“Is the play about this?”

Is the play about this?

This note towards Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) is an example of Brian Friel’s habit of asking himself questions as part of his composition process.

The Creative Process

Dance House, 3 September 2020

This is a recording of a live improvisation by dancers Marion Cronin, Sarah Ryan, and Lucia Kickham whilst listening to Zosia Kuczyńska’s placeholder recording of the opening monologue from Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa (1990).

Lámhscríbhinn Ghaolmhar

Has the play its own reality?

In this note dated 28 May 1989, Brian Friel interrogates the reality of his own play, Dancing at Lughnasa (1990), in relation to its narrator.

The Creative Process

Now is it coming together?

This is Jessie Keenan’s original dance improvisation to audio she recorded in response to the question ‘Now is it coming together?’

“So we silence the tongue and let the whole body speak....” – Brian Friel

“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