Joe O’Shaughnessy’s photographic history of the Galway theatre company

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Exhibition in Galway charts the company’s remarkable evolution since being founded  in 1975

Actors Kate O'Toole and father Peter in Druid Lane. All photographs: Joe O'Shaughnessy
Actors Kate O’Toole and father Peter in Druid Lane. All photographs: Joe O’Shaughnessy

Tom Kenny

The Druid theatre company’s commitment in 1975 was such that they staged more than 20 productions in Galway in their first three years, and if you are fortunate enough to be travelling to the West of Ireland this summer you can take in a photographis exhibition of their work.
They were young, energetic, enthusiastic, professional and provocative as they used the Jesuit Hall for their evening shows and a 47-seater space known as the Fo’castle for their lunchtime plays.

A larger premises was required. They negotiated a lease on a derelict warehouse with the McDonough Group and now had the required shell to build on. Actors became blocklayers, plumbers, carpenters, electricians and painters, making seats and sets at the same time, and they rehearsed too.

The Arts Council gave them a grant of £1,500 – surely the best investment they ever made. They opened their own theatre in 1979. They began touring small towns in Ireland and soon found themselves in Dublin, Edinburgh, London, New York and Sydney. They were no longer a Galway company, they were international.

Druid Theatre founders Mick Lally, Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen, 1990s. All photographs: Joe O'Shaughnessy
Druid Theatre founders Mick Lally, Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen, 1990s. All photographs: Joe O’Shaughnessy
Playwright Tom Murphy at the Druid Theatre ahead of a tour of DruidMurphy: Plays, directed by Garry Hynes
Playwright Tom Murphy at the Druid Theatre ahead of a tour of DruidMurphy: Plays, directed by Garry Hynes
Lovers' Meeting, 1990: tour including Seán McGinley, Marie Mullen, Catherine Cusack, Ingrid Craigie, Marion O'Dwyer, Ray McBride, Aidan Gillen, Noel O'Donovan and Maelíosa Stafford
Lovers’ Meeting, 1990: tour including Seán McGinley, Marie Mullen, Catherine Cusack, Ingrid Craigie, Marion O’Dwyer, Ray McBride, Aidan Gillen, Noel O’Donovan and Maelíosa Stafford
Seán McGinley in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, 1979
Seán McGinley in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
Marie Mullen and Seán McGinley in The Importance of Being Earnest
Marie Mullen and Seán McGinley in The Importance of Being Earnest
Members of the Druid Theatre cast and crew on board the fishing trawler Gullmarn at Galway Docks before their first visit to Inis Meáin, with The Playboy of the Western World in 1982: Maurice Sheehan, Yannig Guiomard, Marie Mullen, Jerome Hynes, Joan Sheehy, Maelíosa Stafford, Seán McGinley, Mary Ryan and David Calvert. Behind are Bríd Brennan and Garry Hynes
Members of the Druid Theatre cast and crew on board the fishing trawler Gullmarn at Galway Docks before their first visit to Inis Meáin, with The Playboy of the Western World in 1982: Maurice Sheehan, Yannig Guiomard, Marie Mullen, Jerome Hynes, Joan Sheehy, Maelíosa Stafford, Seán McGinley, Mary Ryan and David Calvert. Behind are Bríd Brennan and Garry Hynes
Mick Lally and Marie Mullen in the 1970s
Mick Lally and Marie Mullen in the 1970s
Mick Lally in 2005
Mick Lally in 2005
Garry Hynes in the 1970s
Garry Hynes in the 1970s
The cast of Myles na gCopaleen's Thirst: Séamus Mac Aindriú, Ray McBride, Seán McGinley and Padraic Breathnach
The cast of Myles na gCopaleen’s Thirst: Séamus Mac Aindriú, Ray McBride, Seán McGinley and Padraic Breathnach
Marie Mullen, late 1970s
Marie Mullen, late 1970s
The former McDonogh Milling and Trading Company building at Chapel Lane (later Druid Lane) in 1979 as Druid Theatre was renovating for its opening
The former McDonogh Milling and Trading Company building at Chapel Lane (later Druid Lane) in 1979 as Druid Theatre was renovating for its opening
The Threepenny Opera, staged for the opening of Druid Theatre's new premises at Druid Lane, 1979: Jimmy Burke, Seán McGinley, Collette Lardner, Maelíosa Stafford, Marie Mullen, Ray McBride and Adrian Taheny
The Threepenny Opera, staged for the opening of Druid Theatre’s new premises at Druid Lane, 1979: Jimmy Burke, Seán McGinley, Collette Lardner, Maelíosa Stafford, Marie Mullen, Ray McBride and Adrian Taheny
Druid founders Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen with actors Seán McGinely and Cillian Murphy at the Town Hall Theatre for the company's 35th birthday celebration in May 2010
Druid founders Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen with actors Seán McGinley and Cillian Murphy at the Town Hall Theatre for the company’s 35th birthday celebration in May 2010.

They have given us many ground-breaking productions, often turning the classics on their head while introducing exciting new playwrights, actors and designers, all the while staying rooted in Galway.

Joe Shaughnessy is an artist with the camera whose work is widely recognised for its storytelling power. He has won numerous national and international awards. From the very beginning, he has been documenting Druid, its people and performances and the creative energy that epitomises the company. His singular vision captures the theatrical and the human, the staged and the spontaneous, preserving the spirit and character that defines their legacy.

He has put together a selection of these images, a unique visual archive of Druid’s evolution over five decades.

Joe Shaughnessy’s Druid exhibition, which is supported by the Galway International Arts Festival, will run at the Kenny Gallery, Liosbán Estate, Galway, July 12th-August 12th.

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