“If dancing is the alternative to language, has language been inadequate for these people? Has language failed these people? Has language betrayed these people?”

Quote

Related Manuscript

Has language failed these people?

The idea that words are not enough was something that followed Friel through his writing career, and informed many of his most well-known plays.

The Creative Process

Running the Ending Compilation (Dublin Fringe Festival application)

This video is a compilation of different performances of Robbie Blake’s live version of ‘Running the ending’, inspired by Brian Friel’s composition process for Dancing at Lughnasa (1990).

Related Manuscript

Don't think in elegiac tones.

In this note, we see the reappearance of Friel’s mantra: ‘Don’t anticipate the ending.’

The Creative Process

Jessie Keenan notes, 2

In this extract from Jessie Keenan’s project notes, Jessie is considering ideas that emerged from group discussions.

Related Manuscript

At least it is a starting point.

In this note, dated 19 May 1989, Friel was struggling to choose a time period for Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). In the end, he decided to go with his intuition, reasoning that all starting points are ‘arbitrary’ before they become ‘an essence’.

The Creative Process

Robbie Blake's blue notebook, 8

In this page from Robbie Blake’s project notebooks, Robbie sets out the aims and methodology of a week of workshops and rehearsals at Dance House in August 2020. They also make a note to ask Zosia Kuczyńska to record some monologues from Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa (1990) as a tool for generating material.