The Silver Tassie is on Tour in Ireland and the UK from August 21st – October 24th. For full details about the production, you can go to the production page.
The Silver Tassie, Seán O’Casey’s classic play about war, will begin performances in Galway before touring throughout Ireland to Ennis, Dublin, Cork, Portlaoise and Tralee and to Oxford and Manchester in the UK. The production will be a highlight of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival at the Gaiety Theatre in October.
The staging of The Silver Tassie further celebrates Druid’s 35th birthday year and follows hot on the heels of Druid’s sell out success, Penelope by Enda Walsh, at the recent Galway Arts Festival. This epic staging of one of O’Casey’s great plays involves all the resources of the theatre, including live music and dance.
With a cast of 19 including 4 actor musicians, a new score by composer Elliot Davis and movement directed by David Bolger, this new production by Garry Hynes promises a sharp change of focus from Druid.
Commenting on the production Garry Hynes said –
“Yes, it’s our biggest company ever, it’s a gamble, and we have almost had to sell the family china to finance it but we felt that we wanted to demonstrate our belief in the power of live theatre and we wanted to give audiences something different. Seán O’Casey is a great angry, provocative writer and these difficult times demand that a voice like his is heard.”
Other features of the production include:
LOCAL PARTICIPATION
Five young people were cast locally through open auditions at each venue Druid is touring to, both in Ireland and the UK. The 5 young people will join a professional cast of 14. The names of the participants in each venue can be found here.
EDUCATION PROGRAMME
Druid is running an Education programme in secondary schools in Galway city and county with funds raised from Druid’s 35th celebration event held earlier this year. The company will visit fourteen schools and colleges in Galway city and county to conduct workshops with actors from the production. A subsidised matinee performance of The Silver Tassie will be presented for those who attended these workshops. Places on these workshops are unfortunately now fully booked.
THE SILVER TASSIE ILLUSTRATION
For the poster image for The Silver Tassie, Druid commissioned illustrator Owen Smith to create an image based on the play.
Owen Smith is a painter and illustrator who has created designs for the New York City subway system and the San Francisco Opera. Owen has also designed cover illustrations for the popular American magazine The New Yorker. Further examples of his work can be viewed at here.
The Silver Tassie is the biggest production to tour Ireland this year and Druid would like to acknowledge the continued support of the Arts Council in funding the staging of The Silver Tassie and for supporting the Irish tour. Druid is also grateful for the support of Culture Ireland for funding the UK tour.
Click here to go the production page for more information.