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The Weir
Alternative Cover Edition of ISBN 9780822217060
A drama for a cast of 5 (4 men. 1 woman). In a bar in rural Ireland, the local men swap spooky stories in an attempt to impress a young woman from Dublin who recently moved into a nearby "haunted" house. However, the tables are soon turned when she spins a yarn of her own.
A drama for a cast of 5 (4 men. 1 woman). In a bar in rural Ireland, the local men swap spooky stories in an attempt to impress a young woman from Dublin who recently moved into a nearby "haunted" house. However, the tables are soon turned when she spins a yarn of her own.
57 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
Conor McPherson
55 books48 followersConor McPherson is an Irish playwright and director.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
April 2, 2020
3.5 Stars.
The setting is a small bar in a rural part of Ireland where a few locals regularly shoot the breeze, but on this dark, windy night delve into folklore and ghost stories to impress a new lady in town.
Many a pint and fairy story later....the lady lets loose a story of her own.
THE WEIR is funny, sad and vividly atmospheric in the storytelling.
August 6, 2025
کافه کنار سد نوشتهی کانر مکفرسون ترجمه و چاپ توسط نشر نی
در نگاه اول چیزی جز چند نفر که در یک میخانهی کوچک ایرلندی نشستهاند و با هم گپ میزنند نیست. اما همین سادگی، همان دام عجیبیست که نمایش پهن میکند. آرام آرام میفهمی این گفتوگوها دربارهی پر کردن سکوت نیست، بلکه دربارهی جنگیدن با سکوت است.
نمایش از همان ابتدا با فضایی آشنا و صمیمی شروع میشود. مردها شوخی میکنند، خاطرات محلیشان را میگویند و مثل هر جمع دیگری، داستانهای ماورایی برای هم تعریف میکنند؛ از روحهایی که در تاریکی پرسه میزنند تا حوادثی که هیچوقت توضیح روشنی برایشان پیدا نشده. اما این داستانها فقط قصه نیستند. هر کدام مثل یک پنجرهاند که لایهای پنهان از شخصیتها را آشکار میکند، ترسهایشان، فقدانهایشان، و حسرتهایی که نمیشود به زبان ساده گفت.
ورود ولری، زن غریبهای که به این میخانه پا میگذارد، لحن نمایش را زیر و رو میکند. تا پیش از او، قصهها بیشتر شبیه بازی بودند. اما داستان ولری، با آن سوگواری سنگین و غم غیرقابل جبرانش، تمام شوخیها را به سکوت بدل میکند. جایی که میفهمیم این جمع نه برای سرگرمی، که برای مرهم پیدا کردن شکل گرفته است.
کافه کنار سد به ظاهر رئالیستی است، اما زیر این پوسته، چیزی از جنس اکسپرسیونیسم آرام جریان دارد. مکفرسون از ارواح و ماورا استفاده نمیکند تا ما را بترساند، بلکه تا نشان دهد چطور زخمهای روحی انسان ها، حتی در یک جمع ساده، میتوانند در قالب داستان خودشان را فریاد بزنند و سر باز کنند.
برای من، جذابترین بخش نمایش همین بود، این که آدمها با قصههایشان به هم وصل میشوند. هیچکدام از این شخصیتها قهرمان نیستند، هیچکدام هم قرار نیست جهان را نجات دهند. اما همین که مینشینند و اعترافهایشان را با هم شریک میشوند، یه نحوی پیروزی کوچکی به دست میآورند، پیروزیای که شاید تنها راه ادامه دادن باشد، تنها چیزی که به آن ها امید و جرات زندگی میدهد.
در نگاه اول چیزی جز چند نفر که در یک میخانهی کوچک ایرلندی نشستهاند و با هم گپ میزنند نیست. اما همین سادگی، همان دام عجیبیست که نمایش پهن میکند. آرام آرام میفهمی این گفتوگوها دربارهی پر کردن سکوت نیست، بلکه دربارهی جنگیدن با سکوت است.
نمایش از همان ابتدا با فضایی آشنا و صمیمی شروع میشود. مردها شوخی میکنند، خاطرات محلیشان را میگویند و مثل هر جمع دیگری، داستانهای ماورایی برای هم تعریف میکنند؛ از روحهایی که در تاریکی پرسه میزنند تا حوادثی که هیچوقت توضیح روشنی برایشان پیدا نشده. اما این داستانها فقط قصه نیستند. هر کدام مثل یک پنجرهاند که لایهای پنهان از شخصیتها را آشکار میکند، ترسهایشان، فقدانهایشان، و حسرتهایی که نمیشود به زبان ساده گفت.
ورود ولری، زن غریبهای که به این میخانه پا میگذارد، لحن نمایش را زیر و رو میکند. تا پیش از او، قصهها بیشتر شبیه بازی بودند. اما داستان ولری، با آن سوگواری سنگین و غم غیرقابل جبرانش، تمام شوخیها را به سکوت بدل میکند. جایی که میفهمیم این جمع نه برای سرگرمی، که برای مرهم پیدا کردن شکل گرفته است.
کافه کنار سد به ظاهر رئالیستی است، اما زیر این پوسته، چیزی از جنس اکسپرسیونیسم آرام جریان دارد. مکفرسون از ارواح و ماورا استفاده نمیکند تا ما را بترساند، بلکه تا نشان دهد چطور زخمهای روحی انسان ها، حتی در یک جمع ساده، میتوانند در قالب داستان خودشان را فریاد بزنند و سر باز کنند.
برای من، جذابترین بخش نمایش همین بود، این که آدمها با قصههایشان به هم وصل میشوند. هیچکدام از این شخصیتها قهرمان نیستند، هیچکدام هم قرار نیست جهان را نجات دهند. اما همین که مینشینند و اعترافهایشان را با هم شریک میشوند، یه نحوی پیروزی کوچکی به دست میآورند، پیروزیای که شاید تنها راه ادامه دادن باشد، تنها چیزی که به آن ها امید و جرات زندگی میدهد.
December 15, 2024
A five character stage play of a group of locals in a rural Irish bar telling tales to a new arrival in the village. They each share their individual story of fear, loneliness or regret, blended with suspense. McPherson paints a picture so well, you almost feel like you are watching the play as you read. A great short read to complete the Challenge.
October 13, 2013
Theater magic! I wanted to see the much praised recent New York production but couldn't make it. Though reading a play is a shadow of a live performance, the power of fine plays comes through nonetheless. This is certainly the case with The Weir. Five people in a remote Irish pub, each with his or her longings, lost chances, cravings for intimacy tell ghostly stories to one another. The four men tell captivating tales, not knowing that they're setting the scene for the woman's sad crushing story, the final one of the evening, the one of shattering loss.
September 21, 2015
An evening of story telling. Well written and haunting stories, but stories all the same. Not a piece of dramatic theatre - in fact, very little happens on stage at all. It is all in the story, all in the listener's mind's eye. Fair enough, but for those who ask "why theatre, why a play" as part of your criteria for judging a play's worth, you will likely be disappointed. It could just as easily be a night with a book by the fire.
November 6, 2019
A play that reads easily as a short story. Powerful and heart-breaking. I still think of this decades after reading it as if I had been in the bar myself sitting with the storytellers.
February 20, 2016
Superbly atmospheric and human play. Set in a rural pub with plenty of Irishness to keep the 'German' tourists mentioned happy, the characters engage with personal as well as as national issues. Ostensibly a frame for ghost stories, the strength of characterisation, the humour, the pain and fear, the richness of the dialogue, all lift it above these admittedly strong interludes.
July 4, 2019
#20BooksOfSummer
Finished: 04.07.2019
Genre: play
Rating: B
Conclusion:
Nr 50 on the list of The Best Plays of the Past 100 years.
My Thoughts
Finished: 04.07.2019
Genre: play
Rating: B
Conclusion:
Nr 50 on the list of The Best Plays of the Past 100 years.
My Thoughts
September 7, 2018
One is regularly fed a line when it comes to drama that a play cannot be judged on its text, but only in the context of its performance. I don't quite agree with that perspective, since an individual performance of a play can so drastically differ from another that I can only find initial value in a play if I connect to the text first, and performances later. I've seen Waiting for Godot twice, but seeing the play has yet to live up to the brilliance in reading it.
As a text, The Weir is... fine. A bit dull. Written in such a sense that one can imagine being quietly spellbound throughout. But since the play is fairly static and so heavily reliant on its actors, I can imagine performances that fail to master the text as easily as those that give it life. I'd probably go see this if it was on nearby, but it isn't a play worth reading. Not all plays need to be worth reading to be good, but there's a merit sometimes forgotten in the plays that do satisfy that criteria.
As a text, The Weir is... fine. A bit dull. Written in such a sense that one can imagine being quietly spellbound throughout. But since the play is fairly static and so heavily reliant on its actors, I can imagine performances that fail to master the text as easily as those that give it life. I'd probably go see this if it was on nearby, but it isn't a play worth reading. Not all plays need to be worth reading to be good, but there's a merit sometimes forgotten in the plays that do satisfy that criteria.
Want to read
September 7, 2013I would bet anything that this theater play ghost story will be a magnificent, haunting read.
By the same writer who wrote the subtle, captivating film, The Eclipse - a ghost story set in the small seaside town of Cobh, County Cork, Ireland.
April 12, 2025
This was just a fantastic play. There’s so many sneaky layers and allusions in it that it may be easiest to read it, make a list of all the motifs, plot lines, characters, stories, and ideas going on in it, and then reread it a million more times with each one in mind until you fully understand it. I’d love to see a production of this, even just reading it I could hear the characters aloud with how well their dialogue was portrayed. So wonderfully Irish and so beautifully written. Very glad I read this out of a compendium of McPherson’s plays so I can jump into another ASAP.
July 28, 2022
3.5 stars. Seemingly effortless the way McPherson weaves the irish countryside and stories of eerie spiritual experiences into eachother. I absolutely loved Jack’s monologue at the end, heartbreaking and beautifully written. Rounding the stars up as it would be more of a 4 than it would a 3. Nothing extraordinary in matters of it being an epic or being able to deepdive into the greater societal discussions, but it is indeed elegant and class work from a playwright showing off his craft.
November 9, 2024
This brought me back to Ireland—a windy night on the northwest coast trading pints and fairy tales at the local pub. Having been mistaken for a “German” caravanner up that way myself, I felt right at home. Wonderful conversational tone building up to a few moments of real depth. I don’t usually enjoy reading plays, but this one just felt like eavesdropping. 4.8 stars
February 3, 2024
Id love to see this performed - I think the strength of this text would be in the delivery and the atmosphere created by the cast and crew.
November 2, 2023
hab ein Trauma von diesem Stück
June 26, 2021
A beautiful, lyrical, heartfelt play about hauntings real and imagined. McPherson's ear for dialogue and knack for storytelling are at the height of their virtuosity and not a word or moment in the play, which happens entirely in real time, are wasted and yet, nothing feels rushed or condensed just for the sake of the audience (and their bladders). The best kind of small theater: simple, easy, and packing a wallop of a punch.
July 4, 2021
2 Stars
Conon McPherson's strange play set in an Irish pub was a mildly confusing read, especially when considering it is a stage play. The play has some comedic moments and also a good premise at times however, I don't feel either is paid many dividends at the conclusion of it. This culminates into a perplexing text, which left me wondering, how this would have functioned on a stage, as well as whether there was any point to this at all?
The characters introduced in McPherson's play were certainly the highlight, each having clear defining characteristics and a specific role to play in the friendship group that is collated at the pub. McPherson does a good job of instilling a strong feeling of friendship between the group and creates an authentic sense that these men do in fact know each other and spend copious amounts of time with each other. This allows me, the reader, to feel as if I am sat at the pub with them eavesdropping on their conversation, and thus creates a useful sense of inclusion.
This leads to the central premise of the play, the storytelling aspect. This is the area that puzzled me on how it would be staged and thus took me out of the reading experience somewhat. As either the production would literally centre around barstools the entire time and in my eyes be incredibly laborious or have to jump around to miscellaneous locations for the benefit of the random stories told within the play. Which if done would feel disjointed and lack the cohesion needed to make sense. Nevertheless, as I only read the play I can only comment on how it felt on the page wherein which it still did lack consistency. I struggled to see the point in the process at all, I understand the wider objective of impressing the woman who had joined them, but I found no morals nor saw any point in the stories being told. This may have been intentional, simply to evoke a sense of friends telling stories in a pub but to me, I don't really see what is particularly interesting in that if the stories hold no weight themselves.
It must be mentioned some of the stories told did have humorous moments or indeed passages that may be deemed as "highlights," however, I feel when told in full these moments proved few and far between as opposed to being particularly memorable. As a result of this, I was left often questioning, what is the wider point of all this?
In conclusion, I don't think I'd recommend The Weir to someone who wanted to read a play, despite having a simple set and premise I was often confused and left pondering of the wider implications of all the action in the play (not in a good way), and this really detracted from my reading experience. Maybe the show is a joy on stage? But, otherwise, I am mildly perplexed as to why it garnered a few awards.
Conon McPherson's strange play set in an Irish pub was a mildly confusing read, especially when considering it is a stage play. The play has some comedic moments and also a good premise at times however, I don't feel either is paid many dividends at the conclusion of it. This culminates into a perplexing text, which left me wondering, how this would have functioned on a stage, as well as whether there was any point to this at all?
The characters introduced in McPherson's play were certainly the highlight, each having clear defining characteristics and a specific role to play in the friendship group that is collated at the pub. McPherson does a good job of instilling a strong feeling of friendship between the group and creates an authentic sense that these men do in fact know each other and spend copious amounts of time with each other. This allows me, the reader, to feel as if I am sat at the pub with them eavesdropping on their conversation, and thus creates a useful sense of inclusion.
This leads to the central premise of the play, the storytelling aspect. This is the area that puzzled me on how it would be staged and thus took me out of the reading experience somewhat. As either the production would literally centre around barstools the entire time and in my eyes be incredibly laborious or have to jump around to miscellaneous locations for the benefit of the random stories told within the play. Which if done would feel disjointed and lack the cohesion needed to make sense. Nevertheless, as I only read the play I can only comment on how it felt on the page wherein which it still did lack consistency. I struggled to see the point in the process at all, I understand the wider objective of impressing the woman who had joined them, but I found no morals nor saw any point in the stories being told. This may have been intentional, simply to evoke a sense of friends telling stories in a pub but to me, I don't really see what is particularly interesting in that if the stories hold no weight themselves.
It must be mentioned some of the stories told did have humorous moments or indeed passages that may be deemed as "highlights," however, I feel when told in full these moments proved few and far between as opposed to being particularly memorable. As a result of this, I was left often questioning, what is the wider point of all this?
In conclusion, I don't think I'd recommend The Weir to someone who wanted to read a play, despite having a simple set and premise I was often confused and left pondering of the wider implications of all the action in the play (not in a good way), and this really detracted from my reading experience. Maybe the show is a joy on stage? But, otherwise, I am mildly perplexed as to why it garnered a few awards.
November 18, 2023
The first McPherson I have read. Slow burn bar chat as characterisation is built up and possible lines of conflict are developed. Shades of Pinters The Homecoming as Finbar brings a potentially "disruptive" woman into this male domain to upset the mix (which is untruth already upset)....Irish ghost stories are told- a touch of the blarney I guess and atmosphere builds- the stories are possibly upsetting and powerful in there telling- then Valerie has a story ......I was expecting a few more twists in an age of Inside no 9 and the like, though this play hails from 1997 which explains its maleness maybe - The Weir becomes the Weird perhaps but has a real power and there are multiple layers of meaning which beg to be teased out in subtext and in micro acting; there are indeed considerable challenges for all actors in this -I can see why it was a stage hit ..... may have to read more by this guy....
April 25, 2019
A group of friends gather in the pub to have a pint and tell stories. The stories are ghost stories, until one of the group tells a story of loss that caps the evening. Then it ends.
This was not very enjoyable. The characters were ok but the point was lost in the meandering conversation.
Can't recommend
This was not very enjoyable. The characters were ok but the point was lost in the meandering conversation.
Can't recommend
Read
July 28, 2011"And I was properly ashamed of myself. There was a humility I've tried to find since. But goodness wears off. And it just gets easier to be a contrary bollocks" (52).
November 3, 2024
i’m hoping to write my own horror play for my dissertation and you know me. in order to write or do anything i have to read about it so when i learned about this irish horror with folklore set in the rural area of county leitrim. i had too.
with most plays i read i go into knowing that whatever outcome i am left with whatever unsatisfied feelings i am left with, i have to mark some of it to the truth that plays are not meant to be read. they’re written for the stage your mind has to work overtime to imagine how the characters are walking and talking on stage which makes it a very fun activity if there’s stage directions to go off of.
i imagined a book like the weir would include loads. i thought about a line in the synopsis where they said a young woman has a story to scare them half out of their lives. which i took to mean some real scary shit was going to go down. i liked these characters. managed to easily get to know them through their jovial conversations (i didn’t find it hard to differentiate who was talking because i didn’t always read the names but it was no big issue) the stories they told us was very chilled. relaxed in the way that alcohol loosens the lips and they just found themselves reminiscent.
it wasn’t scary and i didn’t find myself thrilled, the ending kinda takes ur completely out of the horror aspect and we all end up feeling mighty sad for one of the characters who recounts the story of their ex getting married and being there for it. there’s nothing spooky waiting in the wings. just regrets and half burned cigarette butts.
in terms of what i would take and use for my own work, i do love the way the characters interact with each other. i like the use of slang and how the author doesn’t go out of their way to explain the phrases used! i like how natural the movement was (passing the glasses, getting up to refill the glasses, lighting a cigarette, counting money) all very small things that just humanises them more. i would’ve liked more of it.
with most plays i read i go into knowing that whatever outcome i am left with whatever unsatisfied feelings i am left with, i have to mark some of it to the truth that plays are not meant to be read. they’re written for the stage your mind has to work overtime to imagine how the characters are walking and talking on stage which makes it a very fun activity if there’s stage directions to go off of.
i imagined a book like the weir would include loads. i thought about a line in the synopsis where they said a young woman has a story to scare them half out of their lives. which i took to mean some real scary shit was going to go down. i liked these characters. managed to easily get to know them through their jovial conversations (i didn’t find it hard to differentiate who was talking because i didn’t always read the names but it was no big issue) the stories they told us was very chilled. relaxed in the way that alcohol loosens the lips and they just found themselves reminiscent.
it wasn’t scary and i didn’t find myself thrilled, the ending kinda takes ur completely out of the horror aspect and we all end up feeling mighty sad for one of the characters who recounts the story of their ex getting married and being there for it. there’s nothing spooky waiting in the wings. just regrets and half burned cigarette butts.
in terms of what i would take and use for my own work, i do love the way the characters interact with each other. i like the use of slang and how the author doesn’t go out of their way to explain the phrases used! i like how natural the movement was (passing the glasses, getting up to refill the glasses, lighting a cigarette, counting money) all very small things that just humanises them more. i would’ve liked more of it.
July 26, 2019
I think I must be missing something. The Weir is a much admired play, it won the Olivier Award for Best Play when it was first produced in London, the blurbs on the back of the copy I read call it “bewitching” and that “no praise in fact is too high”, but it passed me by. I don’t understand what it is doing. A bar in rural Ireland. The barman, three locals; one of the locals brings in a woman who is renting a house from him; she is an outsider from Dublin. The men drink, they exchange chat, make jokes, greet the woman. I presume there must be something going on here that I am missing. The characters seem to be filling in time and I presumed that the play was filling in time and I waited for the big event that would shake everything up...but there wasn’t one. The dialogue might capture the local idiom, but a play must be more than some naturalistic dialogue. But within all this chat there are six big speeches: the four men and then the woman tell spooky stories, then later one of the men tells of a failed relationship he had with a woman some thirty years or so before. But I still don’t understand the point. A play must be more than some atmosphere...and maybe there is something here, but I’ve missed it.
May 18, 2022
"And I had my back to it. To the stairs. And it's stupid now, but at the time I couldn't turn around. I couldn't get up to go to bed. Because I thought there was something on the stairs."
Torn between 2 and 3 stars, going with 3 because I think my primary issue is that the Goodreads synopsis felt misleading, and that's not the play's fault.
This play is more like a grounded human story with interwoven ghost tales (and the details of these tales did make my hair stand on end--the knocking!) but the synopsis gave me a completely different impression of what was going to happen with the woman visitor, and I felt a little frustrated that the story went in a different direction. But again, that's just my expectation from the synopsis... if I had read a different less leading synopsis, maybe I wouldn't have minded as much.
Definitely a play to check out if you're interested in grounded, no-frills stories with a ghostly edge.
Torn between 2 and 3 stars, going with 3 because I think my primary issue is that the Goodreads synopsis felt misleading, and that's not the play's fault.
This play is more like a grounded human story with interwoven ghost tales (and the details of these tales did make my hair stand on end--the knocking!) but the synopsis gave me a completely different impression of what was going to happen with the woman visitor, and I felt a little frustrated that the story went in a different direction. But again, that's just my expectation from the synopsis... if I had read a different less leading synopsis, maybe I wouldn't have minded as much.
Definitely a play to check out if you're interested in grounded, no-frills stories with a ghostly edge.
December 21, 2023
My senior year of college I decided to direct a play. Unfortunately, I did not have a play I was especially interested in directing. Generally not great to work backwards like that, but it seemed like the thing to do. Found a free copy online and it was Irish and set in a bar, so I went for it. Got a budget, performance space, cast, crew, started rehearsing - things were going well ahead of our scheduled April 2020 performance dates.
Anyway so this is my favorite play now. I’m a sucker for Hiberno-English, and McPherson throws in just enough to alter the cadence without pushing anyone into caricature. I’ve spent more time analyzing this than maybe any other work of fiction, so I could go on about it’s subtle observations on class, gendered power dynamics, modernization, etc. But really, what makes this special is the transformation of atmosphere - a journey from a dick measuring contest to the baring of souls. That I’m not normally a fan of monologue and still love this tells you how special these are. Jack’s last one, in particular, will haunt me as long as any of the ghosts haunt these characters - which is quite clearly exactly what McPherson was going for.
Anyway so this is my favorite play now. I’m a sucker for Hiberno-English, and McPherson throws in just enough to alter the cadence without pushing anyone into caricature. I’ve spent more time analyzing this than maybe any other work of fiction, so I could go on about it’s subtle observations on class, gendered power dynamics, modernization, etc. But really, what makes this special is the transformation of atmosphere - a journey from a dick measuring contest to the baring of souls. That I’m not normally a fan of monologue and still love this tells you how special these are. Jack’s last one, in particular, will haunt me as long as any of the ghosts haunt these characters - which is quite clearly exactly what McPherson was going for.
March 19, 2017
"There's no dark like a winter night in the country. And there was a wind like this one tonight, howling and whistling in off the sea. You hear it under the door and it's like someone singing. Singing in under the door at you. It was this type of night now. Am I setting the scene for you?"
The Weir is set in a small Irish country pub. The characters are three regulars (Jim, Jack and Finbar) Brendan the bartender, and Valerie, a new arrival in the village. Each of the characters, except for Brendan, tell a ghost story, with Valerie's revealing the tragic reason behind her move to the village. The feel and setting and the stories are perfect, but there's a lot more going on. Each of the characters face loneliness, a battle with change and progress and the decline of their kind of lifestyle, their very existence. They also deal with tragedies and mistakes from their past. There's a sense of decline and despair about the play but for me at least there's a ray of hope and optimism at the end in the form of the friendship between the four men and the potential of the new friendship they extend to Valerie.
The Weir is set in a small Irish country pub. The characters are three regulars (Jim, Jack and Finbar) Brendan the bartender, and Valerie, a new arrival in the village. Each of the characters, except for Brendan, tell a ghost story, with Valerie's revealing the tragic reason behind her move to the village. The feel and setting and the stories are perfect, but there's a lot more going on. Each of the characters face loneliness, a battle with change and progress and the decline of their kind of lifestyle, their very existence. They also deal with tragedies and mistakes from their past. There's a sense of decline and despair about the play but for me at least there's a ray of hope and optimism at the end in the form of the friendship between the four men and the potential of the new friendship they extend to Valerie.
February 15, 2021
3.5 stars.
A quite depressing one scene play about a pub where people sit around spinning old yarns, about fairy circles, ghosts, ouija boards and haunted houses. These people have all in some way slipped through cracks of society, or suffered personal tragedies, and they find comfort in their mutual isolation--a state akin to purgatory.
Reminiscent of Simon Stephens' Christmas, in plot, setting and tone. Perhaps marginally more interesting because of its interest in storytelling, but there are certainly some very long and dense monologues that make the play occasionally feel a little over written, slow or padded.
A quite depressing one scene play about a pub where people sit around spinning old yarns, about fairy circles, ghosts, ouija boards and haunted houses. These people have all in some way slipped through cracks of society, or suffered personal tragedies, and they find comfort in their mutual isolation--a state akin to purgatory.
Reminiscent of Simon Stephens' Christmas, in plot, setting and tone. Perhaps marginally more interesting because of its interest in storytelling, but there are certainly some very long and dense monologues that make the play occasionally feel a little over written, slow or padded.
May 12, 2025
Set in a rural Irish pub, the story unfolds almost entirely through conversation, yet it never feels stagnant. The characters stand out as the play’s greatest strength, each one distinctly drawn and contributing meaningfully to the dynamic of the group gathered at the pub. McPherson skillfully cultivates a convincing sense of long-standing camaraderie, making it believable that these men have shared countless hours and stories together. This authenticity draws the reader in, creating the intimate impression of quietly observing real conversations unfold. Overall, I found it to be a very pleasant little read.
July 6, 2022
This play has a huge reputation and many prizes and productions. It seems that it would be a pleasant way to pass the evening at the theatre but I find it hard to believe that such an essentially slight motivation (Woman turns tables on men and shows how they are vulberable) has been so well received. There is lovely characterisation, super monologues, great entertainment, excellent writing skills but still I feel it could be more, there should be more to it. But then what do I know.
December 27, 2022
I seen the play recently and wanted to reread certain parts again. It's set in a pub in rural Ireland on a dark stormy night. Finbar is showing Valerie an American around the area as she has just moved from Dublin. Jim and Jack are in Brendan's bar and as the drink flows, each customer tells a ghostly tale. It's a very Irish play beautifully written and powerful on many levels full of humour but very captivating.
September 3, 2018
Not what I was expecting, but great writing and story telling. I thought it was going to be a ghost story, and in a way it is.... the events in our life that haunt us. Makes me want to go and read more of Conor McPherson’s work.
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