An Grianán Theatre in Letterkenny to celebrate its 25th anniversary in style

An Grianán Theatre in Letterkenny is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month with events to mark the occasion.

The Theatre first opened its doors on Monday, October 4, 1999, by then Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Dr James McDaid.  

A competition was held to name the theatre. The winning entry came from Margaret McGinley, mother of actor Sean McGinley and a renowned musician in her own right.  An Grianán means ‘sunny place’ or ‘sun palace’. 

With a rich history within the performing arts scene, here’s just some of the An Grianán story. The first performance at the theatre was ‘The Magic of the Musicals’ on October 16, 1999, followed by the theatre’s first ever in-house touring production of Brian Friel’s ‘Translations’ in November of that year.  

Over the years the theatre has played host to some of the world's biggest artists such as Bill Bailey,  Johnny Vegas, Jimmy Carr, Tommy Tiernan and Dylan Moran.  They have had Academy Award winners and Tony Award winners grace the stage. In 2008, An Grian had Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova who won Best Song at the 2008 Academy Awards for their song ‘Falling Slowly’ from the movie ‘Once’.

The 2002 production of ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ was awarded an Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for Best Actress for Eleanor Methven. An Grianán’s company logo was awarded a European Design Award in 2007.

In 2014 An Grianán became the home of the official town clock for Letterkenny! Installed in April 2014 and officially unveiled on Saturday, May 17, 2014, the clock was designed by local artist Christy Keeney and constructed by Father and Son team Paul and Christopher Hynd from Joe Bonnar Metalcraft Ltd.

To celebrate the landmark anniversary, the theatre has planned a number of events that will run throughout the anniversary year, which has started with a specially commissioned exhibition “The Story of An Grianán Theatre” that launched on in early November and tells the story of the Theatre in a series of chapters that leads you through our rich history of drama, dance, comedy and music. 

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As well as plans, programmes, documents, newspaper clippings, photographs and video, this exhibition features posters, props and costumes from past productions.  The day was hosted by Noel Cunningham and had fantastic performances from An Grianán’s Youth Theatre.  The Exhibition was curated by Harriet Purkis, Shaun Hannigan and Mitch Davies.

There will also be a special Gala Concert featuring artists such as Moya Brennan and the Henry Girls.

The Theatre will also welcome back CoisCéim Dance Theatre, one of the very first companies to perform on stage when the theatre opened in October 1999. To mark the occasion this performance will be preceded by a complimentary drinks reception from 7pm on November 23 for all ticket holders and will be followed by live music in the foyer from the Szabó-Yélamo String Duo.

The theatre staff and management would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has played a part in the making of the theatre over the years including all our generous sponsors and contributors.