Waiting for magical Druid
WHEN Wexfordman Feargal Hynes, Head of Operations and Development at Druid Theatre was making arrangements to bring the touring production of the Samuel Beckett masterpiece Waiting for God to the 771-seater O’Reilly Theatre in the National Opera House at the end of March, he couldn’t believe it when he realised it has been 20 years since the award-winning company staged a play in Wexford.
Back in 1998, The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh, starring Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny was brought to the then Theatre Royal in High Street, three years after a Druid production of the Billy Roche play Poor Beast in the Rain was presented in the town as part of an Irish tour.
‘It’s been a long time. It’s great to be bringing a show back to Wexford. We’re really looking forward to it’, said Feargal (26) who is following in the footsteps of his late and beloved dad Jerome, Galway-native and former chief executive of Wexford Festival Opera who was general manager for several years of Druid, the company founded in Galway in 1975 by his sister, the artistic director Garry Hynes and the actors Marie Mullen and the late Mick Lally.
‘It amazed me that it had been 20 years, especially when you consider the strong theatrical tradition in County Wexford with so many award-winning groups such as Kilmuckridge and Bridge Drama’, he said.
Former St. Peter’s College student-of-the year Feargal who displayed an interest in arts management from an early age, grew up in Crosstown, Wexford against a backdrop of both Wexford Opera Festival and Druid Theatre and is no stranger to the corridors of the Opera House where he volunteered in front of house as a teenager.
As a Transition Year student, his first foray into the world of the impresario was a memorable success when he confidently organised a sell-out Des Bishop gig in the Opera House. The comedian was so impressed by him that Hynes has organised all his Wexford appearances ever since, while studying for a Bachelor of Commerce in UCD.
He worked with the late Wexford promoter Barry Ennis on a music festival in the Irish National Heritage Park in Ferrycarrig, assisted with the Charlotte Street Music Festival hosted by the Centenary Stores, promoted summer events for Wexford Borough Council and organised gigs in Greenacres Gallery. He is also a member of the Gaisce Council (President’s Awards) which recognises the special achievements of young people.
‘I’m loving it’, he says of the Druid job which he undertook 14 months ago following a period as development lead. He is involved in the business side of the house, putting together deals with venues, co-productions and festivals and organising national and international tours for a busy company that is in production 90% of the year.
Last year, the Druid production of the Beauty Queen of Leenaneby Martin McDonagh took him to Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh and Hong Kong. Waiting for Godot spent three weeks in Charlestown, South Carolina at the Spoleto Festival and four weeks at the Abbey Theatre during 2017, playing to capacity audiences. Bringing the best of theatre to communities throughout Ireland and to prestigious national and international stages is in Druid’s DNA but Feargal still finds time to return regularly to Wexford where his mother Alma is actively involved behind the scenes in the Art in the Open Festival and other organisations.
Once the current Beckett production starring Gorey native Garrett Lombard, Aaron Monaghan, Rory Nolan and Marty Rea is finished its five-week Irish tour, it will travel to the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Landsburgh Theatre in Washington from April 17 to May 20 and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Courtyard Theater from May 23 to June 3.
‘I already have 2018 locked in. My focus now is on 2019 and 2020, mainly from a strategic point of view. I’m trying to make sure that we’re hitting our strategic aims’, he said, adding that a Druid production of the John B Keane play Sive, featuring Tommy Tiernan, which is continuing in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin until March 3, is expected to be seen by a combined audience of 30,000 people which must surely be a target hitter.
The National Opera House will host three performances of Waiting for Godot over two days, on Friday, March 30 at 8 pm and Saturday, March 31 at 2pm and 8pm and Feargal says Wexford audiences are in for a classic treat.
‘Waiting for Godot has a reputation as being a difficult play, a heavy play, but this interpretation which was devised by the Druid Ensemble (a group of experienced actors who drive the artistic policy of the company), has captured everyone’s imagination’.
The Irish Times called it ‘The freshest, funniest and most affecting production of the play in at least a quarter of a century’.
Waiting for Godot is set on a bare road in the middle of nowhere, two world-weary friends await the arrival of the mysterious Godot. While waiting, they speculate, bicker, joke and ponder life’s greater questions. As dusk begins to fall, two figures appear on the horizon.
The play premiered at the 2016 Galway International Arts Festival and captivated audiences and critics alike. There wasn’t a ticket to be had for the ensuing Unusual Rural Tour which played in outdoor locations at Glencree, Inis Meáin and the Céide fields.
‘Our 2016 Unusual Rural Tour showed us just how much of an appetite there is for this production so it’s great to take it to so many corners of the country, and internationally during 2018’, said Garry Hynes. ‘It’s also fantastic to continue working on this extraordinary show with members of the Ensemble and creative team who have created something very special.’
Tickets for the Wexford shows can be booked by telephoning 053 9122144 and also at www.nationaloperahouse.ie.
WAITING FOR GODOT HAS A REPUTATION AS BEING A DIFFICULTLT PLAY BUT THIS INTERPRETATION HAS CAPTURED EVERYONE’S IMAGINATION