An Irishman, bathed in a pool of white light, begins to recount a story from his childhood. The story takes place when he was quite young, yet he remembers every last detail in "Dancing at Lughnasa," this term's mainstage play, which opened on Tuesday night.
This man is Michael Mundy (J. Morgan Drmaj '95), recounting the story of his family's summer retreat in County Donegal, Ireland.
As Brian Fiel, the playwright, wrote, "When I was a boy we always spent a portion of our summer holidays in my mother's old home in County Donegal. I have memories of those holidays that are as pellucid, as intense, as if they had happened last week."
And so in the Moore Theater, the audience witnesses the trials and happinesses of a family living under a conservative government during a time when forces of liberation are spreading through the world.
The set was very finely crafted, filled with the earthen vibrancy that one would associate with traditional Irish music. The costumes, too, added excellent coloration to the story.
Kudos should go to the set designers and stage managers.
The play is set in 1936, a time when American jazz music was still popular, and the sounds of jazz and traditional Irish music were filling the airwaves in Ireland.
In the first scene, we see the interaction between the Mundy sisters Maggie (Skye Gurney '99), Chris (Amanda Jones '97), Agnes (Suzanne Breselor '97) and Rose (Emily Hay '98). The sisters, probably in their twenties, mainly take care of their house and discuss matters of love.
Their disparate personalities greatly enrich the play. Maggie, the clever and playful smoker, is a fantastic foil to the naive, childlike Rose, who acts much younger than she is.
Similarly, the passionate, daydreaming Chris provides a sharp contrast to the domesticated and demure Agnes.
The four girls struggle to raise Chris's "love child," whose father, Gerry (Tercelin Kirtley '98), is a fast-talking, amorous rascal. Gerry rarely visits Chris because he is constantly attempting to make a fortune in some far-fetched business, whether in Ireland or abroad.
His son is none other than Michael, the narrator. When Chris talks to the young Michael in the play, the audience sees the older Michael on the other side of the stage, answering for his younger self.
The sisters constantly give Michael little riddles to solve, but he remains touchingly uninterested -- he simply wants to see his father more often.
The Mundy family owns a radio (a cutting-edge invention of the time) which brings the sisters endless joy through its broadcasts of music the world over.
The Mundy sisters dance buoyantly upon hearing the music, while older sister Kate (Jo Weingarten '98) acts as the puritanical guardian-figure, advising her sisters not to "dance around like pagans."
But even she joins in the fray, unable to remain aloof from her sisters' joy and the propulsive Irish groove emanating from the radio. Weingarten plays the character well, remaining a stern, yet compassionate maternal figure to her sisters.
In another scene, Gerry dances with different sisters to the sounds of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes." Kirtley plays this scene skillfully, utilizing the bouncy, liberating tune to fully bring out his playful, cheerful demeanor.
Kate, adamantly insusceptible to the man and the music, constantly advises Chris to break all ties with Gerry.
More problems arise upon the arrival of older brother Jack (Timothy McCann '97). Having served as a minister in Uganda, Jack wants to be with his surviving family for his final years.
The sisters find a completely changed Jack, one thoroughly influenced by the tribal, deeply spiritual Ugandan culture.
His mind no longer conceives time, a crucial Western concept, yet Jack is more at peace with himself than any of the other characters.
McCann turns in a great performance, recounting tribal anecdotes to his incredulous sisters.
He tells them several beautiful, humorous stories about dancing lepers and exchange ceremonies, always with a calm tone of voice in contrast to Kate's uptight rebukes.
The play closed with Drmaj telling the audience that his most treasured memory from those days is that of dancing during the Lughnasa festival, a memory which consists more of magical lore that exists in his mind than any actual factual event.
It was a sweet closing to a sprightly, buoyant play, as Drmaj stood in the autumnal spotlight at the end.
