ORANGE CITY — Lucas Sander, a student at Northwestern College in Orange City, is performing in the college’s production of “Dancing at Lughnasa,” a comedy-drama set in 1930s Ireland at 7:30 p.m. March 31 and April 1, 6 and 7 and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 8.
Written by Brian Friel, “Dancing at Lughnasa” is a memory play, narrated by Michael as he remembers a summer when he was seven years old and living with his unwed mother and four unmarried aunts. The sisters enjoy listening to Irish folk music on their radio and dream of dancing at Lughnasa, a Celtic harvest festival.
Poor and with few prospects, the sisters' burdens are compounded by two events that summer: Michael's father returns, and the sisters' Catholic missionary brother has come home from Uganda, where he seems to have lost his faith and maybe his grasp on reality.
Sander is a freshman and is majoring in writing/rhetoric at Northwestern College. He is playing the part of Gerry in the play. Sander is the son of Michael and Rebecca Sander of Newton.
Director Robert Hubbard, theatre professor at Northwestern, says the play has a particularly Irish theme of laughter through tears. The characters, he says, lead difficult and disappointing lives, but they are quick to laugh and “surrender to unexpected moments of beauty and joy.” When their faulty radio begins playing music seemingly of its own accord, the sisters dance with abandon. “The scene is an almost holy, worshipful moment,” says Hubbard.
After originally premiering in Dublin, “Dancing at Lughnasa” was performed on Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Play in 1991. It was made into a movie in 1998, starring Meryl Streep as the oldest sister, Kate.
Northwestern College is a Christian college of more than 1,250 students in Orange City, Iowa. Rated a top-10 Midwestern college by U.S. News & World Report magazine, Northwestern provides an education committed to academic rigor and a Christ-centered worldview.