GALWAY THEATRE companies and actrors have been nominated in 11 of 13 The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, representing 30 per cent of the total number of nominations.
DruidShakespeare, a Druid Theatre production co-produced with Lincoln Center Festival New York, of Richard II, Henry IV: Parts 1 & 2, and Henry V, in a new adaptation by Mark O’Rowe, received the Best Production nomination - won last year by the GIAF and Landmark production of Enda Walsh’s Ballyturk - while Druid artistic director Garry Hynes was nominated for Best Director for the DruidShakespeare series.
In the Best New Play category, GIAF productions were nominated for Frank McGuinness’ The Match Box, a Festival production starring Galway actress Cathy Belton; and Amy Conroy’s Luck Just Kissed You Hello, in which she also starred, a co-production by the festival and HotForTheatre.
Druid and the GIAF have been nominated for the Judge’s Special Award; the Festival “for its consistent supportive role as a co-producer to independent theatre” and Druid for “creating a true ensemble, the pinnacle of this rare achievement being DruidShakespeare“.
Actors who tread the boards of Galway’s stages are strongly represented in all four acting categories. Derbhle Crotty and Aisling O’ Sullivan in DruidShakespeare, and Cathy Belton in The Match Box, are nominated for Best Actress. Marty Rea is nominated as Best Actor and Rory Nolan for Best Supporting Actor, both for DruidShakepeare; Decadent Theatre’s Peter Campion also received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. Galway’s Clare Barrett is nominated for Best Supporting Actress category for The Train by Arthur Riordan and Bill Whelan.
Druid’s creative team also received nominations for Best Set Design (Francis O’Connor ); Best Costume Design (Doreen McKenna and Francis O’Connor ); and Best Sound Design (Gregory Clarke and Conor Linehan ), all for DruidShakespeare.
The award ceremony will take place at the National Concert Hall, Dublin on March 6.
