Dancing At Lughnasa Tickets

The Old Vic will be the home to Dancing At Lughnasa, the story of five sisters living in the Irish countryside in the 1930s. It will feature the West End debut of Corrs singer Andrea Corr and direction from Anna Mackmin. Brain Friel’s story appears at the Old Vic in February 2009 as part of the ‘new look’ season recently announced by the theatre’s Artistic Director Kevin Spacey. Other plays in the season include Complicit, A Winter’s Tale and The Cherry Orchard.

The show originally appeared in the UK in 1990 where its run at the National Theatre was met with critical acclaim. It has won many awards since this time including the 1991 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the Best Play at the same year’s Evening Standard Awards. The show is set in 1936 in County Donegal, Ireland. We follow seven year old Michael Evans as he spends his summer at his aunt’s cottage. Whilst there his uncle Jack returns home from missionary work in Uganda, where he had been for the last twenty five years. His memory is deteriorating from malaria and it affects the whole family, from Michael’s aunts Kate, Maggie, Agnes and Rosie to his mother Christina. As well as appearing at the West End at the National Theatre (and later the Phoenix), the show has also had success on Broadway – winning awards like its London counterpart.

Andrea Corr’s previous credits have included work in movies and winning an award in the US in 2005. Kevin Spacey is very happy with the choice of actors, saying “I couldn't be happier that we've attracted such a terrific cast to Dancing at Lughnasa”. This cast also includes Niamh Cusack from Heartbeat, Susan Lynch from the Almeida Theatre’s The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot and Michelle Fairley.

Director Anna Mackmin was the associate director of the Sheffield Crucible and London’s Gate Theatre. She has previously directed Burn/Chatroon/Citizenship for the National Theatre. Further credits for the show include design by Lez Brotherston, lighting by Paul Constable and choreography by Scarlett Mackmin.

Dancing at Lughnasa is at The Old Vic theatre from Thursday 26th February 2009 to Saturday 9th May 2009.