Famous Members
The Shakes have performed virtually all of the Bard’s plays over the years and many ‘greats’ of Irish Theatre ‘trod the boards’ with the Shakes including, Milo O’Shea, T.P. Mc Kenna, George Green, Donal McCann, Jim Norton, Betty Ann Norton, Maire O’Neill, Mike Murphy, Patrick Drury, Brenda Fricker, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Cunningham, Anew McMaster, Gay Byrne and many others who went on to make their mark in the professional theatre, or in the entertainment industry.
Diverse Performances
In recent years we have run seasons of one-act plays and readings, with evenings as diverse as a performance of the verse plays of William Butler Yeats to a reading of the punk poems of John Cooper Clark.
Additionally, productions have also included many of the classics of Irish and World Theatre, including plays by Friel, Tom Murphy, Stoppard, Rattigan, Eugene O’Neill, Shaw, O’Casey, Tennessee Williams, Calderon, Camus, Ibsen, Fugard and many others.
Promoting Shakespeare’s Works
Having celebrated our centenary in 2007, the Society continues to promote the works of William Shakespeare in three main ways:
- Through literary scholarship and debate.
- By presenting dramatic productions of Shakespeare’s works.
- Through running and facilitating schools competitions devoted to Shakespeare’s plays.
