July 15th to 17th and 20th to 24th 2004
Directed by John Batstone
In a bar in a remote part of western Ireland three local lads (in various stages of middle age!), together with the landlord are swapping spooky stories to impress an attractive young woman, Valerie, recently arrived from Dublin. What begins as a simple visit to the local pub soon turns out to be an evening of both funny and spell-binding stories, until the final tale, told by Valerie herself, takes a strange and unexpected twist and changes the whole mood of the evening and marks a significant shift among the chemistry of the group.
The play, for which Conor McPherson won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright in 1997, is both funny and gripping. At one level very little happens, at another...
This play has been in almost continual performance over the last seven years but not, I think, in south Hampshire. This is something The Bench are hoping to rectify. An intriguing evening in the theatre is guaranteed.
Since it opened at the Royal Court in london in 1997 Conor McPherson's play has been performed world-wide and enjoyed enormous success. He received the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding New Playwright and later won the Olivier Award for best new play in London.
He has followed up the success with a new play, Shining City, also at the Royal Court, just opened to enthusiastic reviews.
'The Weir' is set in a small rural bar in the west of Ireland. There is the proprietor and three 'regulars'. They know each other well, swap stories, drink and generally enjoy the 'craic'. But this night there is a difference. A young woman has just arrived in the district from Dublin - one of the four has arranged a property for her and is showing her round, giving rise to wagging tongues. She however is a model of pleasantness and restraint. The three customers tell stories, all with a supernatural element, perhaps to impress Valerie, perhaps to give her the 'flavour' of the region but other possibilities emerge.
The stories increase in seriousness and expose aspects of the tellers, vulnerabilities perhaps. Valerie then reveals a desperate experience in her own Dublin background and this immediately challenges the attitudes of the menfolk. Something other than the exchange of 'spooky' stories is going on here. Jack, the oldest of the group, who set the story-telling ball rolling, reveals an episode from his earlier life, which is of an entirely different level of seriousness and highlights how much the mood has changed in the course of the play's duration.
Conor McPherson is a master of the monologue, its rhythms and variations. He brilliantly captures the riveting aspects of story-telling but he does something else as well. He shows the sadness and profundity than can lurk at the heart of the most seemingly mundane experience and reveals the delicate balance we all have to strive to achieve between personal independence and the need for other people. These important concerns are conveyed with total absence of solemnity but a salty humour which convinces of their truth.
The play lasts 90 minutes, without an interval, and offers an intriguing evening in the theatre.
The Action takes place in the late 1990's and is set in a small bar in a rural part of Ireland, northwest of Leitrim or Sligo.
| Jack | Peter Corrigan |
| Brendan | Darryl Wakelin |
| Jim | Nathan Chapman |
| Finbar | David Penrose |
| Valerie | Sally Hartley |
| Director | John Batstone |
| Producer | Mark Wakeman |
| Stage Manager | John Wilcox |
| Set Construction | Peter Woodward and Bench members |
| Props | Peter Woodward and John Wilcox |
| Costumes | Megan Utley |
| Lighting Design | Jacquie Penrose |
| Lighting Installation | Damon Wakelin |
| Lighting Operator | Mark Wakeman |
| Sound Operator | Chris Stoneham |
| Production Photography | Bill Whiting |
| Programme Design | Derek Callam |
| Front of House Manager | Sharman Callam |