Anglesboro Drama Group are deep in rehearsals and thrilled to present ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ by Brian Friel as part of our 2026 drama season. Live performances run over five nights, from Wednesday 26th March to Sunday 30th March, at Anglesboro Community Hall.
Friel is one of Ireland’s most celebrated playwrights, and Dancing at Lughnasa is widely regarded as his masterpiece. First performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1990, the production transferred to the West End in London and Broadway in New York, where it was a major hit. It earned Friel both a Tony Award and an Olivier Award – the highest honours in American and British theatre respectively. The play is a haunting tribute to the spirit and resilience of the past.
The story is told through the memories of the illegitimate son of one of the sisters, as he recalls the five women who raised him. When the sisters acquire their first radio, its music transforms them from prim Catholic women into shrieking, stomping banshees in their own kitchen. From these small moments spring the cracks that fracture the family’s foundation forever.
The play explores themes of Catholicism versus paganism, pleasure versus responsibility, change versus nostalgia, and economic uncertainty. At its heart, it is a deeply human story about love, loss, and the bonds of sisterhood. Dancing at Lughnasa was later adapted into a 1998 film of the same name, starring Meryl Streep as Kate Mundy and directed by Pat O’Connor.
We have a wonderful cast lined up for this year’s production. The Mundy Sisters will be played by Sharon O’Carroll as Maggie, Eibhlín Walsh-Boland as Christine, Michelle Frewen as Agnes, Amy O’Connor as Rose, and Margaret Ann McGrath as Kate. The role of Michael is taken by Ronan McDermott, Jack by Dan McCarthy, Gerry Evans by Eamonn McGrath, and the young Michael by Emmet Boland. Jim Keane will direct. As in previous years, great care has gone into the set design and decoration, and we are confident it will impress.
We hope our wonderful audience will join us once again in Anglesboro for a memorable night of amateur drama. This is one of the great works of our Irish theatrical heritage – not to be missed.
