As announced at the official Druid press launch on Friday we are thrilled to be one of the venues that DruidShakepeare will visit on their Irish and American tour.
Druid are describing this project as their “most ambitious ever undertaking” and it is a fitting marker for the company’s fortieth year making theatre.
With an ensemble cast of thirteen actors, this major new theatre event will tour to Letterkenny, Sligo, Castlebar, Limerick, Skibereen, New York and Kilkenny over the summer months.
Casting elements were also announced by Artistic Director Garry Hynes: “Acting is first and foremost an act of imagination, both on the part of the actors and the audience. That act of imagination transcends nationality, character, geography and background and we see no reason why it shouldn’t transcend gender too. Accordingly, our actors have been cast without regard to their own gender. For example, the three kings – Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V – are played by one male and two female actors.”
DruidShakespeare is an exploration of English history through an Irish lens. As Shakespeare was writing Richard II, Henry IV (Pts. 1 & 2), and Henry V, English forces were being sent to Ireland to quell rebellions and these expeditions are referred to throughout the plays.
Adapted by one of Ireland’s most exciting writers, Mark O’Rowe, DruidShakespeare distills the narratives of these four works into a unified dramatic action.
Shakespeare’s language has been preserved as has the chronology of the plays but O’Rowe’s adaptation removes ancillary characters and streamlines the narrative to harness the drama of these epic works.
The ensemble cast features many familiar faces to our patrons who have attended previous Druid productions at An Grianán.
Cast
Clare Barrett
Derbhle Crotty
Gavin Drea
Bosco Hogan
Garrett Lombard
Karen McCartney
Charlotte McCurry
Aaron Monaghan
Marie Mullen
Rory Nolan
John Olohan
Aisling O’Sullivan
Marty Rea
Director: Garry Hynes
Associate Director – Design: Francis O’Connor
Associate Director – Movement: David Bolger
Assistant Costume Designer: Doreen McKenna
Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls
Sound Design: Gregory Clarke
Music Director: Conor Linehan
DruidShakespeare at An Grianán
Wed 3 and Thur 4 June at 7.30pm
Sat 6 June at 2pm