Saturday, December 6

Tag: The Weir

The Weir – Harold Pinter Theatre
London

The Weir – Harold Pinter Theatre

Outside, it's gusting, the wind has picked up and outside isn’t the most welcoming. Inside the pub, it’s warm and welcoming, a proper locals pub where you can serve yourself and just put your money in the till. Not much happens, a few locals drink and chat. That’s The Weir, that’s Conor McPherson’s play. It is a slow-burn, more about mood than plot, and it's the beauty of the writing and the skill of the cast which envelops us, brings us along to the bar as we sit and share the evening. In this case, to welcome newcomer Valerie, a blow-in to the small village. As the drinks flow, the men swap local history, leading into ghost stories which get darker and darker. Valerie reveals her own story, moving the mood from mostly light banter to raw confession. The evening becomes less about the ...
The Weir – Irish Repertory Theatre Online Series
REVIEWS

The Weir – Irish Repertory Theatre Online Series

The Irish Rep was founded by Ciaran O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore and opened in 1988 with its first play Sean O’Casey’s ‘The Plough and the Stars’.  Thirty-one years later, it is still the only theatre in North America to bring Irish plays to New York. ‘The Weir’ was written by Conor McPherson and after seeing his adaptation of ‘Uncle Vanya’ in London, I was interested to see if he would lend his keen wit to this production.  Originally staged in 2013 and then re-staged in 2015, the play won an Olivier Award for Best Play and three of the original cast members (John Keating, Sean Gormley and Dan Butler) have returned for this digital version of the production. Set in 1997 in a country pub in Ireland, Brendan (Tim Ruddy) owns the local pub whilst also running his farm.  ...