'Ah, I have a great drought on me!" Limerick-based writer and critic Mary Coll gasped in Galway's Town Hall Theatre bar on Wednesday night, eliciting peals of laughter from those in her company.
Coll, who was attending as critic for Lyric FM, was echoing the words, if not the desperation, of Druid actress Marie Mullen. As the alcoholic mother, Mary Byrne, Mullen was one of the brilliant cast of four in J.M. Synge's The Tinker's Wedding. The 40-minute one-act play opened along with The Well of the Saints in Galway this week as part of the DruidSynge project to stage the entire canon of the Wicklow writer's work.
Sabina Higgins, who was present with her husband, former arts minister Michael D. Higgins - now most adept at negotiating stairs on crutches - marvelled at Synge's irreverent approach to the priest, played by Diarmuid de Faoite. Synge's clear mission was to challenge insularity in the most subtle fashion, she mused. "Irish people should have seen more of this play, and perhaps the last 50 years would have been so different!" she said.
Clearly enjoying the swiftly paced performance at the interval between the two plays were actor Brendan Gleeson and his brother, Frank; Fine Gael senator Ulick Burke; and Mayor of Galway Alderman Catherine Connolly, who was accompanied by fellow Labour Party city councillors, Colette (also her sister) and Billy Cameron.
Druid Theatre board members Eugene O'Kelly and Tarlach de Blacam were part of the full house, and there was much praise, but also condolences, for artistic director Garry Hynes, whose father, Oliver, died last week. Druid's managing director, Fergal McGrath, said he expected many Synge enthusiasts would opt for the Co Wicklow productions in Laragh/Glendalough from September 21st to 25th, given the rich references to villages such as Ballinaclash, and Synge's Wicklow roots and family connections with the Glanmore estate and the Devil's Glen.