DANBURY, CONN. — The Western Connecticut State University Department of Theatre Arts will present Irish playwright Brian Friel’s award-winning play “Dancing at Lughnasa” in four performances on April 28 through 30, 2017, at the WCSU Visual and Performing Arts Center.

Evening performances will be at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, with matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, and Sunday, April 30. All performances will be in the MainStage Theatre at the VPAC on the university’s Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. Reservations at a general admission fee of $20 may be made online at www.eventbrite.com/e/dancing-at-lughnasa-tickets-31065478683 and by phone at (203) 837-8732.

The WCSU presentation of “Dancing at Lughnasa,” which premiered in April 1990 at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, will be directed by Adjunct Professor of Theatre Arts John Hickok, a veteran Shakespearean and Broadway musical actor whose directing credits include productions in London, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The producer is Professor of Theatre Arts Frank Herbert, and the choreographer is Adjunct Professor of Theatre Arts Elizabeth Parkinson.

Friel’s “memory play,” inspired by his recollection of his own mother and aunts during his youth in County Donegal, received the Olivier Award for Best Play of the Year in 1991, and Tony and New York Drama Critics’ Circle awards for Best Play for its Broadway run in 1992.

“Dancing at Lughnasa” captures a fondly remembered but fleeting summer in western Ireland where the five Mundy sisters share a rural village home, confronting the challenges of poverty, isolation and unfulfilled dreams with hopeful perseverance and an unquenchable passion for life. Connected tenuously to the world beyond their village by an unreliable radio broadcasting 1930s popular tunes and traditional Irish folk music, the sisters yearn to dance at the mid-summer Lughnasa festival rooted in pagan Celtic customs. Yet their story, told in reminiscence as an adult by the son of one of the sisters, provides the prelude to a future of financial insecurity and personal struggle that mirrored the economic hardships and social dislocation experienced widely in Ireland during the middle of the 20th century.

“‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ does not dilute that sadness — the mean, cold facts of reality,” New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich wrote when Friel’s play debuted on Broadway. “But first, this play does exactly what theatre was born to do, carrying both its characters and audience aloft on those waves of distant music and ecstatic release that, in defiance of all language and logic, let us dance and dream just before night must fall.”

The roles of the Mundy sisters will be performed by Johnna Fettinger, of Southbury, as Kate; Jaclyn Mercer, of New Milford, as Maggie; Shea Coughlin, of Sherman, as Chris; Bailey McCann, of New Fairfield, as Rose; and Alaina Mueller, of Windsor, as Agnes. The role of Michael Evans, the narrator and son of Chris, will be played by Samuel Everett, of Kent. T.J. Swetz, of Poughquag, New York, will appear as Michael’s father, Gerry. The role of the Mundy sisters’ brother, Father Jack, will be performed by Jason Keane, of Trumbull.

Student members of the production crew include Brianna Faulkner, of Prospect, as assistant director; David Zahacewski, of Harwinton, as lighting designer; Theresa Carroll, of New Fairfield, as production manager; Victoria Gelling, of Stamford, as stage manager; Owen Smith, of Pawcatuck, as sound designer and assistant stage manager; Gabriela Jimenez, of Danbury, as assistant stage manager; and A.J. Bacik, of Waterbury, as assistant technical director. Other students on the production team are Abigail Bueti, of Brewster, New York; Lu DeJesus, of East Haven; Shaylen Harger, of Orange; J.P. Misciagna, of Ridgefield; Hayley Moretti, of Danbury; Michael Pertoso, of Shelton; Brandon Richardi, of Hanson, Massachusetts; Cynthia Rivera, of Bridgeport; Emily Sargent, of Milldale; and Noah Todd, of New London.

The WCSU Office of Alumni Relations will host a cocktail reception for WCSU alumni prior to the April 28 evening performance. For a ticket price of $25 per person, guests will enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Room 241 of the VPAC on the university’s Westside campus, followed by admission to the 8 p.m. performance. Reservations may be made by calling the Office of Alumni Relations at (203) 837-8298 or ordering tickets online at https://alumni.wcsu.edu/events.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.