The Druid Theatre Company, referred to as Druid, is an Irish theatre company, based in Galway, Ireland.
As well as touring extensively across Ireland, the company's productions have played internationally to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. Druid has been a "pioneer" in the development of Irish theatre and is credited (alongside Macnas and the Galway Arts Festival) with making Galway one of the primary cultural centres in Ireland.
History In 1975, the company was founded by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally—all of whom first met and worked together as members of University College Galway dramatic society, commonly known as Dramsoc. It was the first Irish professional theatre company to be established outside Dublin.
Since 1979, Druid has owned a theatre building in Galway City Centre. The former tea storehouse was originally owned by the McDonaghs, one of Galway's wealthy merchant families. In the late 1970s, the company negotiated a peppercorn rent with the owners which enabled the company to renovate and install its own venue and rehearsal space, which the McDonagh family later donated to Druid. In 2011, following refurbishment, what was originally known as the Druid Theatre was renamed The Mick Lally Theatre in memory of Druid co-founder, the late Mick Lally. The theatre serves as a dedicated workspace for the company and has also established itself as a cultural facility for the promotion and the development of the arts in Galway. The lane on which the theatre is situated has gone by numerous names, including Red Earls' Lane, Chapel Lane, Courthouse Lane, and since 1996, Druid Lane, when Galway City Council renamed it in celebration of the company’s 21st birthday.
In 1996, Druid premiered Martin McDonagh's debut play The Beauty Queen of Leenane, in a co-production with the Royal Court Theatre, London. Following an opening in Galway, the production played across Ireland, in London, Sydney, and New York City. During its Broadway run, the production won four Tony Awards, including Best Director for Garry Hynes—the first woman to win an award for directing in the history of the awards ceremony. In 2005, the company presented DruidSynge, a production of all six plays of John Millington Synge as a day-long theatrical event, at the Galway Arts Festival to critical acclaim.http://www.druidtheatre.com/press.php?id=42 (retrieved 20 August 2006) Several years later, Druid revived a trilogy of Tom Murphy's plays (Conversations on a Homecoming, A Whistle in the Dark and Famine) entitled DruidMurphy; this production later won several Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards in 2014. Druid continued to present large-scale ensemble productions in 2015 with DruidShakespeare—William Shakespeare’s Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V in a new adaptation by Mark O'Rowe—which toured Ireland, the UK, and the prestigious Lincoln Center Festival.
As of 2013, a permanent Druid Ensemble existed to work alongside artistic director Garry Hynes to further the artistic programme of the company and to "investigate new creative possibilities." This ensemble is composed of Marie Mullen, Marty Rea, Rory Nolan, Aaron Monaghan, Aisling O’Sullivan, Garrett Lombard and Derbhle Crotty.
Key productions
This is extensive list of the key productions which have been produced and performed by the Druid Theatre Company over the span of forty four years. However, some productions have been omitted. Conversations on a Homecoming, by Tom Murphy. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Paul Brennan, Jane Brennan and Marie Mullan. (1985). Bailegangaire, by Tom Murphy. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Siobhán McKenna, Marie Mullan, Mary McEvoy (1985). At the Black Pig's Dyke, by Vincent Woods. World premiere (1992), directed by Maeliosa Stafford. The Beauty Queen of Leenane, by Martin McDonagh. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Anna Manahan, Marie Mullen, Tom Murphy and Brian F. O'Byrne (1996). The Lonesome West, by Martin McDonagh. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Brian F. O'Byrne, Dawn Bradfield and Maeliosa Stafford (1997). A Skull in Connemara, by Martin McDonagh. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Mick Lally, Anna Manahan, Brian F. O'Byrne (1997). On Raftery’s Hill, by Marina Carr. World premiere (2000). Sive, by John B. Keane. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Anna Manahan, Derbhle Crotty, Ruth Bradley, Eamon Morrissey (2002). The Playboy of the Western World, by John Millington Synge. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Cillian Murphy, Anne-Marie Duff, Aisling O'Sullivan, Eamon Morrissey (2004). DruidSynge, plays by John Millington Synge. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Aaron Monaghan, Marie Mullen, Catherine Walsh, Eamon Morrissey (2005). The Walworth Farce, by Enda Walsh. World premiere, directed by Mikel Murfi and starring Aaron Monaghan, Garrett Lombard, Denis Conway (2007). My Brilliant Divorce, by Geraldine Aron. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Deirdre O’Kane (2007). The Cripple of Inishmaan, by Martin McDonagh. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Aaron Monaghan and Marie Mullen (2008). The Gigli Concert, by Tom Murphy. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Denis Conway, Eileen Walsh (2009). The New Electric Ballroom, by Enda Walsh. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Rosaleen Linehan, Catherine Walsh, Mikel Murfi (2009). Penelope, by Enda Walsh. World premiere, directed by Mikel Murfi and starring Aaron Monaghan, Denis Conway, Karl Shiels, Niall Buggy (2010). The Silver Tassie, by Sean O'Casey. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Aaron Monaghan, Derbhle Crotty, John Olohan, Eamon Morrissey (2010). Big Maggie, by John B. Keane. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Aisling O'Sullivan, Keith Duffy, John Olohan, Charlie Murphy, Sarah Greene. (2011). DruidMurphy: Conversations on a Homecoming, A Whistle in the Dark, Famine; by Tom Murphy. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Aaron Monaghan, Marty Rea, Marie Mullen, Garrett Lombard, Rory Nolan, John Olohan, Eileen Walsh, Niall Buggy, Sarah Greene, Gavin Drea (2012). The Colleen Bawn, by Dion Boucicault. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Aaron Monaghan, Marie Mullen, Marty Rea, Aisling O'Sullivan, Rory Nolan (2013). Be Infants in Evil, by Brian Martin. World premiere presented as part of a double bill with Bailegangaire, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marty Rea (2014). Brigit, by Tom Murphy. World premiere, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marie Mullen, Catherine Walsh, Aisling O'Sullivan, Marty rea, Jane Brennan, (2014). DruidShakespeare: Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, Henry V, by William Shakespeare, adapted by Mark O'Rowe (2015). Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marty Rea, Marie Mullen, Aisling O'Sullivan, Derbhle Crotty, Aaron Monaghan, Rory Nolan, Garrett Lombard, John Olohan, Gavin Drea. Helen and I, by Meadhbh McHugh. World premiere, directed by Annabelle Comyn and starring Cathy Belton and Rebecca O'Mara. The Beauty Queen of Leenane, by Martin McDonagh. Twentieth anniversary revival, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marie Mullen, Aisling O'Sullivan, Marty Rea, Aaron Monaghan (2016) Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett, directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marty Rea, Aaron Monaghan, Rory Nolan and Garrett Lombard. Crestfall, by Mark O'Rowe. Directed by Annabelle Comyn and starring Siobhán Cullen, Kate Stanley Brennan and Amy McElhatton (2017). King of the Castle, by Eugene McCabe. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marty Rea, John Olohan, Seán McGinley (2017). Sive, by John B. Keane. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marie Mullen, Tommy Tiernan (2018). Furniture, by Sonya Kelly. World premiere, directed by Cathal Cleary and starring Aisling O'Sullivan, Rebecca O'Mara, Garrett Lombard, Niall Buggy (2018). Shelter, by Cristín Kehoe. World premiere, directed by Oonagh Murphy and starring Aaron Monaghan, Rory Nolan (2018). DruidShakespeare: Richard III, by William Shakespeare. Directed by Garry Hynes and starring Marty Rea, Aaron Monaghan, Garrett Lombard, Jane Brennan, Rory Nolan (2018).
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
Garry Hynes returned to the Druid Theatre Company as its artistic director in 1995, after stepping down from the Abbey Theatre (artistic director, 1991–1994). It was during this time that Hynes and her colleague Anne Butler read The Beauty Queen of Leenane—a script submitted by an unknown writer named Martin McDonagh. Several months later, on 1 February 1996, McDonagh's play received its world premiere at the newly refurbished Town Hall Theatre, Galway, in a co-production between Druid and the Royal Court Theatre, London. Directed by Hynes, the cast consisted of four actors: Druid founding member Marie Mullen as Maureen Foley; Anna Manahan as her elderly mother Mag; Brian F. O'Byrne as Ray Dooley; and Tom Murphy as Pato Dooley. The response, from both audiences and critics alike, was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. As noted in the Sunday Times on 10 March 1996, The Beauty Queen of Leenane was "one of the most exhilarating debuts in years".
The production then toured Ireland before transferring to the Royal Court Theatre, London, on 24 Feb 1996. Following this critically acclaimed run, the production moved to Ireland where it embarked on an extensive national tour before returning again to London's West End where it played at the Duke of York's Theatre for several months, beginning on 29 November 1996. It was later nominated at the 1996 Olivier Awards for Play of the Year. In February 1998, the production received its American off-Broadway premiere at the Linda Gross Theater, in a co-production with the Atlantic Theater Company, before it transferred to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre on 23 April 1998.
Later that year, The Beauty Queen of Leenane received six nominations at the 52nd Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Direction of a Play, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, as well as two nominations for Best Supporting Actor. At the ceremony on 7 June, the production won four awards: Best Actress (Marie Mullen); Best Supporting Actress (Anna Manahan); Best Supporting Actor (Tom Murphy); and Best Director for Garry Hynes—a historical win as Hynes became the first female recipient of a Tony Award for Direction.
In addition, the original Druid Theatre production received the 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play; the Drama League Award for Best Play; the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Play; and the Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Director.Infoplease. Sandbox Networks, Inc. Retrieved 10 May 2006. The Beauty Queen of Leenane has since gone on to be staged across the world in several languages, but Druid's original version remains, for many, the definitive production.As quoted in Garry Hynes' preface in The Beauty Queen of Leenane 2016 production's theatre programme, p.2-3.
In 2016, to mark the 20th anniversary of the iconic production, Druid revived The Beauty Queen of Leenane with Marie Mullen. Having originated the role of Maureen, Mullen now played the role of Mag. The production also starred Druid ensemble members Aisling O'Sullivan (Maureen), Marty Rea and Aaron Monaghan. At that year's Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, Hynes won the Award for Best Director while both Mullen and O'Sullivan received separate nominations for Best Actress.
DruidSynge