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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p><br></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; ">Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel Opens at Weathervane Playhouse</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Weathervane Playhouse continues its 77<sup>th</sup> Mainstage season with the
Tony Award-winning Irish drama, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dancing
at Lughnasa</i>, presented live on stage between March 1 and 18, 2012. The
production is directed by Katherine Burke.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Set in a rural Irish village in the 1930s, Playwright Brian
Friel’s beautifully moving play tells the story of the Mundy family’s struggle
to embrace change in a world that spins too fast.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">In Celtic folklore, Lughnasa (pronounced
with the “gh” silent: </span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial">LOO-nuh-suh</span></em><em><span style="font-size:
12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">) is an
annual festival marking the end of the summer growing season and the beginning
of the fall harvest. In </span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Dancing at Lughnasa</span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:
normal">, the festival is in full swing when we meet the five unmarried Mundy
sisters – Kate, Maggie, Agnes, Rose and Chris – who live a life of limited
financial means in their small village.<o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">The play’s action unfolds through the
narration of Michael, the illegitimate son of Chris. In the play, Michael
speaks as an adult narrator, mining his childhood memories to relate the events
of this fateful summer of 1936 (when he was only seven years old). His
narration serves as a framing device to magnify one of the play’s central
themes: the experience of change against the forces of tradition. <o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">As he looks back on those days, Michael
describes the summer of 1936 as a pivotal time for the Mundy family. He
describes this time in his youth as presenting </span></em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">"a
sense of…things changing too quickly before my eyes." <em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">Europe is on the brink of war, and
incredible changes are coming to disrupt the Mundy family’s rural life. <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">Recently returned home is the sisters’
brother, Jack, a priest, back after a 25-year stint as a Catholic missionary in
a leper colony in Uganda. Jack is recuperating from malaria, and his condition
causes him to be forgetful. What’s more, he has begun to question his Catholic
faith – which promises to cause friction with his sister Kate, an upright
schoolteacher who, as the only real wage earner in the family, reigns as the
leader of the household.<o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">Another disruption for the Mundy family
comes in the unexpected arrival of Gerry, the father of Michael. A charming yet
undependable man, Gerry creates tension in the Mundy household by offering once
again to marry Chris.<o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">In spite of the financial hardships and
complicated family ties, the Mundy women experience occasional bursts of
merriment by way of their radio. Against the backdrop of the ongoing Lughnasa
festivities, the radio brings 1930s dance music and traditional Irish melodies
into the home – inspiring the sisters to burst into spontaneous dancing.<o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">Though altogether fleeting, the radio’s
periodic outbursts – and the dancing that it inspires – help to soothe the
women’s harsh existence. Dancing and laughing through their tears, the five
Mundy sisters in </span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Dancing at Lughnasa</span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:
normal"> embrace a life filled with equal amounts of happiness and heartbreak.</span></em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt">
<h3><span style="font-family:Arial">Weathervane’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Dancing at Lughnasa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></i>Ticket
and Performance Information<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Dancing at
Lughnasa </span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">plays on the Weathervane Playhouse Founders Theater stage
between March 1 and 18, 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial">The
low-cost preview performance is Thursday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.; the official
opening-night performance is Friday, March 2 at 8 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:Arial">Between March 1 and 18,
2012, the performance days and times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and
Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Tickets for the March 1 preview performance only are $15
each. Tickets for performances after March 1 are $21 each. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">$19 tickets for seniors are available for Thursday and
Sunday performances. Tickets for children (ages 17 or younger) and college
students are $5 each. Additional discounts for groups of 12 or larger are also
available. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">The Weathervane Playhouse Box Office is open Mondays between
10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and
is also open beginning one hour before each performance. For tickets, visit or
call the Weathervane Box Office at (330) 836-2626 during Box Office hours or
connect online to <a href="http://www.weathervaneplayhouse.com/"><span class="MsoPageNumber"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">www.weathervaneplayhouse.com</span></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt">
<h3><span style="font-family:Arial">The<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">
Dancing at Lughnasa </i>Cast and their Ohio Residences<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Dede Klein</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> (of
Hudson) plays the role of Kate Mundy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Brenda Redmond</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial"> (of Twinsburg) plays the role of Maggie Mundy<o:p></o:p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Kayla
McDonald </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">(of Bay Village) plays the role of Agnes Mundy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Hannah
Storch</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"> (of Kent) plays the role of Rose Mundy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Kelsey
Hamilton</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"> (of Avon Lake) plays the role of Chris Mundy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Sid
Freeman</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"> (of Kent) plays the role of Jack Mundy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Zach
Griffin</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"> (of Wadsworth) plays the role of Gerry Evans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Joe Dunn</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> (of
Cleveland) plays the role of Michael Evans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt"><p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dancing at Lughnasa </i>Backstage
Team and their Ohio Hometowns<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Stage Manager – Hannah Conkle </span></b><span style="font-family:Arial">(of Stow)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Costume
Designer – Jasen J. Smith</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> (of Akron)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Sound
Designer – Matthew Boehlke</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> (of Cuyahoga Falls)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Properties
Co-Designers –</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"> Mary Pat Doorley and Scott Robishaw (both of Akron)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Lighting
Designer – Mark Stoffer</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> (of Cuyahoga Falls)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Scenic
Designer and Technical Director – Alan Scott Ferrall</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"> (of
Cuyahoga Falls)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Assistant
Technical Director – Kathy Kohl </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">(of Akron)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt">
<h3><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">About the Show’s
Director <o:p></o:p></span></em></h3>
</div><p class="MsoBodyText"><em><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">KATHERINE
BURKE</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"> last worked at Weathervane Playhouse as the dialect coach
for last year’s production of Crumbs from the Table of Joy, and she served in
this same capacity for 2010’s productions of Breaking the Code and The Sum of
Us. She teaches in the theater department at Kent State University. Prior to
coming to Kent, she taught at Purdue University for more than a decade. As a
performer, she has appeared on stage at Porthouse Theatre, Indiana Repertory
Theatre, Chicago’s Candlelight Forum Theatre and North Carolina’s Waterside
Theatre. Her credits as a director include <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Six
Characters in Search of an Author</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Blue
Window</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Music Man</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Urinetown</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Under Milk Wood</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p> </o:p></div>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt"><p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial">About the Show’s Production History<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Dancing at Lughnasa</span></em><em><span style="font-size:
12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"> was
first performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on April 24, 1990. The
production transferred to the National Theatre in London, England, in October
1990, and thereafter won the 1991 Olivier Award for Best Play. In America, the
play opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on Oct. 24, 1991, where it
played for 421 performances before closing on Oct. 25, 1992. The New York
production was nominated for eight Tony Awards and won three of them (including
Best Play). The original Broadway production also won two 1992 Drama Desk
Awards. Most recently, New York City’s Irish Repertory Theatre revived </span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Dancing at
Lughnasa</span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-style:normal"> for an off-Broadway production; it closed
in January after a limited run. </span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Dancing at Lughnasa</span></em><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:
normal"> has also been adapted into a film. Starring Meryl Streep in the role
of Kate Mundy, the 1998 movie version was named one of the Top 10 Films of 1998
by the National Board of Review.</span></em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;padding:1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt"><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; "><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-family:Arial">About the Playwright<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span style="font-size:6.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt">BRIAN FRIEL </span></strong><em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:normal">was born Jan. 9,
1929, in Omagh, a community in the county of Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Raised
as a Catholic, Friel attended St. Columb’s College in the town of Derry, the
town to which his family had moved when his father assumed a new
school-teaching position. One of Friel’s classmates as a boy was Seamus Heany,
who would go on to receive the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Friel continued
his higher education at </span></em><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial">St. Patrick's College, a Catholic seminary, located
in the village of Maynooth (not far from Dublin). He received his bachelor of
arts degree in 1948, but he changed course by not entering the priesthood.
Instead, he moved to Belfast to enroll in a post-graduate course in teaching.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">By 1950, with his teaching qualifications earned from St.
Joseph's Training College, he began teaching math to young children. In 1954,
he married Anne Morrison. Together, they would raise one son and four
daughters. In between his teaching and helping to raise his family, he began to
write. In 1958, the BBC aired his first radio play, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">A Sort of Freedom</i>. The next year, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The New Yorker</i> published one of his short stories and the Group
Theatre in Belfast staged his first play. In 1960, Friel stopped teaching to
write full time, but he struggled to make a living as a writer. He supplemented
his work with the Group Theatre in Ulster by contributing articles to the Dublin-based
newspaper <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Irish Press</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">A trip to America in 1963 renewed his creative spark. He
came to Minneapolis, where he observed the innovative theater artist Tyrone
Guthrie. Following his stint at the Guthrie Theatre, Friel wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Philadelphia, Here I Come!</i>, the story of
a young man moving to America and struggling to sever his emotional ties to
Ireland. After productions of the play in Ireland, London and New York City,
its critical and financial success established Friel on the international
theater scene. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">On the Broadway stage, productions of Friel’s plays have
included <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Loves of Cass McGuire</i>
(1966), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Lovers</i> (1967), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Faith Healer</i> (1979 and 2006), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dancing at Lughnasa</i> (1991), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Wonderful Tennessee</i> (1993), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Translations</i> (1995 and 2007). Many of
Friel’s plays have also been produced in off-Broadway theaters: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Crystal and Fox</i> (1973), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Translations</i> (1981), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Aristocrats</i> (1989 and 2009), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Making History</i> (1991), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Molly Sweeney</i> (1995 and 2011), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Give Me Your Answer, Do!</i> (1999), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Philadelphia, Here I Come!</i> (2005) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dancing at Lughnasa</i> (2011). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">In addition to his 1992 Tony Award for Best Play for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dancing at Lughnasa</i>, Friel’s other
honors include the 1988 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Evening Standard</i>
Award for Best Play (for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Aristocrats</i>),
the 1989 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play (for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Aristocrats</i>), the 1991 Laurence Olivier
Award for Best Play (for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Dancing at
Lughnasa</i>), 1996 New York Drama Critics Circle award for best foreign play
(for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Molly S<a name="_Hlt317088880">w</a>eeney</i>)
and the 2010 Donegal Person of the Year. He is a member of the American Academy
of Arts and Letters, the British Royal Society of Literature, and the Irish
Academy of Letters.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText">* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial">Weathervane Playhouse and its dedicated volunteers offer
vital performing arts resources for the people of Northeastern Ohio. We create
exciting and thought-provoking shows with impressive production values. Through
educational programs and volunteer opportunities for people of all ages and
backgrounds, Weathervane serves the theater community, our patrons and our
volunteers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The Ohio
Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage
economic growth, education excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Additional
2010-2011 season sponsors<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">89.7
WSKU-FM<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">OMNOVA
Solutions Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Sisler
McFawn Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Akron
Community Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">Kenneth L.
Calhoun Charitable Trust<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial">The
Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<h2>Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation</h2>
<!--EndFragment--><div>
<div>Janis Harcar</div><div>Director of Advancement</div><div>Weathervane Playhouse</div><div>330-836-2626 X16</div><div><a href="mailto:jharcar@weathervaneplayhouse.com">jharcar@weathervaneplayhouse.com</a></div><div><br></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
</div>
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