Next month the Gate Theatre will embark on the first ever all Ireland (32 County) tour. As part of the theatre’s 80th anniversary celebrations, the Gate’s acclaimed production of Waiting for Godot will tour in September and October to 40 venues across the 32 counties of Ireland, playing for one night only in each venue.

This first-of-its-kind tour will take a hub-and-spoke format, i.e. on a nightly basis the company will travel, on the official Waiting for Godot tour bus, to the different venues from a base or central location where they will stay for one week at a time. Beginning in Enniscorthy and ending in Enniskillen, from the source of the formation of the Gate Theatre (where MacLíammóir and Edwards conceived the Gate Theatre) to the source of Beckett’s genius (where he attended Portora School from 1920 to 1923), the tour, which will also mark the 20th anniversary of this now legendary production, will star the original cast members including Stephen Brennan, Barry McGovern, Johnny Murphy and Alan Stanford.

The Gate Theatre is extremely grateful to its partners Ulster Bank, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Arts Council for their generous support, without which this tour would not be possible. Michael Colgan, Director of the Gate, added “I am delighted that these respected institutions, who have all played such a significant role in supporting not only the Gate but the arts in general, have agreed to come on board and help with such an exciting and unique event”.

Cormac McCarthy, Chief Executive Ulster Bank Group, said; “We are very proud to support the Gate Theatre's national tour, taking this much-acclaimed production to communities across the island. This announcement marks a new era for our relationship with the Gate Theatre, of which we have been proud sponsors for more than 10 years. The arts have a significant role to play in the modern economy and is a key element of Ulster Bank's sponsorship portfolio which includes the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival and the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's.”

In 1987, Samuel Beckett asked Michael Colgan to produce Waiting for Godot at the Gate, and requested that Walter Asmus - his assistant director on the famous Schiller Theatre production - direct. Hailed by the international press as “the definitive Godot”, this production has since toured all over the world, including China, Melbourne and Toronto, receiving unprecedented critical acclaim. It was also a central part of the Gate’s Beckett Festivals in Dublin (1991 and 2006), New York (1996) and London (1999 and 2006).

Tickets for Waiting for Godot are now on sale nationwide and are available at all host venues across the country. For further information on the participating venues, tour dates, booking details, cast biographies, and much more, please visit the official website, www.godotontour.ie.