City Circle Theatre Company Presents DANCING AT LUGHNASA

City Circle Theatre Company presents Dancing at Lughnasa at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts (CCPA) May 5-7 and 12-14. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 PM and the Sunday matinees are at 2 PM. Tickets are available online at www.CoralvilleArts.org, or by calling (319) 248-9370. Box office hours are phone only Wednesday-Friday, noon-4:00 PM, and in person one hour before show time at 1301 5th Street in Coralville.

Life isn't easy in 1930s rural Ireland, but five unmarried sisters laugh, argue, and dance together as they eke out a living. Widely regarded as playwright Brian Friel's masterpiece, Dancing at Lughnasa won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Play, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.

According to the production's Music Consultant, Tara McGovern, Dancing at Lughnasa is not a musical but is a play heavily influenced by music. "There is music in just about every scene." McGovern says, "Someone is always singing or getting swept off their feet to dance."

When director Elizabeth Tracey was looking for music for the end of the show, McGovern introduced composer Dan Vaughn, who then wrote an original composition for the production. Vaughn, an Irish whistle and flute player based out of Iowa City, has performed with bands such as Gaelic Storm and Flook, and is currently a member of Blame Not the Bard. Vaughn will also perform with other local Irish musicians in the Pop-up Pub, an immersive experience in the CCPA lobby before each performance of Dancing at Lughnasa.

Elizabeth Tracey directs the show and, as the daughter of Irish immigrants herself, she finds a personal connection as well as universal relevance to the story.

"Dancing at Lughnasa is a memory play and as Brian Friel casts his mind back to the summer of 1936 in Donegal, Ireland, he is not only evoking the interior landscape of a group of women trapped by their sense of duty, morality, and responsibility, but the opposing exterior forces of music, dance and fantasy. These sisters may be from rural Ireland, but their struggles are world-wide," Tracey says.

City Circle's Dancing at Lughnasa experience will offer audiences several ways to engage with the Ireland depicted in the show. Tracey and her production team are transforming the CCPA lobby into a Pop-up Pub where, one hour before each performance, the audience can gather to enjoy a bit of Irish pub life complete with live tunes from traditional Irish musicians and a selection of Irish beers, in addition to the familiar concession items.

Tracey is also working with Dramaturgs Jacob Kilburg and Emil Rinderspacher to create displays in the lobby that set the stage for the audience and explain what life in Ireland was like in 1936, as industrialization was taking hold of the country. This additional context will help audiences enjoy the show even more.

"Learning about specific cultures enhances our understanding of humanity and sheds light on the human condition," Tracey says.

Dancing at Lughnasa is produced with the generous sponsorship of Emil Rinderspacher and Susan Goodner.

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