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BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS A GALWAY 2020 COMMISSION 1 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS CONTENTS TOUR MAP 3 CAST AND CREATIVES 4 ABOUT THE PLAYS 5 AUGUSTA GREGORY 8 MAGIC IN THE AIR 11 DRUID, TUAM, & ON THE OUTSIDE 14 THE NEW FACES 17 EDUCATION & COMMUNITY 19 PRODUCTION TEAM 20 CREATIVES BIOGRAPHIES 21 CAST BIOGRAPHIES 27 SUPPORTERS 41 DRUID STAFF 44 THANKS 46 2 BACK TO CONTENTS TOUR MAP GLENAMADDY 30 SEPTEMBER ON THE OUTSIDE KYLEMORE ABBEY TUAM 2 – 3 OCTOBER 25 SEPTEMBER DRUIDGREGORY ON THE OUTSIDE OUGHTERARD BALLYGLUNIN STATION 8 OCTOBER 4 OCTOBER CLIFDEN ON THE OUTSIDE 22 SEPTEMBER HYACINTH HALVEY HYACINTH HALVEY BALLINASLOE 29 SEPTEMBER ON THE OUTSIDE ROUNDSTONE TEACH AN ATHENRY PHIARSAIGH 16 – 17 OCTOBER NUI GALWAY 13 OCTOBER 11 OCTOBER DRUIDGREGORY 26 – 27 SEPTEMBER ON THE OUTSIDE CATHLEEN NÍ HOULIHAN DRUIDGREGORY LOUGHREA 14 OCTOBER KINVARA ON THE OUTSIDE 6 OCTOBER ON THE OUTSIDE PORTUMNA COOLE PARK 9 – 10 OCTOBER 15 – 20 SEPTEMBER DRUIDGREGORY DRUIDGREGORY 3 BACK TO CONTENTS CAST AND CREATIVES A GALWAY 2020 COMMISSION DRUIDGREGORY PLAYS BY LADY GREGORY ON THE OUTSIDE BY TOM MURPHY AND NOEL O’DONOGHUE CAST/CLIAR CREATIVES/ Venetia Bowe LUCHT NA nEALAÍON: Megan Cusack Director/Stiúrthóir Peter Daly Garry Hynes Tim Doyle Donal Gallery Set and Costume Design/ Liam Heslin Dearadh Seit agus Cultacha Garrett Lombard Francis O’Connor Sarah Morris Lighting/Soilsiú Marie Mullen Barry O'Brien Rory Nolan John Olohan Movement Director/ Marty Rea Stiúrthóir Gluaiseachta David Bolger Singers/Amhránaithe Julie Feeney Music/Ceol Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill Conor Linehan (Coole Park) Costume Design/Dearadh Cultacha On the Outside Clíodhna Hallissey Assistant Director/Stiúrthóir Cúnta Sarah Baxter 4 BACK TO CONTENTS ABOUT THE PLAYS GREGORY CYCLE HYACINTH HALVEY BY LADY GREGORY The fount of all knowledge, Mrs Delane the postmistress of Cloon, is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new SUB-SANITARY INSPECTOR, Hyacinth Halvey. Laden down with recommendations of good and saintly character, can Hyacinth possibly cope with the high expectations of the villagers? MCDONOUGH’S WIFE BY LADY GREGORY It is the fair day in Galway and the wife of the acclaimed piper McDonough has recently died. But where is the wicked and roguish McDonough? Will he return in time (and with enough money) to ensure his wife receives a proper, dignified burial? THE RISING OF THE MOON BY LADY GREGORY On a moonlit night in Galway, three policemen are posting WANTED notices offering a £100 reward. An Irish rebel has escaped prison and they fear he may slip their clutches by taking a boat. As he keeps watch on the pier one of the policemen encounters a poor ballad singer, Jimmy Walsh. 5 BACK TO CONTENTS ABOUT THE PLAYS THE GAOL GATE BY LADY GREGORY After receiving an official letter in the post, Mary Cahel and her daughter-in-law Mary Cushin travel through the night to Galway Gaol. Unable to read and afraid of asking help of their neighbours, they arrive at the gate hoping to find out what has happened their son and husband, Denis Cahel, jailed eight weeks previously along with two companions. CATHLEEN NÍ HOULIHAN BY LADY GREGORY AND WB YEATS The revolutionary play that was on the opening bill of the Abbey Theatre in December 1904 and which Yeats later, poetically, feared sent many young Irish men to their death, was co-authored by Lady Gregory though was not credited as such for many years. It is Killala 1798, ships are in the bay and revolution is in the air. As the Gillane family prepare for their eldest son’s wedding, a mysterious old woman appears at their door. ON THE OUTSIDE BY TOM MURPHY AND NOEL O’DONOGHUE On the Outside is Tom Murphy's first play, in which began a lifetime of engagement with the idea of what it was to be Irish and live in 20th century Ireland. Two townies, Joe and Frank, may be short a few bob to get into the country dancehall, but that won’t stop them trying. A satirical comedy about exclusion and trying to overcome social barriers in 1950s Ireland. 6 BACK TO CONTENTS BACK TO CONTENTS COOLE HOUSE ‘I have lived there and loved it these forty years… If there is trouble now, and it is dismantled and left to ruin, that is the whole country’s loss. I pray, pray, pray.’ Lady Gregory 7 BACK TO CONTENTS AUGUSTA GREGORY AUGUSTA GREGORY (1852-1932) A local habitation and a name 'My tenants have never in a single instance caused me displeasure and I know you can and will do everything in your power to make them love and value us.' So wrote Sir William Gregory (1817-1892) of Coole Park in a letter to Augusta Persse shortly before their marriage in 1880. Forty years previously, in conversation with the celebrated Daniel O’Connell, he had described them as 'the most lovable and loving people in the world.' For the next fifty-two years, Lady Augusta Gregory continued to win the respect and generally the affection of the people of Kiltartan. Much of her short married life –twelve years – was spent away from Coole but whenever she returned she was anxious to meet with the people. Early entries in her diaries indicate that she visited many of them in their homes e.g. 'The Brennan family I found well though grumbling at the damage done to their land by flooding.'This was written in February 1884 but it could have well been written in 2020 because flooding in the Ballylee/Cloonanearla area is worse than ever. Funerals were occasions when her charity was called into action, though sometimes with humorous results: 'Old B. for whose funeral I gave one pound last week, is walking about as lively as ever, but he thinks he is going blind!' Sir William’s death in 1892 could be said to have been a turning point in her life, as from then onwards she had to manage the vast estate. This brought her into closer contact with the tenants. At the same time Ireland witnessed a growth in cultural nationalism and Lady Gregory became deeply immersed in the Celtic Revival. A new 8 BACK TO CONTENTS AUGUSTA GREGORY arrival on the local scene was the poet W.B. Yeats. Lady Gregory’s influence on Yeats is incalculable. She was friend, philosopher and guide. She helped him to collect folklore and, in the process, she was the one who understood “Kiltartanese” while Yeats could not really get into the minds of the locals, though he extolled the praises of farmers and fishermen in his poetry! She searched among 'farmers and potato diggers and old men in workhouses and at our own door.' One of those people was Curley the Piper, often mentioned in her writings. The famous meeting with Yeats and Edward Martyn in Count De Basterot’s house in Duras can rightly be claimed as the inception of the Abbey Theatre. Lady Gregory’s plays are still performed by Druid and by groups like The Wild Swans Theatre in Gort. She attended the opening night of An Taibhdhearc theatre in Galway, 27 August 1928. 'Fittingly, Lady Gregory in the audience, elegant in a black cloak and buckle shoes' wrote Michael Finlan in The Irish Times, 24 October 1978 (Golden Jubilee of the event). The Coole gate-lodge was the venue for plays for children and also for Irish classes. The poems of Blind Raftery were collected by herself and Douglas Hyde from farmers like Tommy Hynes of Ballylee. Incidentally, one of her tenants, Thomas Brennan of Cloonanearla/Ballylee, wrote at least two poems in praise of Coole Park. In the poem The Praises of Sweet Coole Demesne he wrote ‘To exalt its beauty it is my duty My pen I took to sound its praises.’ Not to be sniffed at from a man with hedge school education. Plays like The Workhouse Ward and Spreading The News were certainly inspired by her shopping trips in Gort and also her visits to the Gort Workhouse. 9 BACK TO CONTENTS AUGUSTA GREGORY Her love of the Irish language and literature is beyond doubt. One of the first rural branches of the Gaelic League was formed on the 8 January 1899 in Kiltartan National School – now the Kiltartan Gregory Museum. The founders of the Abbey Theatre – Gregory, Yeats and Martyn – were present as well as the eminent historian and P.P. of Gort, Dr. Jerome Fahey. She enlisted the help of Pat Mulkere of Castletown to help her translate Irish legends, though Pat admitted that she didn’t have the real blas! If books were dear to her heart, so also were her woods. She made a plea for every nationalist to plant a tree in 1898 (centenary of the 1798 Rebellion) and every unionist in 1900 (centenary of the Act of Union). Lady Gregory took a keen interest in the welfare of her farmers. She invited Sir Horace Plunkett, the founder of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, to Coole. They founded a local branch of the IAOS which was of immense benefit to farmers because they were now able to purchase in bulk. She cooperated with the Sisters of Mercy, Gort, in setting up the Gort Industries Ltd. which became one of the most successful of such ventures in Ireland. Her relations with the Sisters seem to have been very cordial. Her own words, written towards the end of her life are a fitting summary of her contribution to South Galway and beyond: 'We came through the Land League without war, without police protection or any application to the country for compensation.

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