RTÉ is proud to present

DruidSynge, The Plays of John Millington Synge

Druid, Wildfire Films and RTÉ combine together with the support of Culture Ireland and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland in one unique DVD package containing:

• John Millington Synge’s entire theatrical canon in performance by Druid
  
• Mighty Talk: (from Documenting the Arts – RTÉ, IFB and the Arts Council/An Comhairle Ealaíon)
  
• Playboys & Rebels (RTÉ)
  
• Interview Garry Hynes and Ann Saddemyer (Wildfire Films & Druid) 

DruidSynge, The Plays of John Millington Synge is so much more than the entire dramatic canon of John Millington Syge filmed in performance. It is a path-breaking, truly unique record of a theatre event both in its making and in its culmination – an event hailed as ‘the greatest achievement in the history of the Irish theatre’ by The Irish Times.

DruidSynge, The Plays of John Millington Synge is the fruit of the unrivaled access given to Wildfire Films to the making of DruidSynge. Performances and documentary material alike are distilled from 600 hours of footage filmed by the Wildfire team whilst shadowing the DruidSynge production – from Day 1 of rehearsals to the close of the final performance three months later.

Mighty Talk: A Journey with DruidSygne shows their performances in situ – the edit for each performance cutting between rehearsals, the opening in Galway, the Edinburgh International Festival and the performances in the unimaginably beautiful Inis Meáin (where an outdoor setting– the ancient stone fort, Dún Chonchúir – was in part relied on).

Documentary material goes behind the scenes and gives unparalleled access to the director, Garry Hynes, and to her creative process with a dedicated company of actors and production team.

DruidSynge, The Plays of John Millington Synge also includes an interview between Garry Hynes and the foremost Synge authority, Ann Saddlemyer, and the documentary Playboys and Rebels, on the controversy-fated original production of Playboy of the Western World. Accompanying the DVD is a limited edition, beautifully produced booklet with exclusive photographs from behind the scenes of this fantastic production.

All of Synge’s plays are featured in this landmark tribute: The Playboy of the Western World, The Tinker’s Wedding, Well of the Saints, Riders to the Sea, Deirdre of the Sorrows and The Shadow of the Glen.

No other DVD recording gives such commanding access to the creative process of a theatrical enterpise of world standing or to the canon of a theatrical giant on the world stage.

This unique collection was financed by RTÉ, The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, Culture Ireland, The Irish Film Board and The Arts Council/An Comhairle Ealaíon.