Double bill for Arts Fest as Druid marks its 50th

Druid Theatre will stage a double bill of JM Synge’s one-act, Riders to the Sea and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the company’s Mick Lally Theatre from July 10-26 as the centrepiece of the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations. It’s as part of Galway International Arts Festival and tickets will go on sale Friday, May 9.

The production will then travel to Dublin’s Gaiety theatre from September 25-October 5, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival. Tickets for that go on sale this Friday, April 4.

And the company’s 2024 production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, which was first presented at last year’s Arts Festival, will be revived for a run at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan next October and November.

Riders to the Sea is the first production in the summer double bill, with playwright JM Synge capturing the lyricism of the West of Ireland and the power of the Atlantic Ocean in this one-act. In it, he explores Celtic paganism, the struggles of life and humanity’s desperate stretch towards the heavens. Twenty years on from 2005’s DruidSynge, the acclaimed trilogy which included Riders to the Sea, Druid co-founders Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen – both Tony Award winners – are joining forces for this new production, with further casting to be announced.

For the second production, Macbeth, Druid will bring its uniquely Irish perspective to one of Shakespeare’s fiercest and most bloody tragedies.

Garry Hynes will direct, with Marty Rea as Macbeth and Marie Mullen as Lady Macbeth, and further casting to be announced. It follows Druid’s internationally acclaimed DruidShakespeare (2015) and Richard III (2018).

The company has just completed a sold-out national tour of Three Short Comedies by Seán O’Casey. This revival from 2021 was the first production of its 50th anniversary year, and it played to packed houses in 11 venues during February and March.

Pictured: Marty Rea who will play Macbeth in Druid's new production of Shakespeare's bloody tragedy, pictured with Marie Mullen (left) who will play Lady Macbeth, and Garry Hynes who will direct the play. Marie Mullen and Garry Hynes, along with the late Mick Lally, co-founded the company in 1975. PHOTO: STE MURRAY.