[1] In 1975, the company was founded by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally—all of whom first met and worked together as members of University College Galway dramatic society, commonly known as NUIG Dramasoc.
[3] In 1996, Druid premiered Martin McDonagh's debut play The Beauty Queen of Leenane, in a co-production with the Royal Court Theatre, London.
In 2005, the company presented DruidSynge, a production of all six plays of John Millington Synge as a day-long theatrical event, at the Galway Arts Festival to critical acclaim.
"[5] This ensemble is composed of Marie Mullen, Marty Rea, Rory Nolan, Aaron Monaghan, Aisling O’Sullivan, Garrett Lombard and Derbhle Crotty.
[citation needed] This is extensive list of the key productions which have been produced and performed by the Druid Theatre Company over the span of forty four years.
It was during this time that Hynes and her colleague Anne Butler read The Beauty Queen of Leenane—a script submitted by an unknown writer named Martin McDonagh.
Following this critically acclaimed run, the production moved to Ireland where it embarked on an extensive national tour before returning again to London's West End where it played at the Duke of York's Theatre for several months, beginning on 29 November 1996.
DruidSynge premiered at the 2005 Galway Arts Festival, opening at the Town Hall Theatre on Saturday 16 July, followed by performances in Dublin's Olympia Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival before concluding its 2005 run with a week of performances on the Aran Island of Inis Meain in a range of locations including an open-air setting at Dun Chonchur (a large circular walled fortress).
[15] In November 2011, Garry Hynes announced the company’s next large-scale ensemble project would be entitled DruidMurphy—three plays by Tom Murphy presented as a trilogy.
This theatrical event was co-produced by Druid, NUI Galway, the Galway Arts Festival, Lincoln Center Festival in New York City, and the Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut where the world's largest collection of art, artifacts and printed materials relating to the Great Irish Famine resides.
Following the festival, the trilogy conducted an extensive national tour of Ireland–playing in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Tuam, Dublin, Inis Mor and Inis Meain of the Aran Islands, before transferring to the Oxford Playhouse, followed by the Hampstead Theatre in London, the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.[18] All three plays were directed by Garry Hynes with a repertoire cast consisting of sixteen actors including recurring Druid performers Marie Mullen, Aaron Monaghan, Garrett Lombard, Rory Nolan, Marty Rea, Gavin Drea, Eileen Walsh and John Olohan.
The production was critically acclaimed, with Peter Crawley of The Irish Times stating that "[t]here is nothing quite as beautiful, or as torturous, as the crown of England we see in Druid’s remarkable staging".
[23] DruidShakespeare dominated The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2015 where it won Best Production, Best Director, Best Actress (Derbhle Crotty), Best Actor (Marty Rea), Best Costume Design while also acquiring nominations for Best Actress (Aisling O’Sullivan), Best Supporting Actor (Rory Nolan), Best Set Design, Best Sound Design, and a Judge’s Special Award nomination for the way in which the company had assembled and enabled a group of actors to work as a true ensemble, "the pinnacle of this rare achievement being DruidShakespeare.