The Irish Are Coming To Shakespeare Theatre Company in WAITING FOR GODOT

Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) will host Druid, Ireland's most celebrated theatre company, and their critically acclaimed production of Waiting for Godot. Directed by Tony Award-winner Garry Hynes, Druid's production of Samuel Beckett's absurd, anarchic masterpiece will make its regional premiere at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street, NW) from April 17 through May 20, 2018 before it travels on to Chicago.

On a bare road in the middle of nowhere, two world-weary friends await the arrival of the mysterious Godot. While lingering by the side of the road, killing time with hat tricks and half-remembered stories, Estragon and Vladimir ponder life's most profound and primitive questions. Samuel Beckett's anarchic exploration of time teeters on the edge of despair but is tuned with his unique blend of poetry and humor. It is regarded as one of the most significant plays of the twentieth century, a masterpiece that draws endless interpretations.

"Waiting for Godot is one of the most influential plays of our time; an existential masterpiece that is open to endless interpretation," said STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn. "Druid's production is both comic and profound-Ireland's greatest play produced by one of its greatest and most innovative companies-and I am so pleased that STC is able to share it with D.C. audiences."

Druid's production, which visits Washington as part of an international tour, has been widely praised for its humor and accessibility. Winning acclaim from audiences and critics alike, it was hailed as "exceptional...the freshest, funniest, most affecting production of the play you're ever likely to see," by the Irish Times.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Garry Hynes co-founded Druid Theatre Company 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 Gate Theatre (Ireland); the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court (UK), Center Theatre Group, Second Stage, Signature Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, the Kennedy Center, the Mark Taper Forum and the Spoleto Festival (USA).

Awards include: The Joe A.Callaway Award (New York) for Outstanding Directing for The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh (2009); She won a Tony Award for Direction for The Beauty Queen of Leenane in 1998, and is a recipient of many other theatre awards, including The Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Awards for Best Director for DruidShakespeare, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Waiting for Godot and a Special Tribute Award for her contribution to Irish Theatre (2005). Garry has also received Honorary Doctorates from the University College Dublin, University of Dublin, the National University of Ireland and the National Council for Education Awards and most recently she was made Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, and she is a member of the Honorary Council of the Royal Hibernian Academy (HRHA).

In 2011, Garry was appointed Adjunct Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at NUI Galway.

ABOUT THE CAST

This award-winning production features classically trained actors that have performed extensively throughout Ireland and around the world.

Aaron Monaghan (Estragon) Druid: The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Waiting for Godot, DruidShakespeare, The Colleen Bawn, DruidMurphy - Plays by Tom Murphy, The Silver Tassie, Penelope, The Playboy of the Western World, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Empress of India, The Year of the Hiker,The Walworth Farce, DruidSynge. Other theatre: Stones in his Pockets (McCarter Theatre); The Second Violinist (Landmark); King Lear, Translations, 16 Possible Glimpses, Arrah na Pogue, Christ Deliver Us, Romeo & Juliet, Drama at Inish, The Shaughraun, She Stoops to Conquer, The Burial at Thebes, I Do Not Like Thee, Dr. Fell, The Wolf of Winter,Finders Keepers (Abbey Theatre).Film & television: Maze, The Foreigner, Assassin's Creed, The Tudors, Pan, Vikings, Inspector Jury, Clean Break, Sacrifice, The Other Side of Sleep, Single-Handed, Jack Taylor, Love/Hate, Little Foxes, The Tudors, Ella Enchanted, LSD:73. Awards: OBIE, Lucille Lortel, and Manchester Evening News Best Actor Awards for his performance as Cripple Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan; Irish Times Irish Theatre Award, Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Liam (Conversations on a Homecoming) in DruidMurphy - Plays by Tom Murphy.

Marty Rea (Vladimir) Druid: DruidShakespeare, Brigit, Be Infants in Evil, The Colleen Bawn, DruidMurphy - Plays by Tom Murphy . Other Theatre: Juno and the Paycock, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Caretaker, An Ideal Husband, My Cousin Rachel, Little Women, Hay Fever, Arcadia, Salomé, The Glass Menagerie (Gate Theatre); Othello, She Stoops to Conquer, The Hanging Gardens, Major Barbara, John Gabriel Borkman, The Rivals, Only an Apple, An Ideal Husband, The Big House, Saved, The Importance of Being Earnest (Abbey Theatre); Improbable Frequency (E59 Street Theatre, New York); Pentecost, Spokesong (The Lyric Theatre / Rough Magic Theatre Co.); Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Hamlet (Second Age Theatre Co.); Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Livin' Dred Theatre Co. / NOMAD Theatre Network); Philadelphia, Here I Come! (ART NI). Film and Television: Barbarians Rising! (dir. Maurice Sweeney); The Devils Pool (dir. Cecily Brennan, VicoFilms); The Man Inside (dir. Rory Bresnihan, Broken Pictures Ltd.) AWARDS: Marty won the Irish Times Best Actor Award for his portrayal of Hamlet in 2010 and again for his portrayal of Richard II in DruidShakespeare in 2015.

Garrett Lombard (Lucky) Druid: Waiting for Godot, DruidShakespeare, DruidMurphy - Plays by Tom Murphy, The Silver Tassie, The Walworth Farce, The Year of the Hiker. Other theatre: Stones in his Pockets (McCarter Theatre); Ulysses, Cavalcaders, The Recruiting Officer (Abbey Theatre); The Dumb Waiter, A Streetcar Named Desire, Bedroom Farce, An Ideal Husband, The Caretaker, All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie (Gate Theatre); Dusk (Red Iron Productions); The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane (Pan Pan); Alone It Stands (Lane Productions); Playing from the Heart (The Ark); The Field (national tour for Scott-Rellis Productions) The Winter's Tale (Corcadorca). Film & television: Looks Like Rain, Quirke, Rough Diamond, Fair City, Love is the Drug, Pure Mule, Alexander, Frontline, Stella Days. Awards: Nominated for Irish Film and Television Award for his role as Scobie Donoghue in Pure Mule (2005)

Rory Nolan (Pozzo) Druid: Waiting for Godot, DruidShakespeare, The Colleen Bawn, DruidMurphy -Plays by Tom Murphy. Other theatre: Northern Star, The Critic, Peer Gynt, The Importance of Being Earnest, Don Carlos, The Taming of the Shrew, Improbable Frequency, Is This About Sex? (Rough Magic); Chekhov's First Play (Dead Centre); Postcards from the Ledge, Breaking Dad, Between Foxrock and a Hard Place, The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger, Sleeping Beauty (Landmark);The Importance of Being Earnest, Bedroom Farce, A Christmas Carol, Death of a Salesman (Gate Theatre); She Stoops to Conquer, Aristocrats, The Government Inspector, Translations, Arrah Na Pogue, Macbeth, The Rivals, Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant, The Comedy of Errors, Heavenly Bodies, Big Love (Abbey Theatre); Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Livin' Dred/Nomad); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Corn Exchange); The Evils of Tobacco (Mangiare Theatre). Film & television: Acceptable Risk, The Delinquent Season, WILD, Charlie, Fair City, A Thousand Times Goodnight, The Baker Street Irregulars, Trouble in Paradise, Nothing Persona

ABOUT THE DESIGNERS

Francis O'Connor (Scenic and Costume Design) Francis is a regular collaborator with Garry Hynes and Druid. His designs for plays, musicals and opera have been seen in Ireland, the UK, throughout the US, Europe, and Asia and his work with The Gate Theatre (Ireland) has frequently been seen at Spoleto Festival. For Druid: Sive,King of the Castle, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Waiting for Godot, Big Maggie, DruidShakespeare, Brigit, Bailegangaire, The Colleen Bawn, DruidMurphy -Plays by Tom Murphy, The Silver Tassie, The Gigli Concert, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Leaves, Empress of India, The Year of the Hiker, DruidSynge, The Well of the Saints, The Tinker's Wedding, Sharon's Grave, Sive, The Good Father, My Brilliant Divorce,The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lonesome West, A Skull in Connemara,The Leenane Trilogy, The Country Boy, The Way You Look Tonight, Shadow and Substance, Wild Harvest. Awards include: Three Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, two for Best Design, one for Best Costume Design (with Doreen McKenna); Boston Critics Circle; Dora Mavor Moore Award; and, most recently, a nomination for the Faust Prize, Germany.

James F. Ingalls (Lighting Design) James trained at the Yale School of Drama and the University of Connecticut. He often collaborates with the Wooden Floor dancers, Santa Ana, California. Druid: Sive,King of the Castle, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Waiting for Godot, DruidShakespeare. Other theatre includes: Hamlet (American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco); Julius Caesar (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland) and the US tour of Carmen de Lavallade's As I Remember It. Opera includes: the world premieres of John Adams' Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, El Niño, The Gospel According to the Other Mary; the world premieres of Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin, Adriana Mater, La Passion de Simone and Only the Sound Remains, all directed by Peter Sellars; Kat'a Kabanova, directed by Garry Hynes at Spoleto Festival/USA. Dance includes several pieces for Paul Taylor's American Modern Dance; Layla and Majnun, Mozart Dances, The Hard Nut and L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato for Mark Morris Dance Group; Twyla Tharp's 50th Anniversary US Tour; The Nutcracker for Pacific Northwest Ballet and San Francisco Ballet; A Fairy's Kiss for Miami City Ballet, Don Quixote for Dutch National Opera and The Sleeping Beauty forTeatro alla Scala Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, NYC, all choreographed by Alexi Ratmansky; John Cranko's Onegin at San Francisco Ballet and National Ballet of Canada; Celts, choreographed by Lila York.

Greg Clarke (Sound Design) Druid: Druid: Sive, King of the Castle, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Waiting for Godot. DruidShakespeare, Brigit, Bailegangaire, Penelope, The New Electric Ballroom, The Hackney Office. Other theatre: The Twits, The Ritual Slaughter Of Gorge Mastromas (Royal Court); Misterman (Galway Arts Festival & Landmark Productions); Medea, The Doctor's Dilemma, Twelfth Night, No Man's Land, Tristan & Yseult, The Emperor Jones, Earthquakes in London (National Theatre, London); The Merchant Of Venice, Cloud Nine (Almeida); All's Well That Ends Well, The Heart of Robin Hood, Great Expectations, Coriolanus, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Tantalus, Cymbeline, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company). London West End credits include: My Night With Reg, Goodnight Mr. Tom, The Vortex, A Voyage Around My Father, And Then There Were None, Some Girls, Waiting for Godot, What The Butler Saw, Journey's End, Equus. Awards: Tony Award Best Sound Design for Equus (2009), Drama Desk Award for Journey's End (2007)

Nick Winston (Movement Director) Nick Winston is an international director and choreographer and an Associate Artist of Curve Theatre, Leicester where his credits include: Grease, Bugsy Malone (Director & Choreographer) and Legally Blonde (Also, South Korea). Druid: Waiting for Godot Other theatre: Shakespeare Live! (RSC, BBC); Kiss Me, Kate (Theatre Du Chatelet, Paris); Annie (National Tour, South Africa & West Yorkshire Playhouse); Calamity Jane (Watermill & National Tour); Sweeney Todd (La Monnaie, The Royal Exchange & West Yorkshire Playhouse); Let's Dance Again! (Royal Festival Hall); White Christmas (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Little Shop Of Horrors (Salisbury Playhouse & Mercury Theatre); Flashmob (Sadler's Wells, Artistic Director & Choreographer); To Sir With Love (National Tour); Merrily We Roll Along (Theatr Clywd); I Dreamed A Dream (National Tour); Flashdance (St Gallen, Switzerland); Sondheim at 80 (BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall); Loserville (Garrick Theatre - Olivier Award Nomination: Best New Musical); Il Turco In Italia (Garsington Opera); Love Story (Minerva Theatre, Chichester); Horrid Henry (Trafalgar Studios); Stepping Out (Derby Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep And West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Wizard Of Oz (Royal Festival Hall); By Jeeves (National Tour); Follies (Royal & Derngate) And The Adventures Of Pinocchio (Opera North, Chemnitz, Minnesota, Moscow & Bonn). Additionally, Nick Has Choreographed The What's On Stage Awards at The Prince of Wales Theatre since 2014. Awards: Nick has received Broadway World Award nominations for his work on Annie, Calamity Jane, Little Shop of Horrors, White Christmas and Loserville.

ABOUT DRUID

Druid began as a bold idea: to create Ireland's first professional theatre company outside of Dublin. There were few resources with which to build a theatre company in the west of Ireland in 1975, but, through sheer dedication, and with the support of the Galway community, founders Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally made this bold idea a reality. That reality has become an international success story of extraordinary dimensions.

The company has won international acclaim and countless awards, including four Tony awards for Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane on Broadway.

Druid is a company that continues to pursue bold ideas, from presenting the entire canon of Synge plays in one day (DruidSynge), to professionally debuting new work such as The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh and The Walworth Farce by Enda Walsh, to adapting and staging four Shakespeare plays in one production (DruidShakespeare) and taking them across Ireland and the Atlantic, to New York and beyond.

Druid passionately believes that audiences have a right to see first class professional theatre in their own communities. Since 1975, the company has performed in over 100 Irish communities, often returning to locations dozens of times, developing enduring connections with audiences. We have presented work at international arts festivals, in municipal theatres, community halls, yards, bars and iron age forts, always looking for new ways to present our work and connect with our audience.

ABOUT Shakespeare Theatre Company

Recipient of the 2012 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) is the nation's leading premier classical theatre company. Today, STC is synonymous with artistic excellence and making classical theatre more accessible to audiences in and around the nation's capital.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Kahn and Executive Director Chris Jennings, STC's innovative productions inspire dialogue that connects classic works to the modern human experience. The Company focuses on works with profound themes, complex characters and poetic language written by Shakespeare, his contemporaries and the playwrights he influenced in order to preserve and promote classic theatre-ambitious, enduring plays with universal themes-for all audiences.

A leader in arts education, STC has a stable of initiatives that teach and excite learners of all ages, from school programs and adult acting classes to accessible community programming like play-relevant discussion series and the Free for All. For the past 25 years the Free For All program has offered an annual remount of a popular production completely free of charge to all audience members.

Located in downtown Washington, D.C., STC performs in two theatres, the 451-seat Lansburgh Theatre and the 774-seat Sidney Harman Hall. In addition to STC productions appearing year-round, these spaces also accommodate presentations from outstanding local performing arts groups and nationally renowned organizations. The Company has been a fixture in the vibrant Penn Quarter neighborhood since 1992.

Photo Credit: Druid Theatre Company's production of Waiting for Godot.

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