DRUIDO'CASEY Comes to NYU Skirball in October

NYU Skirball, in Partnership with The Public Theater, will present DruidO’Casey, a North American premiere by Ireland’s Druid Theatre, directed by Tony Award-winner Garry Hynes, running October 4 – 14 at NYU Skirball. The internationally acclaimed Druid Theatre will mount Sean O'Casey's “Dublin Trilogy” - three seminal Irish plays: The Plough and the Stars; The Shadow of a Gunman; and Juno and the Paycock. There will be three six-hour, full cycle performances of the plays featuring dinner specials at partner restaurants, snacks and specialty drinks that will be available all day. The run will also include a limited number of single-play performances.

A century ago, Ireland was reborn in the fires of rebellion and war. Ireland’s great playwright Sean O’Casey bore witness to these seismic events and dramatized them as the Dublin Trilogy, three great works of Irish theatre, full of history, humanity and humour. 100 years later, the Druid Theatre will weave O’Casey’s three plays into an epic theatrical event of conflict, national identity and the human toll of war: DruidO’Casey. A large cast of 18 actors will perform over 40 roles, in the most ambitious production in Druid’s history.

DruidO'Casey begins with The Plough and the Stars, the story of newlyweds 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.

Prior to the North American premiere in New York, the world premiere of DruidO’Casey will take place in Galway in July as part of Galway International Arts Festival followed by performances In Belfast and Dublin. The production will tour to Ann Arbor, Michigan following its New York run.

Sean O’Casey (Playwright) was born in Dublin in 1880 and lived through troubled and turbulent times; the 1913 Lock-out and Strike, the 1916 Easter Rising, the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Sean O’Casey was involved directly with the Lock-out and Strike, starving with his fellow workers, and like many other Dubliners, he saw and was affected by the horrors of the Rising and the troubles that followed. When he was forty he wrote three plays within three years depicting the lives of the slum dwellers he was familiar with; The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars. These plays now stand with the great plays of the Twentieth Century.

Garry Hynes (Director) co-founded Druid in 1975 and has worked as its Artistic Director from 1975 to 1991, and from 1995 to date. From 1991 to 1994 she was Artistic Director of The Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Garry has also worked with the Abbey and Gate Theatres (Ireland) and internationally with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court (U.K.); and with Atlantic Theater, New York City Center Encores!, Second Stage, Signature Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club in New York; and with the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her many awards include a 1998 Tony Award for Direction for The Beauty Queen of Leenane, the first woman in history to win this award.

Druid Theatre Company, founded in 1975 and based in Galway, began as a bold idea: to create Ireland’s first professional theatre company outside of the country’s capital, Dublin. Druid has been a leading force in Irish theatre for almost five decades and is one of the best-known Irish theatre companies in the English-speaking world. The company has won international acclaim
and numerous awards, including four 1998 Tony awards. druid.ie

               
NYU Skirball is NYC’s home for cutting-edge performance, artistic research, and discourse, holding close to James Baldwin’s dictum that “artists are here to disturb the peace.” NYU Skirball is located in the heart of Greenwich Village, historically a center of resistance, dissent and free thinking. Its programming reflects this history and embraces today’s renegade artists and companies, presenting works that aim to engage, provoke, and inspire audiences. The 800-seat theater, led by Director Jay Wegman, provides a home for internationally renowned artists, innovators, and thinkers and presents ground-breaking events ranging from re-inventions of the classics to cutting-edge premieres, in genres ranging from dance, theater and performance arts to comedy, music and film.

The Public Theater, conceived over 60 years ago, has long operated on the principle that art and culture belong to everyone. Continuing the work of its visionary founder Joseph Papp, The Public’s programming includes new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater, the Mobile Unit touring throughout NYC’s five boroughs, Under the Radar, Public Works, Public Shakespeare Initiative, and Joe’s Pub. The Public has received 60 Tony Awards, 190 Obie Awards, 57 Drama Desk Awards, 61 Lortel Awards, 36 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, 62 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes.