Irish setting makes Dancing special

• By ROBIN MILLER
• Arts writer
• Published: Apr 13, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

He searches for the right word, that perfect combination of storytelling and music.

Something meaningful — something Irish.

“If it’s anything Irish, I’m interested in it,” Jack Wilson said. “It’s where my people are from.”

It’s the Irish factor that makes Dancing at Lughnasa special.

Don’t get him wrong. Wilson likes the family theme, the special bond found among the five unmarried sisters. He likes the comedy, the drama and especially the music.

But directing Baker Little Theatre’s production of Dancing at Lughnasa somehow puts him in the heart of Ireland.

The play opens Friday, April 18, and continues on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through May 4.

“And when you read the play, there’s nothing that jumps out at you,” he said. “There’s really nothing about the words, nothing big or dramatic. It’s just a play that could be set in any place and happen in any family.”

But then it comes alive on stage. Better yet, it plays out in Ireland. Make that Ireland by way of Baker.

“Anyone from Ireland would probably tell us how unauthentic the accents are on stage, but this is the Baton Rouge area,” Wilson said. “People from here really don’t care — we just need to come close to it.”

Wilson isn’t really worried. His cast has almost conquered the Irish dialect, and he’s confident all will be in place by opening night. What concerns him more is capturing is Ireland’s spirit. It’s embedded in the play.

“And it’s what truly makes it special,” Wilson says.

Dancing at Lughnasa is an 8-year-old boy’s memoir of a childhood summer spent with his mother and four aunts. None of the women is married, and they live in their brother’s cottage. The brother doesn’t show up until later in the play. He’s a priest who’s spent 25 years living in a Ugandan leper colony.