1856, Mutesa I became the ruler of Buganda, a region now known as Uganda. The renowned British explorer Henry Morton Stanley arrived in 1875 and convinced Mutesa to allow Christian missionaries into Buganda. By 1877, the first missionaries from the Church Missionary Society arrived, and in 1879, missionaries from the Roman Catholic White Fathers Mission followed. These missionaries significantly influenced the region and established schools in the early 1900s.

In 1890, the British declared the area under their control, and a treaty between the Imperial British East Africa Company and Buganda's new leader, Mwanga, secured Buganda under British influence. By 1894, the British government declared Buganda a "protectorate." After several revolts in 1897, the Buganda Agreement of 1890 established that local chiefs would retain power while operating under British authority.

During the interwar years of the 1920s and 30s, British intervention diminished the power of local chiefs. Following periods of civil unrest after World War II, Uganda achieved national independence in 1962. The Swahili language spoken by Uncle Jack in Uganda serves as the mother tongue or "lingua franca" for many countries along the Eastern Coast of Africa. Swahili emerged with the arrival of Arab traders in Africa and was originally written in Arabic, though it is now written using the Roman alphabet.

Initially adopted by Bantu-speaking tribes, Swahili shares grammatical similarities with Bantu languages. Its use spread further into Africa through the Arab ivory and slave trade. European traders and colonists also adopted Swahili for communication with African peoples. Today, Swahili is spoken in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

Setting
Friel's play is set in "the home of the Mundy family, two miles outside the village of Ballybeg, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1936." While County Donegal is a real place (and Friel's own residence), Ballybeg is a fictional village Friel frequently uses in his works. Act I unfolds in early August, and Act II occurs three weeks later, in early September. The year 1936 holds particular importance for various reasons. The family acquires their first wireless radio, introducing them to the modern technology and popular culture of the era. This historical context also highlights the impact of the Industrial Revolution on rural Ireland. At the play's start, Agnes and Rose sustain the family by knitting at home. However, a new knitting factory opens nearby, causing their supplier to lose all business to the larger company. Consequently, the cottage industry that provided Agnes and Rose with a livelihood becomes obsolete. As Michael states in a monologue, "the Industrial Revolution had finally caught up with Ballybeg." This event underscores Friel's themes of nostalgia for the rural Ireland of his youth and the broader cultural shifts in Irish society.

Monologue
The character of Michael, as an adult, directly addresses the audience through a series of monologues that frame the play. These monologues serve to introduce, explain, and conclude the narrative. The entire play is thus portrayed as Michael's nostalgic recollection of a specific period in his childhood. Through these monologues, Michael provides the audience with insights into his family's circumstances, the eventual outcomes for each character, and the deeper significance of these memories.

Music
Music is a pivotal element in this play, where the new wireless radio in the Mundy household symbolizes an agent of transformation. The dialogue is interspersed with music from the radio, along with spontaneous musical outbursts from various characters. The specific song lyrics and genres of music are crucial to the play's meaning. Friel provides detailed descriptions of the radio music in the stage directions. For instance, at one point, the radio is turned on while the Mundy sisters are doing chores in the kitchen: "The music, at first scarcely audible, is Irish dance music—‘The Mason's Apron,’ played by a ceili band. Very fast; very heavy beat; a raucous sound. At first we are aware of the beat only. Then, as the volume increases slowly, we hear the melody." The Mundy sisters gradually break into a frenzied dance that only partially aligns with the music, expressing their suppressed desires. In other scenes, characters burst into snippets of popular songs and folk tunes, which Kate dismissively calls "pagan songs." Music is linked to "pagan," or non-Christian, rituals again when Uncle Jack performs a rhythmic dance he learned in Uganda, using two sticks for musical accompaniment. The stage directions note: "Jack picks up two pieces of wood ... and strikes them together. The sound they make pleases him. He does it again—and again—and again. Now he begins to beat out a structured beat whose rhythm gives him pleasure."

• Dancing at Lughnasa was turned into a movie in 1998, produced by Columbia TriStar, directed by Pat O'Connor, and featuring Meryl Streep.

Sources
Andrews, Elmer. The Art of Brian Friel: Neither Reality Nor Dreams. St. Martin's Press, 1995, pp. 226-27.

Gleitman, Claire. ‘‘Negotiating History, Negotiating Myth: Friel Among His Contemporaries,’’ in Brian Friel: A Casebook, edited by William Kerwin. Garland, 1997, p. 237.

Kerwin, William, ed. Brian Friel: A Casebook. Garland, 1997, p. 237.

McGrath, F. C. Brian Friel's (Post) Colonial Drama: Language, Illusion, and Politics. Syracuse University Press, 1999, p. 247.

Murray, Christopher. ‘‘‘Recording Tremors’: Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa and the Uses of Tradition,’’ in Brian Friel: A Casebook, edited by William Kerwin. Garland, 1997, p. 36.

O'Toole, Fintan. ‘‘Marking Time: From Making History to Dancing at Lughnasa,’’ in The Achievement of Brian Friel, edited by Alan J. Peacock. Colin Smythe, 1993, p. 214.

Peacock, Alan J., ed. The Achievement of Brian Friel. Colin Smythe, 1993, pp. xviii, xv.

Pine, Richard. Brian Friel and Ireland's Drama. Routledge, 1990, pp. 1, 4, 5, 8.

Schlueter, June. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 13: British Dramatists Since World War II, edited by Stanley Weintraub. Gale Group, 1982, pp. 179-85.

Further Reading
Chekhov, Anton. Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters: A Translation, translated by Brian Friel. Gallery Books, 1981. Friel's translation of the Chekhov play, which is often compared to Dancing at Lughnasa, offers additional insights into Friel's views on both works.

Grene, Nicholas. The Politics of Irish Drama: Plays in Context from Boucicault to Friel. Cambridge University Press, 1999. This book provides a critical analysis of the historical and political contexts of significant Irish playwrights.

Kerwin, William, ed. Brian Friel: A Casebook. Garland, 1997. Kerwin's collection features a variety of critical essays on Friel's plays and prose.

Pine, Richard. Brian Friel and Ireland's Drama. Routledge, 1990. Pine examines Friel's theatrical works within the broader history and literary traditions of Irish theater.