NYU Skirball In Partnership with The Public Theater Present the North American Premiere of Druid Theatre's  DRUID O'CASEY 

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. DruidO'Casey has already broken box office records for the company's Irish tour; the Galway run is sold out as 

are the majority of the Dublin performances. 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. 

DruidO'Casey will run October 4 –October 14 with the following schedule: The full cycle of three plays on  Saturday, October 7, Wednesday, October 11 and Saturday, October 14 at 1 pm; The Plough and the Stars on  Wednesday, October 4 and Tuesday, October 10 at 7:30 pm; The Shadow of a Gunman on Thursday, October 

5 and Thursday, October 12 at 7:30 pm; and Juno and the Paycock on Friday, October 6 and Friday, October 13  at 7:30 pm. 

Tickets can be purchased online, by visiting the box office in person, Tuesday – Saturday from 12:00 pm - 6:00  pm, or by calling 212.998.4941. NYU Skirball is located at 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square, New  York, New York 10012. www.nyuskirball.org. 

NYU Skirball's programs are made possible in part with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; the  New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State  Legislature; and by Howard Gilman Foundation; FUSED (French U.S. Exchange in Dance), a program of FACE  Foundation in partnership with Villa Albertine; General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the  USA; Collins Building Services; Korean Cultural Center New York, Marta Heflin Foundation; Harkness Foundation for  Dance; as well as our valued donors through memberships, commissioning, and Stage Pass Fund support.

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