Dancing at Lughnasa impresses
at Hudson Village Theatre

A revival of the Brian Friel play first presented at the Centaur in 1980

By Byron Toben

April 11, 2024

If you enjoy non-judgmental stories, don’t miss the current production of Brian Friel’s wonderful play, Dancing at Lughnasa. Friel, who has been called the Irish Chekov, wrote 24 highly regarded plays. The Centaur produced it in 1980, directed by Elsa Bolam. Here, the Hudson Players Club recruited Donna Byrne to direct this revival.

Set in the fictional village of Ballybeg around 1936, it centers around the Mundy family of one brother and five sisters. Chekov wrote his Three Sisters always dreaming of moving to Moscow. Here, the five dream of lifting themselves out of poverty by marriage or otherwise.

The sisters are Kate (Susan Corbett), the eldest, who has taken on a mother role since their late mother passed, Agnes (Lois Dellar), Chris (Dawn Hartigan), Rose (Tasmin Horsfall) and Maggie (Susan Walsh).

… [the play] centers around the Mundy family of one brother and five sisters. Chekov wrote his Three Sisters always dreaming of moving to Moscow. Here, the five dream of lifting themselves out of poverty by marriage or otherwise.

Agnes and Rose supplement Kate’s salary as a school teacher by knitting gloves for sale. Eventually, Agnes and Rose, losing their glove knitting sideline to the arrival of an automated glove factory, move to England, where they later perish in poverty. The sister’s older brother, Father Jack (William Jackson), has just returned home, being recalled from a 25-year stint as a missionary in Africa.

The whole play is narrated by Michael Evans (Steve Walters), an out-of-wedlock son of Chris and Jerry Evans (Eric Tremblay), a travelling gramophone salesman who never lives up to his promise to marry her upon his next visit. He does, however, dance with her to the tune of Cole Porter’s 1934 Anything Goes. I am not sure if Friel designated that song in his script or if it was a directorial choice by Ms. Byrne. As a Cole Porter fan, I enjoyed that charming bit.

Speaking of dancing, it was suspected that Father Jack had been recalled, not because of possible malaria, but that he had “gone native,” admiring the tribes in Uganda for their uninhibited dancing style, which resonated with the Irish annual pre-Christian Lughnasa harvest festival, a relief from the restrictive ultra-conservatism of Catholic Ireland.

Spotted in the audience when I saw this show on April 4 was top Montreal actress Ellen David, who reminded us that she had appeared in the Centaur version years ago in the role of Rose.

Dancing at Lughnasa continues at Hudson Village Theatre until April 14.

hudsonplayersclub.ca

Images: Karen Delorme

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Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated websites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner, and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.