Theatre / conor mcpherson
Review: The Weir, Tobacco Factory Theatres
As the darkness closes in and the wind whips up outside, we are transported to a small bar in rural Ireland for Conor McPherson’s award-winning play. Here we shall stay for the evening, meeting the locals and being regaled with stories ranging from the fanciful to the deeply moving.
The evening starts jovially enough. Jack, a curmudgeonly regular, sits perched on the end of the bar berating owner Brendan for not fixing the Guinness tap. The bar is beautifully authentic – mouldy walls, mismatched chairs and a small fire.
Later, quiet and unassuming Jim, who is taking a break from caring for his mother, joins them. They’ve all heard of a stranger in the town – not just any stranger, but a young woman. She’s coming in tonight. To their dismay, she is being shown around the area by foppish Finbar (perfectly played by Steven Elliott) who moved away from the area to seek his fortune. The stranger turns out to be Valerie, a young woman from Dublin. She is searching for a simpler, quieter life – and only later does her tragic story reveal why.
Under Rachel O’Riordan’s deft direction, these five disparate souls are brought together and are allowed the space and time to just talk. They tell unsettling tales of unknown knocks at the door and phantom phone calls, all blurring the line between what is real and what is not. As each character tells a story, Kevin Treacy’s lighting draws our focus in and a stillness descends on the audience. Everyone is absorbed in the tale.
It is left to Simon Wolfe’s deeply human and relatable Jack to deliver the knockout blow. There may be a bit of Jack in all of us – worrying about the future, concern over what might have been, loneliness. This Tobacco Factory Theatres/Sherman Theatre co-production is 100 minutes of touchingly human, surprisingly funny and poignant theatre. It’s a piece that slowly draws you in to its world, where “there’s no dark like a winter in the country”.
The Weir continues at Tobacco Factory Theatres until Saturday, November 5. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/the-weir
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