THE President, Mrs Robinson, took to the Galway stage last night in tribute to the city's famous Druid Theatre Company, which marked 21 years with a gala opening of Brian Friel's play The Loves of Cass McGuire.
Flanked by Druid's artistic director Garry Hynes, Mrs Robinson saluted the company's outstanding cultural success.
Druid, which grew from a small theatrical troupe performing "weird plays" in small community halls to become an internationally renowned company, was celebrating its coming of age in style.
The occasion was marked by what Galway does best a great party attended by over 400 people a mix of dignitaries, past company members, benefactors, critics, and the loyal theatregoers.
Special guests (and some scribes) from the world of theatre and the arts arrived on a special Iarnrod Eireann sponsored rail carriage from Dublin.
The occasion, Garry Hynes said, brought an overwhelming sense of gratitude. So many had contributed so much since 1975. Topping the list was the people of Galway.
"It was not a question of winning them over. The level of support was wonderful whether it was practical, financial, attendance, moral ... Druid in effect works through the context of the community of Galway."
She underlined Druid's role with writers a synergy which brought new heights in drama, perhaps most notably through playwright Tom Murphy, who was in the audience.
Magical opening nights in Galway's Fo'castle, Jesuit Hall, and recently in the Town Hall Theatre, were always the telling indicator of success in Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Sydney, New York, even Inis Meain, the smallest of the Aran Islands.
Galway, with its discerning audiences, proved to be the reliable "hit test". Often the best indicator was stomping feet at its spiritual home in Chapel Lane.
Last night marked the re-appraisal of a play which was one of their first in 1975 the gala opening of a Friel classic.
Directed then, and now, by Garry Hynes, Druid's artistic director for most of the 21 years, it stars Marie Mullen, who played the part of Cass in 1975, and Mick Lally, who also featured in the original cast. All three were founders of a company that redirected the course of Irish theatre.
