Winner of the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics Award for best play, directed on the Coastside by Dutch Fritz, playwright Brian Friel's haunting autobiographical drama spotlights five unmarried Irish sisters in quiet Ballybeg - Irish for "town" - in County Donegal, Ireland.
Both sad and exhilarating, it is "about the human spirit and the ability to find joy in the direst circumstances," said Fritz.
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Michael (Rob Hedges) stands in front of the family in which his life took shape in "Dancing at Lughnasa," opening Friday in Half Moon Bay. |
In a paean to memory and continuity with a hint of magic, the sisters juggle a faith that doesn't douse their pagan bedrock, the Depression, a new knitting factory, world war - and the Festival of Lughnasa, celebrating the pagan god of the harvest.
Also in their lives are their brother, Father Jack (Kris Carey), a priest who served in Africa's leper colonies before returning home broken in body and spirit - temporarily - and Michael's charming but irresponsible father Gerry (Will Springhorn) who still tugs at Chris' heartstrings.
"It's a pretty heartfelt story," said Cook. "It emphasizes the relationship of family."
The story is seen through Michael's eyes in Friel's reminiscences of the 1936 Festival of Lughnasa.
"What fascinated me about that memory is that it owes nothing to fact," Friel writes in the script. "Dancing as if the very heart of life and all its hopes might be found in those assuaging notes and those hushed rhythms."
To convey Michael's narration, actor Hedges jumps between boy and man. "I try to inflect my voice more the way a kid would," he said.
The play unfolds gradually and poignantly, with what Fritz calls notable writing and ensemble work.
"I just think Brian Friel is a wonderful writer," Fritz said. "He's captured one last moment ... when he connects to all of them."
"What's beautiful about it is that it is not sentimental, it's not asking for pity for these people," said Longo, last seen locally in "Lost in Yonkers." "The play is about the details of their lives, about holding on, about the tiny moments that make up a life."
"I see more and more and more thematic things" in it, said Springhorn, a Millbrae resident.
Fritz, who teaches theater craft at Notre Dame de Namur University, says he is pleased with the way the cast has fused.
"It really seems that these women, even if they're not really related, are related in their love for the play and dedication to it," he said. "There are no prima donnas. No one's out for themselves. They support each other. It says a lot about the content."
He retained Bay Area dialect coach Richard Newton to help with the brisk Irish lilt, and Coastside ballet instructors Susan Hayward and Heidi Patterson to choreograph the fast-paced Irish steps.
"Dancing at Lughnasa" will run at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, at the Mel Mello Center for the Performing Arts at 1167 Main St. in Half Moon Bay. Tickets range from $15 to $30 at the door and also at Bay Book Company.
For information, or to reserve tickets, call 569-3266.
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AT A GLANCE
What: "Dancing at Lughnasa"
Where: Mel Mello Center for the Performing Arts, 1167 Main St., Half Moon Bay
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, June 8-30
Cost: $15-30
Information: 569-3266
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