wears a Straw Hat.
  • His clothes are clean and spotless, suggesting a hygenic appearance.
  • Left Chris, mother of Michael, with his son Michael, without any support or assistance.
  • Just came back from Dublin, where he had a job as a ballroom dancing instructor.
  • Now sells gramaphones to earn a living
  • An elegant charmer always lending compliments to the ladies.
  • Leaving Ireland to go fight in the Spanish Civil War in a matter of weeks.
  • Proposes to Chris Mundy on this particular visit down.
  • Dances with Chris Mundy on this visit as well after an unsuccessful attempt at her acceptance of his marriage proposal.
  • Wounded later on in Barcelona when he fell off his motorbike injuring his leg and leaving him with a permanent limp.
  • Came back often to propose to Chris and promise a new bike for Michael.
  • Had another family in a village in the south of Wales.
  • Had another child named Michael Evans who was the same age.
  • Had 3 other kids with the unknown mother.
  • Curiously has something going with Agnes Mundy too.
  • Died peacefully.

Christina Mundy

  • 26 years old the youngest of the 5 sisters.
  • Never married.
  • Referred to as Chris, Christina, and Chrissie throughout the play
  • Has no money and no job.
  • Lives on a farm 2 miles away from Ballybeg in County Donegal (Ireland)
  • One of the 5 Mundy Sisters (Kate Mundy, Maggie Mundy, Agnes Mundy, Chris Mundy, Rose Mundy)
  • Dresses poorly.
  • Used to see Gerry Evans intimately, and cannot seem to get over him. Often falls into depression when he leaves, but still tries to convince herself that he will come back to her a changed man.
  • Had a son with Gerry Evans, and was looked down upon for having a bastard child.
  • Son's name is Michael, whome she loves and is very proud of.
  • Is jealous of Gerry's flirtation with her other siblings

Maggie Mundy

  • 38 years old
  • Has no money and no job.
  • A homemaker and family "Chef"
  • Lives on a farm 2 miles away from Ballybeg in County Donegal (Ireland)
  • Second oldest of the 5 Mundy Sisters (Kate Mundy, Maggie Mundy, Agnes Mundy, Chris Mundy, Rose Mundy)
  • Dresses poorly.
  • Loves to dance, tell riddles, and tease.
  • The life of the play, she keeps everyone from getting too annoyed with each other.

Rose Mundy

Kate Mundy

  • 40 years old, the eldest and most responsible of the 5 sisters.
  • The only wage earner in the Mundy household
  • Works as a school teacher
  • Supports her 5 sisters
  • Comes across as strict, educated, and fiercely Catholic, but is still very kind-hearted.
  • Thinks Gerry Evans is a good-for-nothing vagabond.

Agnes Mundy

  • Loves to dance and is a good dancer
  • Is secretely infatuated with Gerry Evans, and often comes to his defence.
    • A hint to the hidden talents she possessed, but rarely exposed due to her lack of self confidence..
  • Makes a little bit of income with Rose Mundy to add to the Mundy sister household's income by knitting gloves.
  • feels a strong sense of duty and sisterly love for Rose.
  • Industrialization makes her profession obsolete (knitting gloves with Rose Mundy).
  • Takes off after business dies in the mitt knittin business. Takes Rose Mundy with her.
  • Cleaned bathroom stalls and lived on the streets after the industrialization period.
  • Tries to support both herself and Rose and fails.
    • Interesting contrast between what the women thought would be better for themselves
      • thought emigration to London would be more beneficial in terms of work.
      • ended up worse off then if they just remained at home in Ireland
  • Dies in rather dire circumstances before Rose.

Michael Mundy

  • 7 years old, the typical cheeky, impish lad.
  • Son of Chris Mundy and Gerry Evans
  • Has his mother's eyes
  • Feigns to not remember father
  • excited about the bike his father is going to get him
  • Narrated through the eyes of him.
  • Paints kites that imply his paganism.

Uncle Jack

  • 53 years old.
  • Also known as "Father Jack", he was a cathlic chaplin and a respected member of the community.
  • Spent 6 months in the British army during World War I in East Africaas a Missionary.
  • Worked for 25 years in a leper colony in Ryanga, Uganda.
  • Returned home afflicted with Malaria and difficulty remembering his home and family, as well as speak impedaments after speaking nothing but swahili for 25 years.
  • His strange behavior and loss of interest in the christian faith has lost him the respect his neihbors and community once held for him.
  • Always fantisizes about returning to the leper colony in Ryanga and to his house boy, "Okawa" whome he sometimes mistakenly addresses the mundy sisters as.

Danny Bradley

  • Man who Rose Mundy was seeing.
  • Had 3 children and a wife
  • They left him 6 months ago.
  • Takes advantage of Rose's mentally challanged state, call's her "his Rose-bud"
  • In Irish culture this was seen as a type of Irish divorce
    • divorces weren't allowed in Ireland and was shunned by the church.
    • typically when a couple wanted to break up, they would just move apart.

The Old Radio

  • Nicknamed Marconi by the sisters.
  • Always breaks down.

Production history

First produced on April 24th, 1990 at the Abbey Theater in Dublin where it then moved to Broadway. The most recent major production was at Dublin's Gate Theater in 2004.

Original Cast on First Play:

  • Kate Mundy
    • Frances Tomelty
  • Maggie Mundy
    • Anita Reeves
  • Rose Mundy
    • Bríd Ní Neachtain
  • Agnes Mundy
    • Bríd Brennan
  • Christina Mundy
    • Catherine Byrne
  • Michael Evans
    • Gerard McSorley
  • Gerry Evans
    • Paul Herzberg
  • Jack
    • Barry McGovern
      • Director
        • Patrick Mason
      • Designer
        • Joe Vanek
      • Lighting Designer

It was made into a film in 1998 starring Meryl Streep as Kate Mundy and directed by Pat O'Connor.

Works cited

Friel, Brian Dancing at Lughnasa,Faber and Faber Limited, 1990, ISBN 0571144799

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