Hynes, Garry
Garry Hynes is the artistic director of Druid Theatre.
Born in Ballaghaderreen in county Roscommon in 1953, Garry Hynes later moved to Galway with her family and discovered a love for theatre while studying at UCG (University College Galway).
In 1975 Garry Hynes co-founded Druid Theatre with Mick Lally and Marie Mullen in Galway, which quickly gained a reputation for bringing fresh and original productions to audiences all over the country.
She has been artistic director at Druid from its inception until the present, with the exception of a three-year stint as artistic director with the Abbey Theatre from 1991 to 1994.
The recipient of many honours, Garry Hynes was the first female theatre director to win a Tony Award in 1998 for the Druid production of 'The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ by Martin McDonagh. Her production of ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’, also by McDonagh, won nine major awards.
Audiences at home and abroad have responded enthusiastically to the work of Irish playwrights produced by Druid ranging from John Millington Synge, Seán O’Casey, Lady Gregory and Samuel Beckett to Tom Murphy, Marina Carr, Enda Walsh, Lucy Caldwell and Mark O’Rowe.
In 2015 the company toured DruidShakespeare, a production that condensed four Shakespeare plays into a six and a half hour performance.
Garry Hynes has also directed for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Exchange in Manchester, London’s Royal Court Theatre in the UK (United Kingdom) and in the USA (United States of America) for Second Stage, Signature Theatre Company and the Manhattan Theater Club in New York, and The Kennedy Center in Washington DC (District of Columbia).
She was conferred with the Freedom of the City of Galway in 2006, and has received honorary doctorates from University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, the national University of Ireland and the National Council for Education Awards.
GArry Hynes also took home the Best Director award at the UK Theatre Awards for DruidO'Casey, Druid’s production of Seán O’Casey's three best known plays ‘The Plough and the Stars’, ‘The Shadow of a Gunman’ and ‘Juno and the Paycock’ in 2003
