Druid teaming up with Abbey for Richard III

Druid will stage William Shakespeare’s play, Richard III, this September and October, in association with The Abbey Theatre. Directed by Garry Hynes, this is the latest instalment in the company’s DruidShakespeare series which Druid embarked on in 2015, with Mark O’Rowe’s adaptation of Richard II, Henry IV (Parts One and Two), and Henry V.

Druid’s ongoing exploration of Shakespeare’s Kings reunites the creative team and members of the Druid Ensemble who worked on the 2015 DruidShakespeare.

Aaron Monaghan will play Richard III and the cast will include Garrett Lombard, Marie Mullen, Rory Nolan and Marty Rea.

Richard III will run from September 25-29 at Galway’s Town Hall Theatre (with previews on September 22 and 24). It will then be staged at The Abbey Theatre from October 4-27 as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, with a free preview on October 3.

Shakespeare’s chilling and darkly comic play of power and ambition has given the world one of theatre’s great villains, Richard III.

As Duke of Gloucester, Richard isn’t happy when peace descends on England. Crippled from his birth in 1452 and blindly ambitious, he wants to be king. Nothing, not even ties of blood and honour, will stand between him and the Crown.

“I’m very pleased to be going back to DruidShakespeare with our production of Richard III,” says Garry Hynes, describing him as “a brilliant villain, who takes us into his confidence as he plots and pivots his way to the top”.

Druid returns to the Abbey in October following its sellout success there with Waiting for Godot last year.

■ Tickets for both venues are now on sale at www.druid.ie, or at tht.ie and www.abbeytheatre.ie