Druid's The Cripple of Inishmaan Comes To Galway

Last January, Druid kicked off its major US & Irish tour of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan in Roscommon and since then has been on one of the longest US tours by an Irish theatre company in decades.

By the time the show touches down in Galway on Wednesday June 22, the cast and crew will have clocked up 20,000 miles, 1,800 bed nights and cracked 1,000 eggs. The show has received widespread praise from audiences and critics alike and the US tour featured as one of the highlights of Imagine Ireland, Culture Ireland's year-long season of Irish arts in the US in 2011. It was just one of three shows Druid toured to the US in 2011 thanks to support Culture Ireland.

Druid continues its commitment and passion for touring in Ireland when on Sunday June 26, the tour will fittingly end on the island of Inis Meáin itself where The Cripple of Inishmaan will be performed for the first time. Attending the sold-out performances, along with the community of Inis Meáin, will be President McAleese, Senator McAleese, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, TD, and award-winning playwright Martin McDonagh. This visit will mark Druid's eighth visit to the island since their first visit in 1982 with The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge. Druid last visited Inis Meáin in 2005 with DruidSynge.

Galway and Irish audiences first saw The Cripple of Inishmaan in 2008 when it toured the length and breadth of Ireland. It also toured to the UK and played a three-month off-Broadway run at the Atlantic Theater, its co-producing partner, in New York. It went on to win nine US, UK & Irish theatre awards, paving the way for this extensive tour which saw the show tour to nine US cities from Boston to Philadelphia and from Los Angeles to Charleston, with almost 100,000 seeing the show since its premiere in 2008. This tour also marked Druid's third coast-to-coast US tour in the last three years.

After this hugely enjoyable and extensive tour, the cast and crew are really looking forward to returning home and to performing to audiences in Galway. With a limited run of just four shows at the Town Hall Theatre, this homecoming is expected to sell out with Druid always receiving an extra special reception from audiences at home.

Meanwhile in Druid Lane Theatre, Druid will present Dermot Crowley and Dearbhla Molloy's production of Give Me Your Hand on June 21 & 23. Two of Ireland's eminent actors, currently staring in Druid's production of The Cripple of Inishmaan, will perform poetry by Paul Durcan, inspired by paintings in the National Gallery in London. Taking place in the intimacy of Druid's home, the show is best described as an imaginative stroll through the gallery, through the unique prism of Paul Durcan's poetry. Paul Durcan is one of Ireland's leading poets and in his collection, Give Me Your Hand, he has taken some of the most famous paintings in the world, and interpreted them in his own unique voice.

In the coming weeks Druid will also be announcing details of their autumn production.

Druid would like to acknowledge the support of the Arts Council in funding the original staging of The Cripple of Inishmaan and would like to acknowledge Culture Ireland for funding the US tour as part of Imagine Ireland.

For more information see www.druid.ie <http://www.druid.ie/> or follow Druid on Facebook www.druid.ie/facebook <http://www.druid.ie/facebook> and Twitter www.druid.ie/twitter <http://www.druid.ie/twitter> .

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