Riders to the Sea

A one-act tragedy, the play is set in the Aran Islands, Inishmaan, and like all of Synge's plays it is noted for capturing the poetic dialogue of rural Ireland. The plot is based not on the traditional conflict of human wills but on the hopeless struggle of a people against the impersonal but relentless cruelty of the sea. In the summer of 2005, Druid Theatre Company presented the first ever staging of John Millington Synge’s entire theatrical canon. This ambitious collective presentation of all six plays in the same day fulfilled a long-term artistic commitment by Druid’s artistic director Garry Hynes to re-evaluate and re-engage with one of Ireland’s dramatic giants. This mammoth project was filmed live by Wildfire during production.