The Galway-based Druid theatre company has announced plans to stage Sean O’Casey’s Dublin trilogy set in the Irish capital during a period of rebellion and war in the early 20th century.
DruidO’Casey will see the three plays—The Plough and the Stars, The Shadow of a Gunman and Juno and the Paycock—performed in a limited number of single-play performances and together in a single day.
The trilogy, defining works of Irish theatre, is being revived to mark the centenary of Ireland’s struggle for nationhood during the bloody years that saw the Easter Uprising, the War of Independence and the Civil War.
Described as the “most ambitious production yet” in Druid’s 48-year-history, DruidO’Casey promises “an epic theatrical event of conflict, national identity and the human toll of war… drawing parallels between an Irish past and an international present”.
Druid’s artistic director, Garry Hynes, will direct a cast of 18 who will perform more than 40 roles. Four members of the Druid Ensemble—Garrett Lombard, Aaron Monaghan, Rory Nolan and Marty Rea—will be joined on stage by Gabriel Adewusi, Tara Cush, Zara Devlin, Caitríona Ennis, Hilda Fay, Tommy Harris, Anna Healy, Liam Heslin, Bosco Hogan, Sean Kearns, Sophie Lenglinger, Sarah Morris, Robbie O’Connor and Catherine Walsh.
Sets and costumes will be designed by Francis O’Connor, lighting by James F Ingalls, sound by Gregory Clarke, with Conor Linehan providing original music.
DruidO’Casey opens in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre on July 9 and runs until July 30. It then travels to Belfast’s Lyric Theatre (August 5–19) and Dublin’s Abbey Theatre (August 26 to September 16).