Tipperary drama group take on a Brien Friel classic

Holycross/Ballycahill Drama group are thrilled to get the opportunity to perform one of Ireland best known and loved plays Dancing at Lughnasa by Brien Friel.

Loved by theatre goers since its first performance in April 1990 in the Abbey Theatre and afterwards brought to the attention of a wider audience when it hit the big screen in 1998.

The play is set in the fictional town of Ballybeg and loosely based on the lives of Friel's mother and aunts who lived in the Glenties on the west coast of Donegal.

It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator.

He recounts the summer of 1936 in his aunts’ cottage when he was seven years old during the Celtic festival of Lughnasa when they welcomed home their frail older brother who had returned from a life as a missionary in Africa.

However as the summer ends, the family must come to terms with sadness and economic hardship.

There is a sense that the close home life the women have known since childhood is about to be torn apart.

This is our Festival 2024 production, and we are travelling the length of Ireland to compete in Drama Festivals nationwide.

Once again, Claire Ryan is at the helm in the form of Director, alongside her team of lighting and sound operators, set builders and dressers are working tirelessly to make sure everything is ship-shape before we embark on our journey.

We welcome four new members on our festival journey Erin Ryan, John Murray, Breda Lacey and Kevin Walsh, who alongside a lot of familiar faces have been working hard to do justice to this great play.

This year, we have decided to run the play for three nights before we set off on our Festival journey.

We will stage Dancing at Lughnasa in Holycross Community Centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 22-24 at 8pm.

Come along for a great night of theatre and a chance to see a Brien Friel classic