The Weir
4.5/5
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Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The spellbinding, beautifully observed hit from the master of suspenseful realism; combining superbly chilling tales of the supernatural with the hilarious banter of a small community in the heart of rural Ireland.
A bar in a remote part of Ireland. The local lads are swapping spooky stories to impress a young woman recently moved to the area from Dublin. As the drink flows and the stories become increasingly frightening, it's clear that Valerie has something on her mind. She has a tale to tell that'll stop them all dead in their tracks.
Winner of: Olivier Award for Best New Play, Evening Standard Award for Best New Playwright, Critic's Circle Award for Most Promising New Playwright.
'The play of the decade... a modern masterpiece' Express
'Puts one in mind of an Irish Chekhov. I have rarely been so convinced that I have just seen a modern classic' Daily Telegraph
Conor McPherson
Conor McPherson is a playwright, screenwriter and director, born in Dublin in 1971. Plays include Rum and Vodka (Fly by Night Theatre Co., Dublin); The Good Thief (Dublin Theatre Festival; Stewart Parker Award); This Lime Tree Bower (Fly by Night Theatre Co. and Bush Theatre, London; Meyer-Whitworth Award); St Nicholas (Bush Theatre and Primary Stages, New York); The Weir (Royal Court, London, Duke of York's, West End and Walter Kerr Theatre, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, George Devine Awards); Dublin Carol (Royal Court and Atlantic Theater, New York); Port Authority (Ambassadors Theatre, West End, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Atlantic Theater, New York); Shining City (Royal Court, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York; Tony Award nomination for Best Play); The Seafarer (National Theatre, London, Abbey Theatre, Dublin and Booth Theater, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Tony Award nominations for Best Play); The Veil (National Theatre); The Night Alive (Donmar Warehouse, London and Atlantic Theater, New York); and Girl from the North Country (Old Vic, London). Theatre adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's The Birds (Gate Theatre, Dublin and Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis), August Strindberg's The Dance of Death (Donmar at Trafalgar Studios), Franz Xaver Kroetz's The Nest (Young Vic, London), Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (West End, 2020) and Paweł Pawlikowski's Cold War (Almeida Theatre, 2023). Work for the cinema includes I Went Down, Saltwater, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, The Actors, The Eclipse and Strangers. His work for television includes an adaptation of John Banville's Elegy for April for the BBC, and the original television drama Paula for BBC2. Awards for his screenwriting include three Best Screenplay Awards from the Irish Film and Television Academy; Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Best Screenplay Award; the CICAE Award for Best Film Berlin Film festival; Jury Prize San Sebastian Film Festival; and the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best European Film.
Read more from Conor Mc Pherson
The Weir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Birds (stage version) (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl from the North Country (NHB Modern Plays): (2022 edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGirl from the North Country (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGirl from the North Country Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conor McPherson Plays: One (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5St Nicholas (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShining City (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Night Alive (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dublin Carol (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Dance of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Thief (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seafarer (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Veil (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conor McPherson Plays: Two (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rum and Vodka (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Port Authority (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCold War (NHB Modern Plays): (stage version) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMcPherson Plays: Three Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Lime Tree Bower (NHB Modern Plays) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for The Weir
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5(Seen 22 March 2014 at Wyndham's Theatre, London)This play is set in a bar in a rural village in present day Ireland, an area that is shielded from big city Dublin to the southeast but is a popular holiday spot for European tourists due to its natural beauty. Two of the bar's regular customers, Jack, a garage owner in his fifties, and his assistant and general handyman Jim, in his forties, along with the bar owner, Brendan, in his thirties, all unmarried men, are excited yet perturbed by the news that an attractive young woman from Dublin will move into a long unoccupied house in town, and that she will be coming to the bar to meet the locals. Valerie is accompanied by Finbar, a former resident who has moved away from the village but owns much of the property there, including the house he sold to her. Finbar, though married, is a bit of a dandy, and is viewed as an outsider and somewhat of a traitor by the other men, in part because he attracts women like bees to honey.The four men all vie for Valerie's attention, and three of them each tell a story about the village to impress her. These tales are village legends, with an uncertain amount of truth and a surreal, ghostly and unsettling ending, including one set in the house that Valerie has just moved into. The men regret their tales and are concerned that they may have unnerved Valerie. However, she feels liberated by their accounts, and proceeds to tell them a "ghost" story from her past that puts theirs to shame.The Weir was originally written in 1997, won the Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle and Olivier awards for Best New Play, and established [[Conor McPherson]] as one of the great young playwrights. This revival, which is playing at Wyndham's Theatre until 19 April, stars Risteárd Cooper (Finbar), Dervla Kirwan (Valerie), Ardal O'Hanlon (Jim), Brian Cox (Jack) and Peter McDonald (Brendan). It was richly infused with humor, friendship, loss and despair, yet hope and a sense of community shone through the sorrow like the sun peeking through storm clouds. I thoroughly enjoyed this production, aand would highly recommend it to anyone who can see it in London before it closes next month, or elsewhere.