November was a busy month filled with much deserved, prestigious awards for Druid Theatre Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Garry Hynes.
On November 18, Hynes received the Galway Chamber’s President’s Award, which recognises an individual who has made a contribution to the business life of Galway that is outstanding. “I was very proud to receive this. It really was such an honour to be recognised for my business contribution to Galway,” Hynes said.
Speaking at the Galway Chamber Business Awards 2022, Dermot Nolan, President of Galway Chamber said: “The purpose of the Galway Chamber President’s Award, supported by PwC Ireland, is to recognise an individual who has made a contribution to the business life of Galway that is outstanding in every way. There are few people who meet that description more fittingly than Garry Hynes. Look at all that she has accomplished over the course of her breath-taking career, a career that has made such an immense contribution to the Irish and international cultural landscape. Her work with Druid has not just put Galway on the theatre map but made it a vital theatrical destination of renown.”
Following this, Hynes was also named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French Ambassador to Ireland, Vincent Guérend, during a ceremony at the Résidence de France in Dublin last week (November 29 ).
Speaking of the event, Hynes says: “It was lovely. The Ambassador was incredibly hospitable and I had close friends and colleagues around me too, so it was a very special moment. I was proud and honoured.”
While the Galway Chamber’s President’s Award recognised her immeasurable impact on Galway’s business landscape, the French award was bestowed on Hynes in recognition of her significant work in the arts and promotion of France-Ireland relations.
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters ) was established in 1957. Its purpose is to recognize eminent artists, writers, and scholars for their efforts in promoting the awareness and enrichment of France’s cultural heritage throughout the world. The award acknowledges the strong and invaluable contribution of Hynes’ work to the cultural influence of France in Ireland and beyond.
Inspired by Ariane Mnouchkine, Garry Hynes has directed and promoted French and Francophone plays such as Samuel Beckett’s Acts Without Words II (1975 ), Happy Days (1976 ), Endgame (1981 ) and Waiting for Godot (2016 ) which have been performed in Ireland, the UK and the USA. She has worked on Antigone (Jean Anouilh ) and invited Simone Benmussa to present her play The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs in Galway.
Are there any Francophone plays Hynes has directed over the years that have stood out in her memory as particularly special?
“I have to say, Waiting For Godot stands out. I’ve done two productions of the play - the first in the early 1980s with Sean McGinley and the late Ray McBride. I felt then, that the play defeated me. I didn’t feel I was up to being in the ring with someone like Samuel Beckett.
“The second time round (in 2016 ), I was thirty years older, a little bit wiser, and felt very much at one with Beckett. I followed his notes and writings about the play very closely. I dived into it and it became a very successful production.” Successful indeed. The Irish Times said at the time that the production was “exceptional and miraculous, directed with vigour and heart by Garry Hynes.”
When did Hynes become interested in theatre?
“Well I remember I did my first play in fifth class in St. Louis Convent, Monaghan. I sustained a life long friendship with my teacher from that time until she died this year at the age of 102.” In college (Hynes attended University of Galway ) she joined the Dramsoc. “I didn’t want to act, so I directed. Suddenly, 50 years have gone by in a flash!” Hynes set up Druid in 1975 with Marie Mullen and Mick Lally, with the idea of making plays in the West, about the West (their first production was John Millington Synge’s ‘comic masterpiece’, deliciously notorious The Playboy of the Western World ).
Speaking about the early development of Druid, Hynes says: “Gradually over the first few years, we stumbled around a little bit and eventually found our voice.” Druid has become Ireland’s premiere theatre touring company. Passionately believing that audiences have a right to see first-class professional theatre in their own communities, the company has performed in more than 100 Irish communities and more than 40 prestigious international venues and festivals. They also celebrate, champion and support playwrights, theatre-makers and theatre artists through programmes like New Writing, The Marie Mullen Bursary, FUEL and more. “I think there is a lot of talent in Irish theatre, but it’s so important that we help to nourish and develop this talent,” says Hynes.
Hynes is currently considering a project called Middle Island, in collaboration with Colm Toibin in relation to his play, Testament, as a potential link between Corsica and and Inis Meáin.
If you can’t wait until that materialises, The Last Return, one of Druid’s most successful plays by acclaimed playwright Sonya Kelly, is going on tour across Ireland early next year in February and March (it will be in Galway between 8 - 11 March 2023 ). Described as ‘wonderful ... unexpectedly touching’ by The New York Times, don’t sit this one out. Tickets are selling fast.
Get yours here: www.druid.ie
