Druid Theatre today announced a major new production of The House, the late Tom Murphy’s masterpiece. The House will premiere this September at the Town Hall Theatre in Galway and then transfer to the Gaiety Theatre for the Dublin Theatre Festival. Tickets for Galway go on sale Wednesday, June 12 at 10am.
Written in 2000 but set in the 1950s, The House is a tense drama of desire, belonging and possession. Mrs de Burca can sense the beginning of an end. With her health failing and her three daughters making their own way in the world, it’s time to sell the family home. Down the town, a generation of young men have returned from the building sites of England to haunt the streets for a few weeks. Among them is Christy Cavanagh, a man with cash in his pockets, fond memories of a childhood spent with the De Burca family, and a plan to buy their house.
Garry Hynes directs a large ensemble cast including Druid Ensemble members Marie Mullen as Mrs de Burca and Marty Rea as Christy Cavanagh, alongside Jessica Dunne Perkins, Darragh Feehely, Liam Heslin, Colm Lennon, Andrew Macklin, Amy Molloy, Rachel O’Byrne, Donncha O’Dea and Cathal Ryan. Druid are delighted to announce that 6 of the 11 actors in the cast will make their Druid stage debut on The House.
No one wrote 20th-century Ireland like Tom Murphy. Druid’s long history with the late writer began in the 1980s when he became the company’s writer-in-association and their work together includes the world premieres of Conversations on a Homecoming, Bailegangaire and Brigit, as well as the internationally acclaimed play cycle DruidMurphy.
The House will be produced in Druid’s home city of Galway, with costumes created at the company’s Nuns’ Island Costume Department and sets constructed in its Ballybane Set Workshop, in line with Druid’s commitments to sustainability and local employment.
Garry Hynes, Director of Endgame and Druid’s Artistic Director, said; “Directing the work of Tom Murphy is always an immense privilege and I’m lucky to have had that honour many times since the 1980s, including the world premieres of Conversations on a Homecoming, Bailegangaire and Brigit. The contribution of Tom Murphy to both Druid and to Irish theatre in general is inestimable. I can’t wait to share this great work with audiences in Galway and Dublin this autumn.”
