GALWAY’S DRUID Theatre Company marked an unusual international “hat-trick” last night, with its actors on stage in three separate productions in three separate time zones.
While The Gigli Concertby Tom Murphy opened in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, its Enda Walsh play, The New Electric Ballroomcontinued on stage in New York, and Walsh's The Walworth Farcetouched down in Los Angeles as part of a 16-stop world tour.
This year has “beaten even last year’s mammoth touring schedule”, the company said.
Its artistic director, Garry Hynes, described the schedule as a “testament to the value for money the arts provide” and “the passion and commitment of the people who work with us”.
“Our annual grant from the Arts Council is €915,000 and our full-time staff numbers six,” she said.
“I’d like to see any business beat that level of productivity.”
Earlier this year, during the Galway Arts Festival, Ms Hynes had expressed public opposition to the proposed cuts to the arts in the McCarthy report on public expenditure.
Culture Ireland funds Druid’s international touring programme. Its chief executive, Eugene Downes, said this week that the international acclaim for Druid’s productions of the Enda Walsh works abroad was a “great Irish success story”.
“I can’t think of a better way to convince global audiences that Ireland is a world leader in creativity,” Mr Downes said.
Ms Hynes has recently been selected for the 2008-2009 Joe A Callaway award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation.
The prestigious award is for outstanding direction of Druid's production of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan.