The final curtain fell on Druid’s production of Sean O’Casey’s The Silver Tassie, concluding a phenomenal 22 weeks of touring, and resulting in critical acclaim for the play and Garry Hynes.
The play had its final US staging on Sunday July 31 at the Lincoln Centre Festival in New York. The performance was part of a US tour which featured three productions in 10 cities, resulting in 132 performances and playing to 55,000 audience members.
The American tour saw Druid stage The Silver Tassie, Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple Of Inishmaan, and Enda Walsh’s Penelope, with each production earning high praise from the critics.
There was also particular praise for Druid artistic director Garry Hynes, with The New York Times declaring her to be “probably the foremost interpreter of Irish drama in the world today”, while The LA Times said, “kudos to Hynes for balancing the play’s mix of mockery and truth in her internationally acclaimed production.”
“I am very proud that all three productions have received such a great response in the US,” said Ms Hynes. “It is fitting that we should end this record breaking year of US touring in New York, the city we first toured to back in 1986.
“I’d like to thank the 75 actors and crew who worked across these shows and of course our funding partners, The Arts Council, and Culture Ireland, for their unwavering support. Equally importantly we thank the audiences who came out to see us, whether it was through the snow last February in Boston or the heat last week in New York!”
Druid will be back in Galway from November 11 to 19 with John B Keane’s Big Maggie starring Aisling O’Sullivan in the title role.
