Dancing at Lughnasa

By Brian Friel
Directed by Jenny Hooper.
Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Ltd.

Synopsis

In the 1930s, five unforgettable women try to eke out an existence in Ireland, the land where no tears are without laughter, and no laughter is without tears. Each woman is filled with passionate longing; and yet they deal with it in their own, different ways - except when they are all equally possessed by the spirit of the dance, welling up from the buried, ancient powers of their native land.

Twenty-five years after it won Olivier and Tony awards for Best Play, Brian Friel's masterpiece is already acknowledged as a piece that will last as long as people live, dream and dance.

Cast

Kate Mundy - Patrizia von Sachsen-Altenburg
Trisha is delighted to be performing at South Hill Park for the first time and has thoroughly enjoyed rehearsing for this heartwarming play under the attentive eye of the lovely Jenny Hooper.

Previous roles include Eliza in My Fair Lady, Vera in Stepping Out, Eloise in Bone Chiller, Yvette in 'Allo 'Allo and Barbara in Pack of Lies.

Trisha would like to thank her fabulous fellow cast members for their welcoming arms and the hours of laughter. She would also like to thank her wonderful family for their endless patience and support - they will bear witness to the fact that unlike her character 'Kate', Trisha is never hesitant to hit a dance floor.

Maggie Mundy - Heather Wilson
Heather has performed in community productions at South Hill Park since she was 10 years old, when she first appeared as an Oompa Loompa in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. Since then Heather has played a variety of parts on the stage ('The Magic Finger' and 'Macbeth'), and screen, most recently in Rik Mayall's last British Feature Film 'One By One'.

Christina Mundy - Nicole Baigrie
Nicole has thoroughly enjoyed working with the whole cast and crew - they are such a lovely group of people and it has been a chance for her to work with friends. The female characters in this play remind her of all the strong Celtic women in her family, who inspire her.

Jenny tutored Nicole through all four of her LAMDA exams and they have kept in touch ever since, but this is the first time they have worked together on a play.

Previous credits: Shout! The Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park

Rose Mundy - Monica Bakir
Monica has really loved working on this production - she has long been a fan of Jenny Hooper! She would like to especially thank the extraordinary Gerri Farrell, for taking the time to help her navigate through the lyrical world of Donegal.

Previous theatre credits at South Hill Park include: Seussical the Musical, Peter Pan, Sweeney Todd, Stepping Out, Blood Brothers, Just So, Wind In The Willows, James and The Giant Peach, Noughts & Crosses, Marat/Sade, Godspell and The Mystery of X.

Agnes Mundy - Katie Healy
Having performed for as long as she can remember, Katie has been lucky enough to play a variety of roles in many shows over the last 26 years. With her heart firmly rooted in musical theatre Katie has played many characters from Molly in Annie, to Florence Rabbit in The Wind in The Willows and even Pantomime Princesses Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Cinderella! Katie is so excited to be playing the part of Agnes in Dancing at Lughnasa, her first straight play since she was 16 years old! She has loved every moment of this new challenge and hopes that the audience falls in love with this very special play and it's cast of beautiful people just as much as she has.

Michael Evans - Joel Embury
This is Joel's first appearance at SHP, and is delighted to play the role of Michael Evans. Joel has done a mixture of professional and amateur work. Recently playing Al Capone for The Discovery Channel. In his spare time, you can find Joel playing Guitar in local venues.

Gerry Evans - Clive Elkington
Clive has been performing for a majority of his life with ambition to do so from a young age. Some recent notable roles include Julian in 'The Drowned World', Wickersham Brother in 'Seussical The Musical', Mum in 'East', the 86year old waiter Alfie in 'One Man, Two Guvnors', Narrator in 'Blood Brothers - The Play', Conker the Elf for 'Lapland UK', and Clov in 'Endgame' among many others. Clive performed a One Man Show, 'The Hat, The Cane, The Moustache' at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013, a tribute show to Charlie Chaplin, whom he does appearances as on occasion. In 2012, he had the opportunity to perform in three of the four London 2012 Olympic Ceremonies. 2011 saw him set up his own media production company, producing Video, Film and Theatre, which has grown from strength to strength in that time. In 2010, he appeared in an episode of 'Not Going Out' as the Pizza Boy. 2008 took him to Butlins to fulfil a childhood dream of being a Redcoat for a year, before coming home to focus on his acting again. You can find out more about Clive at www.cliveelkington.co.uk

Father Jack - John McGee
My second time as an Irish priest, having recently played Father Mullarkey in 'Once A Catholic', although the roles could not be more different. It is interesting to muse on how Father Jack would have got on in a girls' Convent School in Willesden in the 1950s. Last seen in the Studio in Livelywood's production of the delightful three hander 'Heroes' in 2014 playing the role of Henri.

Creative Team

Jenny Hooper, Director
Having not directed at SHP for over 15 years, I was thrilled to be asked by LivelyWood Pictures to direct Dancing at Lughnasa. Working with this fabulous cast and this beautifully written play, has been a breath of fresh air in the current climate.

This play is loosely based on the lives of Brian Friel's mother and aunts who lived in Glenties, on the west coast of Donegal. Set in the summer of 1936, the play depicts the late summer days when love briefly seems possible for three of the Mundy sisters (Chris, Rose, and Kate) and the family welcomes home the frail elder brother, who has returned from a life as a missionary in Africa. However, as the summer ends, the family foresees the sadness and economic privations under which they will suffer as all hopes fade. The play takes place in early August, around the festival of Lughnasa, the Celtic harvest festival. The play describes a bitter harvest for the Mundy sisters, a time of reaping what has been sown but most of all it is a play about love, family and memory. Sit back and enjoy the Mundy family.

Directorial Credits
At South Hill Park - Beauty and the Beast, Crux, My mother said I never should

At Quince Players - A Woman of No Importance 1993, The Country Wife 1998, Jack and the Beanstalk 1995, Dick Whittington 2000, Snow White 2003, Absent Friends 2016

Clive Elkington, Producer
Clive set LivelyWood Pictures up in 2011 with the aim to make short films. That slowly developed into producing theatre, events and promotional videos. Since then LWP has produced four theatrical productions, over 150 videos, and even a documentary that screened at Cannes Film Festivals' Short Film Corner in 2015. LivelyWood Pictures has become a Media Production Company in every sense of the term. The tagline 'Productivity at its liveliest' says it all.

Neil Hodgson, Set Design