ImpAct Theatre bring the modern classic Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel to Christchurch Regent stage tonight (Friday March 10).

Set in 1930s rural Ireland, Dancing at Lughnasa is a semi-autobiographic memory play, narrated by an adult, Michael, who recounts a particular summer of his childhood.

The play weaves the story of five unmarried sisters eking out their lives in the small village of Ballybeg in County Donegal in Ireland in 1936. Set during harvest time, the story revolves around the five Mundy sisters, who range in age from twenty-six to forty. They live together with the youngest sister’s seven-year-old son, and their brother, Jack, a missionary priest repatriated from Africa by his superiors after 25 years.

In depicting three weeks in the lives of this family, Friel evokes not simply the interior landscape of a group of human beings trapped in their domestic situation but also the wider landscape – internal and external, Christian and pagan – of which they are a part. Dancing at Lughnasa is widely regarded as Friel’s masterpiece and the play honours the spirit and valour of the past.

Dorset-based ImpAct is no stranger to staging thought-provoking dramas that demand exceptional performances from its actors. Dancing at Lughnasa will be hot on the heels of last autumn’s Grief by Mike Leigh, which follows acclaimed productions of Breaking the Code, Talking Heads, The Thrill of Love, Untold Stories and Neighbourhood Watch, all of which have established ImpAct Theatre’s firm reputation for delivering exceptional productions of brilliant plays.

Director Patricia Richardson explains: “Dancing at Lughnasa is a beautiful play that brings together past and present and love and loss in a moment in time that is on the cusp of great change. Brian Friel is one of Ireland’s best playwrights and Dancing at Lughnasa is loosely based on his own family’s experience.

Regent, Christchurch

01202 499199

www.regentcentre.co.uk