At the bottom of a drained swimming pool, four jealous suitors dressed in Speedos and terrycloth robes woo a beautiful young woman. Ireland’s acclaimed Druid Theatre brings its signature theatricality and highly physical, electrifying performances to Enda Walsh’s extraordinary riff on Homer’s Odyssey.
Studio Special Events bring unique performances and one-of-a-kind events from around the world to DC.
The inaugural 2010-2011 season of new Artistic Director David Muse was generously underwritten by Jaylee Mead, and Robert and Arlene Kogod, with additional underwriting from The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Stanley and Rosemary Marcuss, and Vicki and Roger Sant.
The New Ireland Festival was generously underwritten by Culture Ireland, David and Helen Kenney, Virginia A. McArthur, the National Endowment for the Arts, and an anonymous donor.
Additional support was provided by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities; and Toni Ritzenberg.
Called “one of the most dazzling wordsmiths of contemporary theatre” by The Guardian, Enda Walsh’s plays have been widely produced and translated into more than 20 languages.
Born in Dublin, Walsh moved to Cork in his early twenties, where he was one of the first playwrights involved with the Corcadorca Theatre Company. The Corcadorca premiered several of his plays including Walsh’s break-through play Disco Pigs (1996), which went on to numerous productions, winning the Best Fringe Production Award of 1996 and The Critics’ Award in 1997 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Walsh also received a Stewart Parker Award for New Playwrights and the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright.
Walsh again swept the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001 with Bedbound. In 2006 he won the Abbey Theatre Writer in Association Award at Ireland’s National Theatre, and The Walworth Farce premiered at Druid Ireland – solidifying his reputation as a consistently intriguing and theatrical voice in Irish theatre. By this point, Walsh had left Cork and moved to London, where he lives with his wife and daughter. The Walworth Farce garnered a Fringe First Award in 2007 and was quickly followed by Walworth’s “sister play,” The New Electric Ballroom, which won a Fringe First Award, the Herald Archangel Award and the coveted Irish Times’ Best New Play Award in 2008. His other plays include Penelope (recently seen at The Studio Theatre), as well as The Ginger Ale Boy, Sucking Dublin, Misterman, The Small Things, Pondlife Angels, Chatroom, and Delirium.
Since his initial success as a playwright, Walsh has gone on to write screenplays as well, including adaptation of his plays Disco Pigs and Chatroom. His 2008 biopic, Hunger, told the story of the final days of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands and won a host of awards, including the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Heartbeat Award at the Dinard International Film Festival. It was nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards (including Best Screenplay), six British Film and Television Awards (including Best Screenplay, and Best Independent Film) and BAFTA’s Outstanding British Film Award 2009.
(As of April 2011)
Mikel Murfi previously directed The Walworth Farce for Druid. As an actor, he has performed in their productions of The New Electric Ballroom, Lynndie's Gotta Gun, and The Increased Difficulty of Concentration. As a director, he has also staged Arrah na Pogue and B for Baby at the Abbey and Peacock Theatres; The Lost Days of Ollie Deasy and The Mysteries (co-director) at Macnas Theatre Company in Dublin; Trad at the Galway Arts Festival; and The Lonesome West at Lyric Theatre in Belfast. He has also acted with the Abbey Theatre, Rough Magic Theatre Company, Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, Barabbas Theatre Company, and many others. Film and television acting credits include Ella Enchanted, Sweety Barrett, The Butcher Boy, Guiltrip, The Commitments and most recently The Ballad of Kid Kanturk. Mikel trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
(As of March 2011)
Niall Buggy has performed the world over. Druid productions include Penelope (Galway, Irish Tour, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Helsinki Stage Festival, St. Ann’s Warehouse) and Gentrification, also by Enda Walsh. Niall has performed with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Gate Theatre in Dublin, Manhattan Theatre Club, and most recently 59E59 Theatre in New York. Film credits include Mamma Mia, The Duel, and Alien 3. Awards include Best Actor, The Irish Times Theatre Award; Irish Theatre Awards for Uncle Vanya, and an Olivier Award for Dead Funny as well as OBIE and Drama Desk Awards.
(As of March 2011)
Denis Conway previously appeared with Druid in The Walworth Farce (Galway, Irish Tour, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, National Theatre in London, St. Ann’s Warehouse), The Playboy of the Western World, and The Gigli Concert ( Best Actor, The Irish Times Theatre Awards). Denis has also worked extensively with the Abbey Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, and Ouroboros Theatre Company. Film and television credits include Zonad, Tiger’s Tail, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Alexander, and Michael Collins. He won an Irish Times Theatre Award for his performance as Richard III in Richard III at Ouroboros Theatre Company, where he is Artistic Director.
(As of March 2011)
Aaron Monaghan previously appeared with Druid in The Playboy of the Western World, The Walworth Farce, and DruidSynge. Aaron has also performed with The Abbey Theatre in Dublin in She Stoops to Conquer, The Burial at Thebes, and The Shaughraun, among others. Film and television credits include Love/Hate, Single-Handed, The Tudors, and Ella Enchanted. He has won OBIE, Lucille Lortel, and Manchester Evening News Awards for his performance as Cripple Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan. He is a founding member of Livin’ Dred Theatre Company. Aaron trained at Trinity College Dublin and the British Academy of Dramatic Arts.
(As of March 2011)
Karl Shiels makes his Druid debut with Penelope, for which he has received two best actor nominations. His theatre credits include Macbeth, Terminus, Howie The Rookie, Barbaric Comedies, The Pride of Parnell Street, and The Death of Harry Leon, for which he was nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor. His film credits include Batman Begins, Veronica Guerin, Haywire, Trafficked, and The Tudors. Karl is Artistic Director with Semper Fi and founder of Theatre Upstairs.
(As of March 2011)
Olga Wehrly makes her Druid debut with Penelope. Theatre credits include My Friend Duplicity at Traverse Theatre in Scotland; Whereabouts at Fishamble Theatre Company, as well as roles at PurpleHeart Theatre Company, Volta, Second Age Theatre Company, Blindspot, City Theatre Dublin, and Icarus Theatre Collective. Film and television credits includes The Clinic, Raw, This is Nightlive, The Galway Races, The Alarms, Speed Dating, Team Sleep, Life Drawing, and Uri's Haunted Venice. Olga recently played the lead in the Academy Award-nominated short, The Crush.
(As of March 2011)
Sabine Dargent is a French set designer living in Ireland. For Druid, Sabine has designed Penelope, The New Electric Ballroom, and The Walworth Farce, which won an Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Set Design. She won the same award for Ghosts for the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. Sabine has also designed sets for Fishamble Theatre Company, Storytellers Theatre Company, Kabosh, Belfast, Barabbas Theatre Company, Barnstorm Theatre, Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, Second Age Theatre Company, B*spoke Theatre Company, and most recently Arrah na Pogue and B for Baby for the Abbey and Peacock Theatres. In France, Sabine has worked with Theatre A Grande Vitesse in Paris, Theatre de Chatillon, and L’Epee de Bois.
(As of March 2011)
Paul Keogan has lit Penelope, The Walworth Farce, and The Spirit of Annie Ross for Druid. Other designs include Wake at the Nationale Reisopera in the Netherlands; No Romance at the Abbey Theatre; Ages of the Moon at the Atlantic Theater Company; The Hairy Ape and Woyzeck at Corcadorca; Boss Grady’s Boys at The Gaiety Theatre Dublin; Performances at the Gate Theatre in Dublin; The Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Shakespeare Company; Harvest at the Royal Court Theatre; Transformations at Wexford Festival Opera; Die Zauberflöte at National Opera of Korea; Lady Macbeth of Mtensk at Opera Ireland; The Makropulos Case at Opera Zuid in the Netherlands; and Catalyst with Rex Levitates and National Ballet of China. Paul studied at Trinity College Dublin and Glasgow University.
(As of March 2011)
Gregory Clarke has previously designed sound for Druid with Penelope, The New Electric Ballroom, and The Hackney Office. Greg has worked on Broadway, the West End, as well as at the Almeida Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse, The Gate Theatre in London, The Old Vic, The National Theatre in London, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Rose in Kingston, The Peter Hall Company, Barbican, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Hampstead Theatre, Tricycle Theatre, and Cheek by Jowl. Gregory won the 2009 Tony Award for Sound Design for Equus and a New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design for Journey’s End.
(As of March 2011)