Dancing at Lughnasa
by Brian Friel
Booking and details
Olivier Theatre
National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
The award-winning drama from the writer of Translations
Harvest time in County Donegal, 1936.
Outside the village of Ballybeg, the five Mundy sisters battle poverty to raise seven-year-old Michael and care for their brother, ‘Uncle’ Jack.
During the Festival of Lughnasa, Pagan and Christian meet and collide. The sisters fight each other, love each other, dance, yearn and survive.
Brian Friel’s Olivier Award-winning play is an astonishing evocation of a family’s world on the brink of change.
Josie Rourke directs this striking revival, with a cast including Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls), Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Ted) and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Translations).
Performed 6 April — 27 May 2023 in the Olivier Theatre.
★★★★★
‘A nostalgic delight’
Sunday Times
★★★★
‘A beautiful new staging’
Financial Times
★★★★
‘A shimmering, beautifully acted revival’
The Stage
Suitability
Please note: This production contains haze, swearing and incidents of discriminatory language which some people may find upsetting.
Gallery
Production images
Rehearsal Images
Cast
Amy Brown
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Sean Donegan
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Lauren Farrell
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Louisa Harland
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Bláithín Mac Gabhann
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Siobhán McSweeney
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa, As You Like It, The Captain of Köpenick, The Kitchen, Mother Courage and her Children and England People Very Nice.
Justine Mitchell
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa, Rutherford and Son, Beginning (also in the West End), The Plough and the Stars, Children of the Sun, Detroit, The White Guard, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, Philistines, Coram Boy, The House of Bernarda Alba and The Night Season.
Ardal O'Hanlon
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Alison Oliver
For the National Theatre: The Other Place, Dancing at Lughnasa
Tom Riley
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
George Turner
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa, The Plough and the Stars, Juno and the Paycock and Translations
Caitríona Williams
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa
Production team
Director
Josie Rourke
Josie Rourke
Josie Rourke is an acclaimed theatre and film director, and the former Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse and the Bush Theatre.
Set and Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Mark Henderson
Mark Henderson
Mark Henderson is a lighting designer with over 40 years’ experience working extensively for all the major theatre, dance, and opera companies in the UK.
Choreographer
Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor
Born in 1970, Wayne McGregor CBE is a multi-award-winning British choreographer and director, internationally renowned for trailblazing innovations in performance that have radically redefined dance in the modern era. Driven by an insatiable curiosity about movement and its creative potentials, his experiments have led him into collaborative dialogue with an array of artistic forms, scientific disciplines, and technological interventions. The startling and multi-dimensional works resulting from these interactions have ensured McGregor’s position at the cutting edge of contemporary arts for almost thirty years.
Composer
Hannah Peel
Hannah Peel
Hannah Peel is a composer and musician with a flow of solo albums and collaborative releases over the last 10 years, including Fir Wave which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. Her work makes connections between science, nature and the creative arts, through an explorative approach to electronic, classical and traditional music.
Sound Designer
Emma Laxton
Emma Laxton
For the National: Dancing at Lughnasa, nut, Men Should Weep, The Black T-shirt Collection (also for Fuel and on UK tour) and Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat
Video Content Creator
Chris Ross
Chris Ross
Christopher Ross is a Cinematographer, specialising in the photography of long form narrative projects.
Casting
Alastair Coomer CDG
Alastair Coomer CDG
For the National Theatre: over 50 productions including The Grapes of Wrath, Mnemonic (2024), Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre), Till the Stars Come Down, The House of Bernarda Alba, Othello, The Crucible (also West End), Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Corn is Green, The Normal Heart, The Welkin, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Mosquitoes, This House, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, One Man, Two Guvnors and War Horse
Associate Director
Séimí Campbell
Séimí Campbell
For the National Theatre: Dancing at Lughnasa (associate director), Hex (associate director)
Associate Choreographer
Associate Video Designer
Arthur Skinner
Arthur Skinner
Arthur Skinner (he/him) is a Senior Sound and Video Technician (Video Specialism) at the National Theatre.
From the bookshop
Dancing at Lughnasa Ticket prices
All performances
£20, £39, £49, £59, £69, £89
For concessions and discounts, see Ways to save
Visit our Ticketing FAQs for information on how to book, ticket exchanges and more.
Photography (Siobhán McSweeney, Justine Mitchell, Louisa Harland, Bláithín Mac Gabhann and Alison Oliver) by Will Douglas.