SAMUEL BECKETT'S Waiting For Godot, and Helen and I, a new work of Tuam playwright Meadhbh McHugh, will both be performed as part of Druid Theatre Company's programme of work for 2016.
While Druid's production of John B Keane’s Big Maggie opened this week in Dublin, Galway audiences can look forward to a host of classic and new theatre works from the internationally acclaimed local company, including Waiting for Godot, performed by members of the Druid Ensemble - Marty Rea, Aaron Monaghan, Garrett Lombard and Rory Nolan - in the Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane. Garry Hynes will direct.
As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to new writing talent, Druid will stage Meadhbh McHugh's Helen and I in the Mick Lally Theatre, in August. Directed by Anabelle Comyn, it tells the story of two sisters who return home to look after their dying father. In the hothouse conditions of a summer’s weekend, the future emerges from hard-won and hard-fought rearrangements of the past.
Druid officially opened the Town Hall Theatre in 1996 with the premiere of Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane. In September, to mark that 20th anniversary, Druid present a new production, with Garry Hynes again directing. Marie Mullen will play the role of manipulative ageing mother Mag, having originally played the part of daughter Maureen in 1996. After its Galway run, the production will play across Ireland and embark upon a cost-to-coast tour of the US.
The Druid Debuts staged readings of new work take place in July, and FUEL: Emerging Artist Residency, returns in the autumn. Garry Hynes also said Druid will engage with Waking the Feminists "to see how we, as a company, can begin to address gender inequality in theatre".
Full details of all Druid 2016 productions will be announced in the coming months.
