A slice of rural Ireland — and one of its oldest traditions — has come to life on stage, with Dancing at Lughnasa at New Theatre in Sydney this autumn.

Running from 21 April to 16 May 2026, the production revives Brian Friel’s acclaimed play, widely regarded as one of the most important works of modern Irish theatre.

Set in the summer of 1936 in County Donegal, the story unfolds through the memories of a young boy, Michael, as he looks back on a defining time spent with his five aunts — the Mundy sisters. Their lives are shaped by poverty, routine and quiet resilience, but also by fleeting bursts of joy, hope and longing.

At the heart of the play is the festival of Lughnasa.

Traditionally celebrated at the beginning of August, Lughnasa marked the start of the harvest season in Ireland. Named after the god Lugh, it was a time of gathering — with fairs, dancing, music and hilltop celebrations bringing communities together to give thanks for the land.

In Friel’s play, that ancient festival sits just beneath the surface. It appears in references to dancing, to distant fires on the hills, and most memorably in moments where the Mundy sisters break free from the constraints of their lives in spontaneous bursts of movement and music.

Those flashes of energy are central to the play’s power.

“I want to dance, Kate. It’s the Festival of Lughnasa. I’m only thirty-five. I want to dance,” Agnes Mundy declares — a line that captures the tension between duty and desire that runs throughout the story.

Though rooted in a specific time and place, the play speaks to something broader: the pull between tradition and change, and the small, often fleeting moments of joy that sustain people through difficult times.

That’s part of why Dancing at Lughnasa has endured. Since its 1990 premiere, it has been celebrated as a “memory play” — a reflection on family, loss and the way we reconstruct the past.

And in this latest production, those themes find new resonance with Australian audiences — many of whom will recognise the cultural echoes of Lughnasa itself.

Because while the name may not be widely used here, the instinct behind it remains.

Gathering. Music. Movement. Marking the turning of the year.

For further details and tickets, go to https://newtheatre.org.au/dancing-at-lughnasa/