Before the set is built and the costumes designed, before the dress rehearsals and the opening-night butterflies, a director must choose a play and select the actors.
The cast of “Dancing at Lughnasa,” Hillsdale College’s 2015 winter play, was announced Sept. 24. The play, which will run Nov. 18-21, stars seniors Matt Sauer and Allyn Morrison; junior Tyler Groenendal; and sophomores Elena Creed, Devin Ward, Brooke Agee, Kate Davenport, and Austin Beson.
“Dancing at Lughnasa,” written by Brian Friel, is set in the Irish countryside in 1936 and features a family struggling with relationships, religion, and finances. The family is comprised of the five unmarried Mundy sisters, their elder brother, Jack, who is returning from 25 years of missionary work in Uganda, and their 6-year-old nephew, Michael. The adult Michael narrates the story 30 years in the future.
“There is a family tradition in it, and a lot of love and care even in times of turmoil,” director Michael Beyer, the theatre department’s lighting designer and production manager, said. “It’s a beautiful, heartwarming story and I think it should be shared with a lot of people.”
Beyer is in his twelfth year of working with the theatre department at Hillsdale. He said he is looking forward to producing this play because of his personal connection to the script.
“The play resonates very deeply with me because I was Irish Catholic raised,” Beyer said. “I have, just like Michael, five Irish Catholic aunts. I could staple one of my aunts on the Mundys’ foreheads and you know it might as well be one of my aunts up on that stage.”
Creed, cast as Kate Mundy, also has a personal connection to the play.
“Over the summer my family and I were able to take a trip to Ireland, and I actually have a lot of Irish heritage,” Creed said. “I’m actually 50 percent Irish so that’s one of the main reasons I was so drawn to do this play.”
Although “Dancing at Lughnasa” will mark Creed’s first time acting in a Hillsdale theater production, it is not her first time working on one of the college’s plays. Creed worked behind the scenes for every production of the 2014-15 school year and is a stage manager for “Twelfth Night,” which opens Oct. 7.
“I haven’t acted in a while so it’ll be fun,” Creed said. “I did a bunch of acting in high school, and I’ve been wanting to get involved in a production at Hillsdale as an actress.”
Creed’s co-star, Groenendal, is equally excited about the show. “Dancing at Lughnasa” will be his fifth production at the college as an actor.
“I think more so than other plays, this one is a realistic drama, which is always something I’ve been drawn to in theater,” he said. “I don’t like having to overact and be larger than life. I’d rather have a restrained and realistic approach.”
Rehearsals began on Sunday, and the ensemble will practice five days a week every week until the show opens Nov. 18.
The cast is anticipating the camaraderie that comes along with any production, especially one where family plays such a central role.
“I don’t have any sisters in real life, so I’m looking forward to getting to know them and getting to work with them,” Creed said.
The humility of the play resounds with Beyer as well, and he is confident the play will run smoothly.
“We have a very novice cast instead of a lot of familiar faces on the stage, which keeps it very meek and humble,” Beyer said. “it’s going to be very beautiful and simple and good.”