The UMBC Department of Theatre presents Brian Friel's Tony Award winning play Dancing at Lughnasa from April 24 to May 4 in the UMBC Theatre. Friel's tale of being raised by five sisters in Ireland in 1936 was developed first by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, then moved to London for an extended run on the West End and after that to Broadway where it won the Outer Circle Critics Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Tony Award in 1991 for Best Play.
Dancing at Lughnasa is a memory play, the events of a certain summer when Michael, the illegitimate son of an extended family, was seven. Michael leads us through this bittersweet time, both commenting on the action and reliving scenes with his mother and her sisters. New York critics commented on its tie to Tennessee Williams' Glass Menagerie, another memory play where the son leads us through the events, but felt it was "a unique and wondrous experience" in its own right.
Director Christopher Owens feels "The essential and uplifting experience of the play is its celebration of things ending. Lughnasa is the harvest festival, the time when all the crops are in, summer is done with its warmth and blooms, and we're about to feel the chill of winter. The son is also ending his innocence about a number of things and his family is about to break up but what Friel (and the son) asks us to do is to celebrate this ending--to sing, to dance, to dream even though we know the reality is changing. It's a very Irish way of thinking as well, the wake being a good example, where we find great joy at the completion of the journey."
UMBC's production features Guest Artist Michael Gabel, a professional actor from Washington, D.C. in the role of Father Jack, the eldest brother of this family who has just returned to Ireland from an extended mission in East Africa. Gabel's work has been seen at the Kennedy Center (where he was in the original cast of the long-running Sheer Madness), as well as at Ford's Theatre, The Folger Theatre Group, Shakespeare Theatre, Olney Theatre, and Roundhouse Theatre. Gabel teaches for the Screen Actors Guild Conservatory and will be guest lecturing on Film Acting during his time at UMBC. Michael Gabel appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.
Christopher Owens' previous productions for UMBC have included Blue Window and Baby With The Bathwater. It includes scenic and costume design by Elena Zlotescu, lighting and sound design by Terry Cobb, and vocal coaching by Lynn Watson. Irish Step Dance choreography is by New York choreographer Dawn Lester, a competitive Irish Step Dance herself who has done two other productions of the play.
"It is exciting for our students to have the opportunity to work with a couple of very talented guest artists." Owens commented. "I'd seen Michael Gabel's work in a few shows in D.C. some years ago and was very happy he was available and interested when we got ready to have auditions here for Father Jack at the end of January. I've worked with Dawn on two other professional productions and know that she'll bring a lot to the dance that's at the heart of this play."
Dancing at Lughnasa is recommended for the entire family. Showtimes are 8 p.m. on April 24 (preview), April 25, May 2, May 3 and 4 p.m. on April 27, May 1, May 4. The theatre will be dark on April 26. Admission is $10 general; $8 UMBC faculty and staff; $5 students. The April 24 preview is $3 for everyone. The performance on May 1 is free to the UMBC campus community. Ticket proceeds benefit the Department of Theatre Scholarship Fund. For reservations and information call the Box Office at (410) 455-2476.
