Back in March, Druid announced their most ambitious production yet, DruidO’Casey - a play cycle of Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy.
A century ago, Ireland was reborn in the fires of rebellion and war. O’Casey bore witness to these seismic events and dramatised them as the Dublin Trilogy, three great works of Irish theatre, full of history, humanity and humour.
Directed by Garry Hynes, audiences will experience The Plough and the Stars, The Shadow of a Gunman and Juno and the Paycock in a typically Druid-like unique way.
The talented cast of 18 actors will perform over 40 roles in these three classic plays. Longford born Liam Heslin, who previously worked with the Druid as part of their Lady Gregory series in 2020, will perform across the three plays. He says: "We're in our sixth week of rehearsals now. If we were just doing one of the plays, we'd be performing by now, so it's a bit weird in that respect that we still have about half of the rehearsal period left to go, I'm starting to feel the itch and I'm looking forward to show the work to audiences!"
DruidO’Casey begins with The Plough and the Stars, the story of newlyweds Jack and Nora Clitheroe living in a city on the brink of rebellion in 1916. In The Shadow of a Gunman, Donal Davoren, Seumas Shields and Minnie Powell find themselves tragically tangled up in the Irish War of Independence. The saga ends with Juno and the Paycock and the Boyle family who see their fortunes dashed amidst the upheaval of the Irish Civil War. Heslin is playing the character of Jack. "From my perspective, this play has the biggest theatrical scope because there are four acts, each of which takes place in a different location, so you're really being shown the world of Dublin at that time."
Heslin discovered the treasure trove of Irish playwrights in acting school. His favourite playwright is Tom Murphy. "I remember seeing my first Tom Murphy play cycle over 10 years ago now, and it really got me into his work. It's so human and and the details are brilliant. Then, when we did the DruidGregory cycle a few years ago, I got to play the character of Joe in On The Outside which was a bit of a dream to be honest. Bucket list stuff."
Having done both, Heslin admits there are some benefits to on-screen acting that you don't get acting in plays, one example being that the work lives on. Even so, there is nothing like the intense, shared experience of live theatre between actor and audience, evoking a special kind of joy reserved for this kind of gathering. Heslin says: "There is a communion with the audience and there's a feeling you bounce off of as an actor, it's powerful."
The world premiere of DruidO’Casey will take place at the Town Hall Theatre in Galway this July as part of Galway International Arts Festival. It will then travel to the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
More info and tickets available from druid.ie
