A specially commissioned window seat in memory of the late, very great Mick Lally, was unveiled at the Druid Lane Theatre yesterday evening.
This is the first anniversary of the passing of Mr Lally, one of Ireland’s greatest and best loved actors. He was a co-founder of Druid, along with Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen in 1975 and the seat will serve as a permanent reminder of his association with the company.
The seat was designed by Tom dePaor Architects who were also responsible for the refurbishment of Druid theatre in 2009.
The inscription on the seat carries a line from JM Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World, the first play Druid produced in 1975 with Mr Lally playing the leading role of playboy Christy Mahon, opposite Marie Mullen’s Pegeen Mike.
The inscription is a line Mr Lally delivered in Act III: “Isn’t there the light of seven heavens in your heart alone, the way you’ll be an angel’s lamp to me from this out, and I abroad in the darkness spearing salmons in the Owen or the Carrowmore.”
Mr Lally had a strong connection with Synge’s work which culminated in his appearances in the DruidSynge productions of Deirdre of the Sorrows, The Playboy..., The Well of the Saints, and The Shadow of The Glen between 2004 and 2006.
Attending the unveiling were Mr Lally’s widow Peige, daughter Saileog, son Darach, Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen, and the many friends and colleagues Mr Lally met through his acting career as well as those friends with whom he shared his love of music.
“Mick has always been at the very heart of the fabric of Druid,” said Ms Hynes. “With this seat, Mick’s spirit and memory will forever be part of the theatre. He was a big, brave hearted man with such passion for his craft that he may even whisper to us every now and again.”
