“don’t corset it with preconceived ideas of form”

Let it drift as it wishes.

In this note towards Dancing at Lughnasa (1990), we can see Friel reminding himself of the need to allow the play to develop freely without becoming bogged down with preconceived ideas of form.

The Creative Process

Robbie Blake's blue notebook, 8

In this page from Robbie Blake’s project notebooks, Robbie sets out the aims and methodology of a week of workshops and rehearsals at Dance House in August 2020. They also make a note to ask Zosia Kuczyńska to record some monologues from Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) as a tool for generating material.

“If dancing is the alternative to language, has language been inadequate for these people? Has language failed these people? Has language betrayed these people?” – Brian Friel

“And all starting points are arbitrary – and then become an essence.” – Brian Friel

“Is this vague notion above somehow close to the core of the play?” – Brian Friel

The Creative Process

Running the Ending Compilation (Dublin Fringe Festival application)

This video is a compilation of different performances of Robbie Blake’s live version of ‘Running the ending’, inspired by Brian Friel’s composition process for Dancing at Lughnasa (1990).