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Set in 1936 in a remote part of County Donegal, Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa is a tender and passionate portrayal of a rural Irish family – the 5 unmarried Monday sisters, older brother Jack (a Catholic missionary) and 7 year old Michael. The play happens at a time of change for both the family and their native Southern Ireland. The Birmingham Rep always offers its visually impaired patrons and their companions, a pre-show touch tour an hour and a half before each audio described performance, and on this occasion we were taken onto a larger than usual stage – the first 3 rows of the auditorium having been removed – to explore the set. This consisted of a single storey stone cottage surrounded by grassy hillocks, which is the back for the whole play. There was no actual front wall to the cottage allowing the audience to see straight into the living area - the kitchen – where most of the action took place. However, thanks to the audio description we learnt that the characters played their roles as if there was an exterior wall there - walking in and out of imaginary doorways and looking through non-existent windows. During our unhurried tour of the cottage and its surroundings, we were shown a number of the homely utensils used on a daily basis in this rustic Southern Irish home.
Understandably it’s not always possible for people to get to the theatre in time for the very informative touch tour and so the time taken by resident describers Julia Grundy and Janet Jackson in giving a detailed description of the set (available beforehand either on the theatre’s website or on a CD which can be mailed out on request) is very well spent. These introductory notes also contain very useful information about the characters and their costumes and, not only the names of the actors taking each part, but also some of their physical characteristics. Even if you’ve had time to digest this information in advance, I would always recommend listening to the live reprise a quarter of an hour before the start of the show, as it really helps to get you into the mood of the evening.
The next audio described production at the Birmingham Rep is Arthur and George (based on the recent Julian Barnes novel) on Thursday 8 April at 7.30 pm. Details on how to book concessionary tickets, headsets and places on the pre-show touch tours, and also how to get on to the Theatre’s new Access Register, can be obtained by ringing the box office on 0121 236 4455.
