Three playwrights selected for 2025 Druid Debuts

Fuscardi's by Conor Kelly, Boom Boom Bang by Treasa Nealon and Grace by Clare Monnelly were selected from over 200 submissions to Druid’s new writing programme earlier this year. The play readings will take place in The Mick Lally Theatre on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 December, as part of Druid’s 50th anniversary programme.

Conor Kelly is a Dublin-based playwright and director, and a graduate of the MFA in Playwriting programme at The Lir Academy. He is the founder of Saltwater Theatre which recently delivered the premiere production of his play Just Being Open With You at Smock Alley Theatre in August 2025. His Druid Debuts play, Fuscardi’s, is a memory play set in a chipper by the sea. Over the course of the play, the tides of time wash between the summer of 1982 which irrevocably changed the family, and a week in 2022 when the family’s matriarch is about to pass. It’s a play about love, estrangement, echoes and chips.

Treasa Nealon is a playwright and theatre-maker based in Leitrim. She is an alumna of Irish Theatre Institute’s Virtual Six in the Attic programme. Some of her most recent theatre work includes Homesick at Dublin Fringe Festival (September 2025) and the short play Growing, Grown, Gone at Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival (June 2025). Her Druid Debuts play, Boom Boom Bang, is the tale of three chronically bored twentysomethings surviving in their dead-end rural Leitrim town. On a fateful night, their careless actions lead to a young child being grievously injured.

Clare Monnelly is a writer and actor. Her debut play Charlie’s a Clepto was nominated for two Irish Times Theatre Awards. Her plays have been produced by Livin’ Dred Theatre Company, Asylum Productions, Once Off Productions, have premiered at Dublin Fringe Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Cairde Arts Festival, and have toured nationally. As a screenwriter, Clare was recently awarded the Discovery Award from Dublin International Film Festival for her Screen Ireland-funded short film Cat & Mouse. She is currently in development on her debut feature film. Her Druid Debuts play, Grace, explores challenging themes of motherhood, attempted murder and psychiatric healthcare.

The Druid Debuts series offers a unique opportunity to experience brand new plays fresh off the page and to share an open discussion with the writer, director and cast. Every year, the selected playwrights are provided with professional support, a director, cast and space in which to develop their script to a rehearsed reading level. Previous Druid Debuts have subsequently premiered as full Druid productions including Furniture by Sonya Kelly and Shelter by Cristín Kehoe.

Garry Hynes, Druid’s Artistic Director: ‘The Druid Debuts series is an integral part of our commitment to new writing. I congratulate Conor, Clare and Treasa on their selection, I look forward to hearing their new plays being read, and I’m truly grateful to the hundreds of playwrights who shared their work with us via our new writing programme.’

Maureen Kennelly, Druid’s Chief Executive Officer: ‘As we celebrate Druid’s 50th anniversary this year, we reflect on the importance of new writing to the success of not just Druid but of the wider Irish theatre industry. Supporting aspiring and emerging playwrights is critical to the future of Druid and we are proud to present the annual Druid Debuts series, part of our artistic development programme which also includes the Marie Mullen Bursary and FUEL artist residencies.’