University Theatre opens its fall season with the Brian Friel play “Dancing at Lughnasa.”
Performances are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8-9 and 13-17, and 2 p.m. Oct. 11 and 18 in the Studio Theatre on the first floor of the Temple Building.
Directed by Laura Lippman, lecturer of acting and directing at UNL’s Carson School of Theatre and Film, the performance tells the story of the five Mundy sisters who live in a cottage just outside the village of Ballybeg, Ireland in 1936. It is Lughnasa, the harvest festival, and the sisters — Kate (played by Jesse Debolt), Maggie (Michelle Colette Ingle), Agnes (Abby Uecker), Rose (Emmalee Allen) and Chris (Brenna Hill) — can barely make the ends meet as they care for their brother Jack (Thomas Boyle) and Chris’ seven-year-old son Michael (Trey Martinez).
Friel depicts two days in the life of this family trapped in a challenging domestic situation yet a part of the broader circumstances, both Christian and pagan.
The production is designed by undergraduates Kaitlyn Peterson (scenery), Megan Cudd (costumes), Sonia Sandoval (sound), and graduate student Sheric Hull (lighting). Stage manager is undergraduate Amy Almond.
Tickets are available online, at the Lied Center Ticket Office, 301 N. 12th St., by calling 402-472-4747 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays, and one hour prior to performances in the Temple Lobby. The Studio Theatre has limited seating so reservations are recommended.
