Theatre
Interview
Backstage Pass: Dancing at Lughnasa
The Gate's production of Brian Friel's masterpiece 'Dancing at Lughnasa' runs in the 3Olympia Theatre until Saturday 26 July 2025.
It’s harvest time in Donegal 1936, the five Mundy sisters, Kate, Maggie, Rose, Agnes and Chris, are embarking on an unforgettable summer that brings the possibility of joy and love to these extraordinary, ordinary women.
We spoke with actors Molly Logan and Nicky Harley about returning to their roles, the timeless themes of the show and Meryl Streep intimidation.
Can you introduce yourselves and the roles you’re playing?
Molly: Hi, I’m Molly Logan and I play the role of Maggie.
Nicky: And my name is Nicky Harley, and I play the role of Agnes.
What would you tell someone about ‘Dancing At Lughnasa’ who doesn’t know anything about it?
Nicky: ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, it’s a memory play where we meet the character of Michael, who’s a grown man, and he takes us back to the summer of 1936 when he was a seven year old boy. He lived in a little cottage with his mother and his four aunts. And this particular summer, two men returned to the home. His uncle, Jack, who has been working in the missionaries for 25 years, who he meets for the first time, and his father, who is almost a stranger to him. During this particular time, during the festival of Lughnasa, events happen that changed the course of their lives forever.
Ros Kavanagh
How did you approach preparing for your roles?
Molly: I approached the role of Maggie by just a simple exercise of just listening and responding to each other. I just think Brian Friel has written five women so beautifully, and the words are magic. So it’s just a simple listening, responding and enjoying it I think. As soon as I say my first word, I’m calm, and then I just yeah, just go for it. The jokes are brilliant. Rehearsals were intense. It was 10am till 6pm, Monday to Friday, and then on Saturday as well. It’s just playing as well with each other.
Nicky: You’re right, I think all of us would say the same. You know, we’ve kind of all met each other where we’re at in our lives, and we were encouraged to bring parts of our own personality to the show as well. And I knit in the show, so I practice my knitting. I mightn’t necessarily be the fastest knitter in Ballybeg, but I do give it a go.
How would you describe your characters?
Molly: Maggie is great fun, full of heart, love, especially, love for Michael, love for her sisters. She just always wants to make a troubled situation much happier, and tries to like distract from the tension, and I think it’s a good way to be in life, just to keep going.
Nicky: Agnes would be… She’s a dreamer. She’s a real romantic. She finds different ways of escaping in her imagination. She has major love, huge love, for her sisters, particularly her sister Rose. Michael describes her at one point as like, “The Heart”, like she’s got real heart.
Many people immediately think of the film starring Meryl Streep and Michael Gambon when they hear ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, does the association with such phenomenal actors make this play a little bit intimidating to take on?
Molly: I haven’t seen the film in a very since I was a kid really, and I purposely didn’t watch it last year. I thought, “Oh, I’ll watch it at Christmas.” And then we got the news about this coming back, so I still can’t watch it. Maybe we’ll watch it later on this year. But yeah, it is quite…especially Kathy Burke playing Maggie, a huge, you know, a huge comedic actress who has so much vulnerability and heart, It’s a privilege to be able to do it and to give it a go and tackle something, a character that is just beautifully written.
Nicky: The gorgeous thing about this is that there’s space for all of us to interpret the characters as well. Even audience members who come and see the show quite often, you hear conversations afterwards going, I’m a wee bit of this character, I think I’m a Maggie. I’m an Aggie like, you know, people place themselves within that. So I think there’s space for us all, but Meryl Streep, she’s done all right!
It’s a bit like ‘Sex & the City’ the way you’ve described it!
Nicky: It is true! They’d be like, Oh, I’m a bit of a I think I’m a bit of a Kate.
Molly: Or everyone has a Kate in their family. But also the magic of it is, every night is different because you find something new because it’s so well written. So there’s a lot of play and a lot of fun and excitement every night. You just don’t know what’s going to happen, and that’s magic.
Nicky: Yeah, totally.
Ros Kavanagh
The play was written in 1990 and set in 1936. What do you think an audience in 2025 audience in 2025 can take from it?
Nicky: I mean, the themes are always there.
Molly: It never goes away really, like loss, like strong family connections…
Nicky: Freedom. Women fighting for a sense of belonging or freedom, these things I don’t think will ever disappear.
Molly: No, it is escapism from life. Dance as well, how moving can make you feel power and strength and just the love for each other.
Nicky: The humour that’s within this production as well, I think Brian Friel has incredible wit, and the production itself is based on very specific times of the characters lives, but it has such a universal appeal as well. You know, because of the base themes of the show.
Molly: He wrote women so well. You know, the individuality of the five women, he just got women, and it’s very rare for a play to have such strong women. There’s no lead. Everyone is equal. And that doesn’t come along very often. So it’s great.
What was it like returning to rehearsals after the Gate production and stepping away from the characters for almost a year?
Nicky: Well it was really exciting, the fact that we’ve gathered together again. It’s been such an amazing time of my life to be part of this production and I’m really proud to be in it. But I also think that Caroline (Byrne, director) brilliantly made a note that we’re all different people than we were a year ago. So, it’s just bringing that extra nuance now and discovering new things that maybe you know personally I hadn’t necessarily tapped into. So that’s been exciting, playing around with the characters. What about you?
Molly: Last year we found out during rehearsals that I was actually pregnant, so I did the whole run first trimester, and a little bit more. So it was really lovely to come back and really let go this year. Physically, mentally, everything. I had a little baby four and a half months ago, so I think as a mother now coming in, I have two kids, I’m coming in with a different attitude and different perspective of what life is, and what is important, what things are important, and I feel really proud, and the support as well was amazing last year, and it’s even greater this year. So I just feel really proud that I was able to do it and then come back again and give it another go a year later, but hopefully a bit more wiser.
Ros Kavanagh
Have you had to make any adjustments for the transfer of the show to the 3Olympia Theatre?
Molly: Our voices have to be a lot louder here, also physically. The Gate’s beautiful intimacy, and you still have to work hard with your voice, but here that’s little bit extra, and with no mics.
Nicky: Yeah, I think that, like the shift in spaces kind of has opened the play up in different ways. So even people who you may have experienced it last year in The Gate, you know, people are saying, “Oh, it feels like another interpretation of the play”, because technically we’re looking up a lot more. There’s just little things that happen.
Molly: As an actor, it’s quite terrifying, and you feel quite vulnerable doing that. Then after a while, you get used to, but it’s just being brave and looking up.
Nicky: And also this theatre, the 3Olympia is such a magical space. Like, the building itself, there’s not many buildings like this left on the island.
Molly: So much history. Even just sitting here, it’s a real privilege. These jobs don’t come around very often.
How would describe ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ in three words?
Nicky: Ferocious, and that can be and it’s the humour, and in the tragedy of it.
Molly: Fiery, there’s a lot of heat in the air and the weather that’s happening, but also fiery and the heat within what is happening throughout the play to each character. And each character has a different fire in their belly.
Nicky: I think family for all the brilliant things that may bring, and also how painful that can be as well.
‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ runs in 3Olympia Theatre until 26 July 2025. Tickets on sale now here.
