Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society is delighted to announce the upcoming performance of “Dancing at Lughnasa” from the 16th to the 19th May 2024 in Donabate Parish Hall. “Dancing at Lughnasa” is Brian Friel’s award-winning semi-autobiographical two-act play set in the fictional Irish village of Ballybeg, Donegal, in 1936. The story is told from the perspective of Michael who recalls one summer of his childhood he spent with the five unmarried women who raised him: his mother and his aunts. Kate is a schoolteacher; Agnes and Rose knit gloves and help run the house along with Maggie and Christine who have no income. Their spare existence is interrupted by brief, colourful bursts of music from their first wireless Marconi radio. This is also the summer the women’s brother, Jack, returns from Uganda, where he worked as a missionary in a leper colony for 25 years. He suffers from malaria and has trouble remembering things. Meanwhile, Gerry, Michael’s father, a charming but unreliable Welsh wanderer, appears for the first time in his son’s life. The play portrays the strength and bravery of the sisters who wildly dance, fight, and battle to survive as they foresee the sadness and economic privations under which they will suffer as all hope’s fade. On stage you will see some familiar faces but also first-time actors with the society, while behind the scenes a production team will ensure that every other aspect is looked after when bringing the play to life on stage. “It’s fantastic to be working with this brilliant and enthusiastic cast and crew. We are doing our best to meet the challenge of building a set in a few hours, to put on what, we hope, will be our own special presentation of this great and much-loved play” said Paul Keogh from the construction and directing team. Tickets cost €12 and can be purchased on TicketSource or at the door. DPDS also extends an invitation to all people in the community to become a patron of the society and support the local arts. The annual fee is €60 per person and it includes two tickets for their biannual productions along with light refreshments. For info contact: donabateportrane.drama@gmail.com