DANCING AT LUGHNASA

Producer: Mel Hitch

Stage Manager, Props Master: Lesley Coo

Set Designer: Vera Oleynikova

Costume Designer: Marlene Kell

Lighting Designer: Mark Hayward

Sound Designer: Philip Chase

Michael Evans: Tadgh O’Connell

Kate Mundy: Trudee Romanek

Maggie Mundy: Nancy Smokler

Rose Mundy: Kristen Keller - ACT-Co Award: Best Lead Actress in a Drama (Finalist)

Agnes Mundy: Danielle Kostrich

Christina Mundy: Marissa Caldwell

Jack Mundy: Jim Jenkinson

Gerry Evans: Gordon Haney - ACT-Co Award: Best Lead Actor in a Drama (Finalist)

In memory of those five brave Liota women:

Helen, Anne, Sally, Angela, and Louise.

I first saw Dancing at Lughnasa when I was eleven and it left a lasting impression. While it is Brian Friel’s most autobiographical work, it felt like my family’s story too. I grew up with three great-aunts (the fourth, Anne, passed many years before I was born) who never married and my grandmother had one child, my dad. Like the Mundy sisters, the Liota sisters were intelligent, funny, kind, and loved very deeply. I would not be the person I am without their influence in my life. I knew when the day came that I directed Dancing at Lughnasa, I would dedicate the production to them. I am deeply grateful to South Simcoe Theatre for the opportunity.

When directing a memory play, it is critical to find the urgency behind it - especially when the script relies heavily on narration. The director needs to ask, ‘Why should the audience connect to a stranger while they tell their life story?’ In the case of Dancing at Lughnasa, I decided that we find Michael at the end of a chapter in his life. After the death of his mother, Michael is packing away his family home before he says goodbye forever. Suddenly, the audience can relate to the narrator. Everyone knows the experience of boxing up a home filled with memories. Of saying goodbye. Of letting go.

But before Michael closes the door, he experiences something most of us can only dream of. While telling the story of “that summer of 1936,” he gets to see his family home filled with life again. He gets to witness his family laugh with each other, get angry at each other, and dance with each other, one last time.

What a gift.

I would like to thank my producer, Mel, for her tireless efforts. I would also like to thank my cast for braving literal and emotional storms while bringing this production to life, and my production team for their incredible work and endless patience. I would also like to use this opportunity to tell my family (including my fiancé, Marissa) just how much I love them and how fortunate I am to have them in my lives.

Finally, I would like to thank you, the audience, for attending (and supporting) live theatre in our community.

I hope you enjoy Dancing at Lughnasa.

I first encountered Dancing at Lughnasa when I was 11 years old. I had just finished performing in a production of King John with the Marlowe Society in Cambridge England. Two of my fellow castmates were to play Chrissy and Gerry. I knew nothing about the play when I saw it, but felt a deep connection to it. My dad, Douglas Moggach, had a very similar upbringing to Michael. He grew up in a very tight-knit family with four aunts. From the five women (four aunts and his mom), my dad was the only child. As such, I saw my dad in Michael, and my great-aunts and grandmother in the Mundy sisters. From that performance (now more than 17 years ago), I knew Dancing at Lughnasa was a story I had to tell, and I became a life-long Brian Friel fan.

When I saw the call go out for directors for this show, I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring. I wrote, what I knew would be a winning submission (I can be a very compelling writer) and, sure enough, I got it.

It was an interesting time for me in my life. Recently engaged, recently made the Artistic Director of Theatre by the Bay after a pretty quick exit by the former AD, so there was a lot that could have complicated things. But fortunately, this show kept me grounded. I had a dream project, one heck of a cast, and a strong need to tell this story.

I am also pretty proud of my vision for this show. Typically, Michael just kind of appears and starts talking - even leaving the stage between his storytelling interjections. In this production, however, I gave a bit of a framing device: he is packing up the house to sell it, looks into one of the boxes to find his old kite, and that is what sets off the story. Like magic, he is in the middle of the house when it was full of life again - able to see his long-gone relatives and mother, talk with them, and even, at the end, dance with them once more. I felt it added additional depth to a piece that, while beautiful, could be even more profound.

I was very proud of this one - and I think everyone involved felt it was something very special.