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Bread & Circus Theatre’s Latest Production,
Dancing at Lughnasa,
is All about Love, Family, and Memories
DATE \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" January 21, 2010 Hilliard, Ohio – Love and family, and the entanglements of the two, are the themes intertwined throughout the Bread and Circus Theatre Company (BCTCO) production of Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel, which will be performed Fridays and Saturdays, February 12, 13, 19, and 20 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, February 14, at 2:30 p.m. at the Harmony Artistic Center, 3979 Parkway Lane, in Hilliard. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. For reservations, call 614-470-4895, or visit www.bctco.org.
The Tony Award winning Dancing at Lughnasa tells the story of an Irish country family in the early part of the 20th century through the eyes of Michael Evans, and his memory of August 1936, when he lived in the town of Ballyberg, County Donegal, with his mother, Christina, and his four aunts: Kate, a Catholic school teacher; Maggie, a jokester and the family confidant; Agnes, fastest knitter in Ballyberg and the family caregiver; and Rose, the free spirit who is eternally a child. It’s an eventful month for Michael and for the Mundy sisters. Their only brother, Father Jack, returns from 25 years of being a missionary in Africa, to recuperate from a bout of malaria. And Michael’s far-roving father, Gerry, makes a surprise visit to check-in with Christina, and fall madly in love for the first time...again.
Most transforming of all, though, is the sisters’ purchase of a Marconi wireless set, which quickly takes a "voodoo" hold over the women – especially during the three-week-long Festival of Lughnasa, which heralds the harvest season. Through Michael’s memories, we learn how the music the wireless brings to their home, and the dancing it engenders, enables everyone to cope with the troubles of their life and reap a harvest of love and anger, sorrow and joy.
The Cast
Kate is played by BRITT KLINE, a veteran of numerous local productions, and recently seen on the BCTCO stage in last season’s The Chalk Garden. Playing Maggie is KATHY HYLAND, well known to Little Theatre Off Broadway audiences and artistic director of BCTCO’s Buckeye Youth Theatre. The roles of Agnes and Rose are being played by BCTCO newcomer CARLA CARPENTER and JESSICA JONES, last seen at BCTCO in The Chalk Garden. CATHY RINELLA, who last appeared with BCTCO in Little Women, plays Michael’s mother, Christina.
The men woven into the lives of the Mundy sisters are Father Jack, played by BCTCO veteran PETE SWINGLE, last seen in Major Barbara; Michael’s father, Gerry Evans, played by SAM BLYTHE; and, of course, ALLEN TALISIN, last seen at BCTCO in Little Women, who plays Michael himself, the young man whose memories bring this rich Irish tale to life.
Dancing at Lughnasa is directed by JASON SPEICHER, a BCTCO regular, who was last seen on stage in the season opener, Right Ho, Jeeves. Jason also directed BCTCO’s popular Alice in Wonderland and Little Women.
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Bread and Circus Theatre Company, founded in 1997, is known for top quality presentations of classics from the Golden Age of theatre. For more information, contact Aynn Titchenal, Marketing Coordinator, at 614-599-0338; or Howard Carpenter, Artistic Director, at 614-570-0385.