Harry McDonald > Recent Status Updates

The Dance of Death: 3/5 - An uneven version of this black comedy. Some lines shimmer with violence and others seem to be jelly.

The Veil: 4/5 - oh this is just full ghost story. I sort of loved it.

The Birds: 2/5 - ??????? why

The Seafarer - 4.5/5: I expect I'll come back to this and love it even more, probably once I understand the rules of poker better than I do. The thing I love about McPherson's work is the way it takes faith so seriously. He writes in a world, normally Irish so I suppose it makes sense, where ghosts and Hell and the devil stalk the world like anything else. And never more shimmeringly terrifying than in The Seafarer.

The Seafarer - 4.5/5: I expect I'll come back to this and love it even more, probably once I understand the rules of poker better than I do. The thing I love about McPherson's work is the way it takes faith so seriously. He writes in a world, normally Irish so I suppose it makes sense, where ghosts and Hell and the devil stalk the world like anything else. And never more shimmeringly terrifying than in The Seafarer.

Shining City - 4/5: The awful things men do. So close to McPherson's Dublin Carol it feels like a companion piece. But he varies on a theme and it's always haunting.

Volume One, much like the forces of the Russian army, destroyed.

A Thief of a Christmas: 4/5 - Ideal anti-Christmas programming. Another pub play, reads like comedy with knots in it.

Bailegangaire: 3/5 - Beckettian in its rhythms and elliptical in its structure. A seriously hard play to read.

What the Butler Saw: 5/5 - an honest to God comic masterpiece. A feat of plotting and wit. And it still feels dangerous.

Funeral Games: 3/5 - Trademark Orton, but very much on the surface. Perhaps that's what happens when you end up writing for ITV.

The Erpingham Camp: 3/5 - An unexpected Bakkhai!

Conversations on a Homecoming: 4/5 - There are many Irish plays set in pubs where a group of men talk about life. This is a very good one.

Loot: 4/5 - Pitch-black in it's humour, white-hot in its cruelty.