Dancing at Lughnasa - National Theatre (Olivier)

[joem]

Revival of Brian Friel's Olivier (not Oliver as per the National's programme!) winning 1991 play.

Confession time: despite meaning to, I have never seen one of Friel's plays before, an odd lacuna, so I cannot compare this to any other productions or even plays by the same playwright. This is only an opinion based on what I saw last night and not learned in any way. In fact, I'd rather not start the thread but someobody's got to.....

First impression is how well the space has been used to create the (artistically unwalled) farm in the middle of nowhere in the Irish countryside, beautifully set out providing several levels for the actors. Chapeau. The Olivier stage which is indeed very big, looks huge here.

The play is basically a slice of life in mid 1930's Ireland with the arrival of the wireless heralding modernity, the narrator (loosely based on the author) comments as an adult on what happened in his childhood participating mostly invisibly in the live action. It's a moment in time, caught just before big changes are due to happen - at family and society levels. The five sisters who share the simple, impoverished country life will be going their own ways, the returned (possibly disgraced) priest will yearn for a return to Africa and the cultural fusion he adores, and the love child narrator will leave the family cocoon. Is it a nostalgia fest? Not really, they language is simple but at times lyrical and the wistfulness is not for the "old times" but for happy, uncomplicated times such as the dancing checked in the title with its links to a freer, pagan past of harvest festivals and living in tune with nature.

It's not dramatic with a big D but it is inspiring and thought-provoking and sensibly directed and acted by a fine ensemble cast.

[mattnyc]

I love this play and I’m sad I won’t be able to see it so hopefully it’s able to stream at some point. But it’s between this and “Motive and the Cue” for me and I had to go with the latter.

[adolphus]

This is such a beautiful production. As the previous poster highlighted, full use is made of the Olivier stage, and the ensemble acting is flawless. Ardal O'Hanlon and Siobhan McSweeney make the most of their eye-catching roles, and the ever-excellent Justine Mitchell anchors the whole piece as Kate.

I've seen this play quite badly done, but somehow knew I was on safe ground here when Tom Vaughan-Lawlor walked down the set to begin his narration. I still feel the play is slightly baggy in parts, but the love, humour and grace with which Friel recounts the story of these remarkable women is so enriching and haunting. (There's a good article about the Friel's mother and aunts who inspired the play in the programme)

Thank you to the National for this 

[alessia]

I am going on Friday, looking forward! I have never seen it before.

[Jon]

I think the roles of Dougal and to an extent Jack Mooney typecast Ardal O'Hanlan as a comedy actor but he's a very good drama actor.

[clarefh]

I’m going to this on Saturday - absolutely love this play so very glad to hear it sounds like it’s as good as the casting seemed to promise.

[adamkinsey]

I can't decide whether to go or not. I sort of feel I should but I found Friel's Translations one if the dullest evenings ever spent in a theatre.

[barrowside]

I think it's Friel's masterpiece. So warm, funny, sad and so deeply moving. It wears it's themes much more subtly than Translations. I'm not seeing this production for another week or two but there seems to be a lot of love for it on twitter from those who have seen it.

[adamkinsey]

I just saw an opinion on Facebook that said the staging was beautiful but they left at half time as they were fed up not being able to hear half the cast! That seems a bit, well, weird.

[rmechanical]

Saw this last night and it is a fine production . I felt it needed a final tightening which I'm sure it will get as the run continues. By the way his best play is of course Faith Healer. The Royal Court production with Stephen Lewis made me see Blakey in a brand new light!

[max]

Very interested to see this. I love 'Translations' and some of Friel's earlier modern-set plays like 'Freedom Of The City' and 'Volunteers'. Less keen on his wistful elegaic writing, of which this seemed the start - all a bit sleepy to me in my early twenties when I saw the original production in the West End. But I have a feeling with more life experience of my own it may hit quite differently watching it now.

[lookingatthestars]

Apr 12, 2023 13:07:09 GMT Jon said:

I think the roles of Dougal and to an extent Jack Mooney typecast Ardal O'Hanlan as a comedy actor but he's a very good drama actor.

I agree. When I went to see the production of the Weir he was in I was fully expecting to see Dougal, but was surprised by his subtle characterization of Jim and how he delivered his ghostly monologue.

Don't think I'll get to see this, which is a pity, because it seems like a great production and I've seen far too many bad productions of this. It's an easy play to not do a good job with, because there is no real plot, no high drama moments, it's just about the relationships of these people and how they live. And a play like that needs really good direction and acting.

[alessia]

I don't know what to make of this, I didn't love it and didn't hate it. It has moving moments and some funny ones (although I perhaps found them less funny than some others in the audience). I thought Justine Mitchell(Kate) and Louisa Harland (Agnes) were the highlight.
The character of Gerry annoyed me immensely and I suspect that from the moment he came along, I couldn't shake the feeling of irritation for *spoiler* another man who just comes and goes into a woman's life and leaves her to deal with the consequences. And how some in the play actually defended him. No. I was on Kate's side all the way.
The priest coming back from Africa was entertaining- some of the dialogue about the pagan ceremonies were hilarious.
For me the play was a bit too long and the ending could have been more poignant. It just ends with another speech.
Going home afterwards I was thinking that perhaps Brian Friel's plays aren't my thing, as I've now seen three and they all left me cold (Translations was good but also VERY long, Aristocrats I can remember next to nothing). I wonder if, had I not heard so much praise for this, I'd have liked it more. Standing ovation from part of the audience at the end so most people loved it.

[alexandra]

Good performances from four of the five sisters. Everyone else miscast. And the pacing was wrong. I've seen a couple of very good productions of the play, and this just wasn't.

[nottobe]

I was looking to book this and was quite looking forward to seeing it based on the cast but I have to say I am now a little apprehensive about seeing it based on these comments and other things I've heard. I don't know the play at all and to be honest am not a big fan of character rather than narrative driven stories. I think I will still give it a go with a cheap ticket unless it gets terrible reviews but I have to say I am not as excited as I once was.

[jgblunners]

I’m sorry but it looks like they’ve just recycled the set for Translations

[londonpostie]

Apr 15, 2023 17:02:52 GMT jgblunners said:

I’m sorry but it looks like they’ve just recycled the set for Translations

Don't apologise, they have (this is the 4th occasion that fake grass has been used - first use was indeed Translations)

Also, Theresa May's wheat field from Phaedra (second use).

NT policy.

Should get them most of the way through Friel's oeuvre.

[jgblunners]

Apr 15, 2023 17:11:13 GMT londonpostie said:

Apr 15, 2023 17:02:52 GMT jgblunners said:

I’m sorry but it looks like they’ve just recycled the set for Translations

Don't apologise, they have (this is the 4th occasion that fake grass has been used - first use was indeed Translations)

Also, Theresa May's wheat field from Phaedra (second use).

NT policy.

I’m all for recycling pieces of scenery - the less waste the better! It’s just that the design is almost identical, but with vibrant vegetation instead of dull grass and mud. I wonder if the designer did it subconsciously or if they were encouraged to go along similar lines.

[teamyali]

Didn’t NT pledge to be more sustainable regarding the materials they used for their sets? I think this was discussed way back in the production of Paradise in 2021.

[barrowside]

What did you expect them to do? The play is set in Donegal at harvest time. The design follows Friel's instructions for the layout of the kitchen and garden precisely and given the vastness of The Olivier of course they've filled it out with the landscape.

[londonpostie]

Apr 15, 2023 17:18:36 GMT jgblunners said:

Apr 15, 2023 17:11:13 GMT londonpostie said:

Don't apologise, they have (this is the 4th occasion that fake grass has been used - first use was indeed Translations)

Also, Theresa May's wheat field from Phaedra (second use).

NT policy.

I’m all for recycling pieces of scenery - the less waste the better! It’s just that the design is almost identical, but with vibrant vegetation instead of dull grass and mud. I wonder if the designer did it subconsciously or if they were encouraged to go along similar lines.

 Pretty much the same location 100 years apart - rural Donegal. At the time of Translations, Ireland was on the cusp of fundamental change, as was the case 100 years later.

[londonpostie]

Anyway, as for the play, well .. 'Poignant' and 'bitter-sweet' barely covers it.

<SPOILER BELOW!>

"Why would the girls disappear to London and never come back?" asked the Englishwoman to my left at the end. As usual when Friel's on at the National, plenty of Irish about today; I can't think any of those were under any illusions.

Not so many years ago, I worked with a man who was born in south London and who spent his early years in an orphanage. I think he talked with me because I was delivering to the pub his mother had worked when she came over for a while. The pub was known back home as somewhere Catholic girls could go.

By then, he knew the village his mother was from, and probably still living (and thinking about him likely every day) - no secrets now with DNA matching on Ancestry.com


Very touching piece, Gentle, layered characterisations. Ya man Friel does a particularly rewarding turn in earned sentimentality, sweet nostalgia and raw-as-you-like social history.

[max]

Apr 15, 2023 17:35:27 GMT londonpostie said:

Apr 15, 2023 17:18:36 GMT jgblunners said:

I’m all for recycling pieces of scenery - the less waste the better! It’s just that the design is almost identical, but with vibrant vegetation instead of dull grass and mud. I wonder if the designer did it subconsciously or if they were encouraged to go along similar lines.

 Pretty much the same location 100 years apart - rural Donegal. At the time of Translations, Ireland was on the cusp of fundamental change, as was the case 100 years later.

Yes - entirely appropriate.  Set in Friel's fictional village Ballybeg (from the Irish Baile Beag) in Donegal.  One internet source claims 14 of his plays are set there.  I haven't checked that, but his breakthrough play 'Philadelphia, Here I Come!' (as early as 1964) is set there.

[barrowside]

It's wonderful that it's back at The National given that it was one of the key inspirations for Dancing at Lughnasa. When The National staged Fathers and Sons in the 1980s, Brian Friel and Thomas Kilroy walked along the South Bank and across Hungerford Bridge afterwards. The bridge was not the elegant design it is now, rather a long, open red shed that afforded a little scant shelter to dozens of homeless people. On seeing them Friel remarked to Kilroy that two of his aunts had ended up destitute in London. Kilroy encouraged him to write about it and it became one of the strands of this beautiful play.

[jgblunners]

Interesting, I wasn’t aware that they were explicitly the same location!