Garry Hynes wins Best Director at UK Theatre Awards

9 October 2023

Druid’s Co-Founder and Artistic Director Garry Hynes has won the Best Director award at the 2023 UK Theatre Awards for DruidO’Casey, the company’s production of Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy.

DruidO’Casey is a play cycle of Sean O’Casey’s three best known plays, The Plough and The Stars, The Shadow of a Gunman and Juno and the Paycock. The production premiered at Galway International Arts Festival in July, followed by tours to the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.

The company is now on tour with the production in America, playing NYU Skirball in New York City (presented in partnership with the acclaimed Public Theater) and University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

This Best Director award comes 25 years since Garry Hynes’ historic win at the 1998 Tony Awards, when she became the first woman to win the Tony Award for Best Director. That award recognised her work on Druid’s world premiere production of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

Speaking from New York, Garry Hynes said: ‘I am honoured to receive this award and wish to thank UK Theatre for recognising not only my work but the work of a legion of people who brought DruidO’Casey to life this year. I’m also very grateful to Druid’s funders and supporters including our core funder The Arts Council, DruidO’Casey production partner Smurfit Kappa, and our US tour supporter Culture Ireland.’

DruidO’Casey broke box office records for the theatre company’s Irish tour and has been critically acclaimed, earning five-star reviews from The Observer, Financial Times, The Stage and the Irish Mail on Sunday.

The UK Theatre Awards celebrate outstanding achievements in theatre across the UK regions and are the sister awards of the Olivier Awards which celebrate London theatre. This Best Director award recognises Garry Hynes’ work on DruidO'Casey for its run at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast this August. The UK Theatre Awards took place in London yesterday, Sunday 8 October.

Image: Juno and the Paycock as part of DruidO'Casey, photo by Ros Kavanagh