A file of black-and-white photographs shows the beginning of Druid. A rehearsal room in Galway city. Garry Hynes, seated, overseeing the action in the room. Marie Mullen is studying lines while Mick Lally wrestles on the ground with another cast member. It is the rehearsals for Druid’s first production in July 1975 – The Playboy of the Western World by JM Synge. The photos capture a pleasingly disruptive energy – a group coming together to bring theatre to the people and make people think differently about Irish theatre.
Mick Lally and Marie Mullen during rehearsals for the first Druid production 1975
Now, 50 years later, the Druid archive documents the energy and creativity that has sustained the company throughout that time and which it continues to bring to audiences around the world.
The Druid archive comprises more than 120 boxes of materials preserved and accessible at University of Galway Library. Beginning work on the Druid archive came with an added poignancy. The day I got the role was also the day that Mick Lally, one of the company founders, died in August 2010.
The story of Druid through its archive actually begins before Druid was a company at all.
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