Druid's 50th anniversary season

Druid today announced a double bill of J. M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth at The Mick Lally Theatre in Galway this July to mark their 50th anniversary. Following this run as part of Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF), Macbeth will then transfer to the Gaiety Theatre for Dublin Theatre Festival in September and October. Druid also announced today a New York transfer of their acclaimed 2024 production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame which will run at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan in October and November.

In Riders to the Sea, the first production in the summer double bill, J. M. Synge concentrates the lyricism of the West of Ireland and the majesty of the Atlantic Ocean into a short one-act of pure theatre. This miniature masterpiece is a swirling tour de force of Celtic paganism, the earthly struggles of life, and the desperate stretch of humanity towards the heavens. 20 years on from the formative play cycle DruidSynge (2005), which included Riders to the Sea, Druid co-founders and Tony Award winners Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen return to the work of one of Ireland’s greatest playwrights for this new production. Further casting to be announced.

For the second production of the double bill, Macbeth, Druid will bring their visceral and uniquely Irish perspective to one of Shakespeare’s fiercest and bloodiest tragedies. Garry Hynes will direct a cast led by Marty Rea as Macbeth and Marie Mullen as Lady Macbeth, with further casting to be announced. Macbeth follows Druid’s internationally acclaimed DruidShakespeare (2015) and Richard III (2018), continuing the company’s exploration of the Bard’s canon, “a mad dynamic pageant of fire, blood, guts and spunk” (Irish Examiner on DruidShakespeare).

Following a critically-acclaimed and record-breaking run at GIAF 2024, Druid will transfer Samuel Beckett’s Endgame to New York where the production will receive its North American premiere at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan. Directed by Garry Hynes, the original cast returns for this transatlantic engagement: Bosco Hogan and Druid Ensemble members Aaron Monaghan, Marie Mullen and Rory Nolan. Druid has been touring to America since 1986 to great acclaim, including their historic Broadway run in 1998 of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane, which won four Tony Awards including Best Actress for Druid co-founder Marie Mullen and Best Director for fellow Druid co-founder Garry Hynes, the first woman to win the Tony for Best Director.

While Druid celebrates and reflects on the past five decades, the company also looks ahead to the future. More than ever before, its robust artist development initiatives will support and advance new talent in Irish theatre. Druid will shortly announce the recipient of this year’s Marie Mullen Bursary, its annual award for women working on the island of Ireland as theatre artists in the fields of design, directing and dramaturgy. Announced earlier this year, the four artists taking part in this year’s FUEL artist residency are Caomhnú Creative (Alice Kinsella and Daniel Wade), Aoife Delany Reade, Martin Kenny and Eoin Ó Dubhghaill. The annual Druid Debuts series of play readings from scripts submitted via open call will be presented in the winter of 2025. Throughout the year, Druid will play host to a Galway writing group led by playwright Meadhbh McHugh; Druid produced Meadhbh’s debut play Helen and I in 2016. Underpinning Druid’s artist development programme is their ongoing 10-year strategic partnership with University of Galway, and in particular the Druid Academy, a talent pipeline providing direct access to Druid for the city’s third-level drama and theatre students.

Alongside Druid’s mainstage productions and artist development initiatives, the 50th anniversary season will also include a number of other celebratory projects and events. There will be two books published to mark this milestone: a new history of Druid Theatre, fully illustrated with images from the Druid archive, written by Patrick Lonergan and published by the Lilliput Press; and Druid Theatre 1975-2025: 50 Years of New Irish Plays, edited by Barry Houlihan, Patrick Lonergan and Máiréad Ní Chróinín, published by Methuen (Bloomsbury Publishing). The University of Galway will host a symposium from 31 October to 2 November, ‘Druid Theatre: Performance, Place, People’, exploring the past and future directions of Druid's work in the local, national and global contexts. There will also be an exhibition and a short series of public talks, further details to be announced.

This full season is announced one week after the company completed a record-breaking national tour of Three Short Comedies by Seán O’Casey, the first production of their 50th anniversary year. Playing to packed houses in 11 towns and cities across Ireland through February and March, the production was described as 'a masterclass in 21st-century comic acting' (Irish Independent) and ‘flawlessly executed' (The Stage). National touring is the lifeblood of the company and Druid has proudly toured to all 32 counties on the island of Ireland in the first 50 years.

As well as being a celebration, the 50th anniversary season is also a showcase of what Druid does best: major productions that showcase the art of playwriting; large-scale national touring for Irish audiences in their own communities; international touring of great Irish playwrights; employment of and support for both established and emerging theatre-makers; and the entertainment and engagement of audiences. All of Druid’s work in 2025 begins and ends in their home city of Galway, in line with the company’s commitments to sustainability and local employment: costumes created at the company’s Nuns’ Island Costume Department and sets constructed in its Ballybane Set Workshop; audiences welcomed for performances in The Mick Lally Theatre on Druid Lane; and everything co-ordinated and overseen from the company’s administrative office around the corner from the theatre on Flood Street.

Druid is one of only a handful of professional Irish theatre companies to reach their 50th anniversary. Founded by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and the late Mick Lally, Druid began in the summer of 1975 with a three-day season of work in Galway at the Jesuit Hall in Salthill: a performance of J. M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World on Thursday 3 July, a performance of Kevin Laffan’s It’s a Two-Foot-Six-Inches-Above-the-Ground World on Friday 4 July, and a performance of Brian Friel’s The Loves of Cass McGuire on Saturday 5 July. 50 years later, the company will find themselves in rehearsals for the double bill of Riders to the Sea and Macbeth on the exact anniversary date, Thursday 3 July 2025.

Druid is a touring theatre company, anchored in the West of Ireland and looking to the world. It began as a bold idea: to create Ireland’s first professional theatre company outside of Dublin. There were few resources with which to build a theatre company in Galway in the 1970s but through sheer dedication, and with the support of the local community, the three founders Hynes, Mullen and Lally made this bold idea a reality. That reality has since become an international success story of extraordinary dimensions, showcasing the best of Irish theatre on the world’s stages.

In the past five decades, Druid has presented over 300 productions, celebrating and sharing the work of more than 50 playwrights. This work has resulted in numerous accolades including Tony Awards, Irish Theatre Awards, Edinburgh Fringe First Awards and UK Theatre Awards. The company’s work has also been highly praised by critics globally: ‘one of the world’s great acting ensembles’ (The Guardian); ‘one of the best [theatre companies] in the English-speaking world’ (The Irish Times); ‘the most successful Irish theatrical export ever’ (Irish Independent); ‘[a] dynamic Galway-based alternative national theatre’ (Irish Independent); ‘any New York visit by the Druid Theatre Company of Galway is an event not to be missed’ (The New York Times).

Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland and Patron of Druid: ‘I am privileged to acknowledge Druid’s immeasurable contributions to Irish theatre, to the artistic life of our nation, and indeed the cultural heritage that defines us as a people. On this special anniversary, may I express my profound gratitude to all who have shaped Druid over the past five decades, past and present, to its founders, its creative teams, its actors and its audiences. May you continue to shine brightly in the decades ahead, carrying forward that wonderful spirit of innovation, excellence, and artistic courage that has defined Druid from its inception.’

Garry Hynes, Druid’s Co-Founder and Artistic Director: ‘It’s not lost on me how lucky we all are at Druid to have made it to this milestone. When Marie, Mick and I founded the company in 1975, we could never have imagined reaching our 50th anniversary. There are so many people to thank for helping us along the way but I’d like to especially thank the people of Galway for their belief in us since day one, as well as our audiences far and wide – because it’s not theatre until someone’s watching. I also wish to pay tribute to the Druids who have left us including co-founder Mick Lally, former artistic director Maelíosa Stafford and former general manager and my dear brother Jerome Hynes. I look forward to sharing these new productions of Riders to the Sea and Macbeth with audiences here in Ireland in the coming months and then travelling to New York to present Endgame to audiences in a city where so much of the Druid story has been told.’

Adrian O’Neill, Chair of Druid’s Board of Directors: ‘Druid’s record of artistic achievement commended by President Higgins has been enabled by the solidarity and assistance of many organisations and individuals over the past 50 years. Druid would never have achieved such national and international success without moral encouragement and practical support from numerous sources: our funders including the Arts Council, University of Galway and Galway City Council; remarkable benefactors including Smurfit Westrock and our global network of Druid Friends and Druid Supporters; our friends and colleagues in the theatre industry, both at home and abroad; the people and businesses of Galway; and our loyal audiences, without whom none of this would be possible.’