Tony Award-winning “Dancing at Lughnasa” takes the stage at Centenary November 10-13
SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary Theatre Program (CTP) presents Brian Friel’s masterpiece Dancing at Lughnasa at the College’s Marjorie Lyons Playhouse November 10 through 13. The run includes performances at 7:30 p.m. on November 10, 11, and 12, concluding with a 2:00 p.m. matinee on November 13. Tickets are available at centenary.edu/mlptickets.
Set in a small Irish village in 1936, Friel’s story utilizes the memories of a child to follow five unmarried sisters and the unexpected disruptions and shifts that occur in their lives during one fateful summer. Dr. Tyrrell Woolbert will direct CTP’s production of Lughnasa, the critically-acclaimed 1992 recipient of the Tony Award for Best Play.
Woolbert, co-artistic director and resident dramaturg of the Los Angeles-based Trebuchet Players, holds an M.A. in theatre studies and dramaturgy from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. in theatre from The Ohio State University.
“My favorite thing about this play is how it constantly calls attention to its own theatricality,” said Woolbert. “In both subtle and explicit ways, Friel’s narrator reminds the audience that this story about the Mundy sisters is an approximate reconstruction — a mediated facsimile — a memory filtered through decades of subsequent experiences. This dramatic self-awareness helps reinforce what to me is Friel’s argument: joy and suffering coexist, and we can (perhaps must) learn to synthesize those opposing emotions.”
CTP’s production of Lughnasa features a talented cast of Centenary students, including Ophelia Scott as the narrator, Michael, and Emily Clarke, Theresa Johnson, Alicia Walton, Josie Hodges, and Kaeleigh Graham as the five Mundy sisters. Camren Hohn as the sisters’ brother, Jack, and A.R. Rossomando as Gerry, a figure from their past, complete the Lughnasa cast.
Woolbert finds deep meaning in the retrospective nature of Lughnasa and believes that audiences will find much to reflect upon as well.
“Through his narration, I see Michael analyzing how the pain and the pleasure of his life have informed each other,” explained Woolbert. “My hope is that guests are inspired with some similar kind of existential empowerment. Michael could not control the circumstances of his formative years, but he can choose to learn from them, honoring the pain and celebrating the triumphs of the people he loved.”
Tickets for Dancing at Lughnasa are available at centenary.edu/mlptickets. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and military personnel, $10 for students (with ID) and FREE for Centenary students, faculty, and staff. For more information about the Centenary Theatre Program, visit centenary.edu/theatre.