Druid’s Cherry Orchard free online for 36 hours

Audiences around the world can access a free stream of Druid Theatre’s 2020 production of The Cherry Orchard from this Friday, March 19, at 8pm. It’s available for a 36-hour period as part Culture Ireland’s Seoda showcase of Irish arts, which takes place online for this year’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations. This follows the company’s latest production, Once Upon a Bridge, by Sonya Kelly, which Druid staged last month in its Mick Lally Theatre. That play was streamed live to audiences in 35 countries and was later available on demand for a limited period. The Cherry Orchard opened in February 2020 in the city’s Black Box Theatre. In a first for an Irish theatre company, it was broadcast live to cinemas across Ireland and the UK in early March. A planned Dublin run of the live production and more cinema dates for the recorded performance were cut short due to Covid-19. Directed by Garry Hynes, with the creative team behind ‘DruidShakespeare’, the production starred Derbhle Crotty and the large cast included other members of the Druid Ensemble; Aaron Monaghan, Garrett Lombard, Rory Nolan and Marty Rea, alongside Ian-Lloyd Anderson, Siobhán Cullen, Megan Cusack, Peter Daly, Rachel Feeney, Helen Norton and John Olohan. A play about land, legacy, and the struggle between tradition and change, this version of Chekhov’s classic was adapted by the late Tom Murphy. The Sunday Independent described the production as ‘bleakly magnificent’ It’s available at www.cultureireland.com and www.druid.ie.