29 pages • 58 minutes read
Dancing At Lughnasa
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Dancing at Lughnasa is a two-act play by Irish dramatist Brian Friel. The play debuted in 1990 and received many accolades, including several Tony Awards. It was also adapted into a 1998 feature film directed by Pat O’Connor.
Dancing at Lughnasa is set during the summer of 1936 in the Irish town of Ballybeg. Though a fictional town, Ballybeg contains many similarities to Glenties, in County Donegal, where Friel lived until he was ten years old. In keeping with its autobiographical strains, Dancing at Lughnasa is framed as a memory play. The play’s action takes place in the past, pausing for intermittent reflection from a man, Michael Evans. Michael recounts his childhood from a present-day perspective, musing on numerous events we never see played out on the stage.
At the beginning of the first act, an adult Michael narrates his memories of the summer of 1936, when he was seven years old. That summer, Michael lived in a cottage in the small town of Ballybeg, Ireland, with his mother, Christina, and four aunts—Kate, Maggie, Rose, and Agnes. The sisters serve different functions within the household; Maggie runs the house, Rose and Agnes knit gloves to sell in town, and Unlock all 29 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
