From Inis Meáin to Washington – Curtain Closes on Extraordinary 6-Month Tour of DruidMurphy

After 100 performances, 12 venues, 3 countries and standing ovations in every theatre it played, the final curtain has come down on Druid’s most ambitious project to date – DruidMurphy – Plays by Tom Murphy, the biggest touring theatre production in Ireland in 2012. The DruidMurphy cycle, which consisted of Conversations on a Homecoming, A Whistle in the Dark and Famine, has played to packed houses in Ireland, the UK and the US. Beginning in Galway in May, opening in London in June and playing the two most significant arts venues in the USA, Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center, this has been a major retrospective of acclaimed Irish writer Tom Murphy.

Artistic Director Garry Hynes, nominated in the Best Director category in the UK Theatre Awards for DruidMurphy (winners announced 28th October), was thrilled with the reaction from audiences and critics alike:

“Closing on Saturday in Washington was an emotional goodbye to a fantastic six month international tour. It has been a pleasure to share the plays of Tom Murphy across the globe and to work with an ensemble of Ireland’s most talented actors. The audience reaction from Galway to Dublin, and from Inis Meáin to Washington, has been incredible to witness and is proof of the power of Tom Murphy’s writing.”

Playwright Tom Murphy was equally delighted with the response to the tour:

“It has meant almost more than words can say. To have my work revisited by this phenomenally successful company has been wonderful.”

With well over 30,000 attendees over the 21 weeks, the cycle also received widespread critical acclaim:

• THE WASHINGTON POST – “Hynes directs this play with the stealth of a safe cracker. The treasure she extracts is the fine craftsmanship of a writer with whom we all need to get better acquainted.”

• THE FINANCIAL TIMES – 5 STARS ★★★★★ “Murphy is, I suspect, the greatest dramatist writing in English. After nine hours in Hampstead, it was hard not to think so.”

• THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – 5 STARS ★★★★★ “_attendance should be obligatory… thanks to productions so faultless they’re no effort to sit through_”

• WHATSONSTAGE.COM – 5 STARS ★★★★★ “a high-five… highlight of the year so far.”

• THE GUARDIAN – 4 STARS ★★★★ “richly rewarding event”

• THE NEW YORK TIMES – “As always with this remarkable company, the acting is of a quality to leave you dumbstruck with admiration.”

• THE IRISH TIMES – “a riveting, shattering and deeply necessary journey.”

• THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT – “extraordinary, overwhelmingly magnificent undertaking.”

• IRISH INDEPENDENT – “It is a privilege to watch theatre of such indelible quality.”

For more press coverage from the tour, click here.

DruidMurphy: Conversations on a Homecoming and A Whistle in the Dark will tour the NASC network of regional Irish theatres in 2013, as well as making a return visit to the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, with a touring repertory presentation where audiences will have the opportunity to see two Druid plays in one week, either on alternate evenings or in a double bill. Druid would like to acknowledge the continued support of the Arts Council with this tour.

This original production of DruidMurphy would not have been possible without the support of The Arts Council who funded the original staging of this production, and Culture Ireland who supported the international touring. Druid would also like to acknowledge their co-producing partners on DruidMurphy – Quinnipiac University Connecticut, NUI Galway, Lincoln Center Festival and Galway Arts Festival.

For further press Information please contact Kate or Jenny at Kate Bowe PR.
Email: jenny@katebowepr.ie | kate@katebowepr.ie | Tel: 01 652 0143