Arts:Blog

Theatre Review: The Weir ***

Michael Cox reviews a strong production of a modern classic.

In the middle of nowhere in Ireland, battered by bad weather on a dark, chilly evening, stands a pub. Inside are five people: the pub landlord, two regulars, a local who’s now living and working in Dublin and a woman who has just purchased a home and wants to get to know her new community. They chat and argue over the past, but soon stories begin to be told—stories that just might centre around the supernatural.

This is the set-up for Conor McPherson’s play The Weir. As a production it is near impossible to find fault. Director Amanda Gaughan has assembled a team of designers and a cast of five, all of whom manage to create an impressive production from start to finish. The pub looks glorious—cozy, yet with an aura of the sinister—and the production moves at a steady pace, creeping towards its conclusion rather than dashing to it.

The cast are terrific, both as an ensemble and as individuals. Each performer has at least one moment to shine. Particularly illuminate is Lucianne McEvoy—her Valerie is mostly an active listener, almost a living prop, but comes to heart-breaking life when she tells her tale near the end of the play. It is a stand-out performance within a top-notch ensemble, and the silence that follows her tale is one of the most deafening things one is likely to hear in a theatre for a long time.

If only McPherson’s play was nearly as good as its reputation warrants. It isn’t that it’s a bad play—it isn’t; it’s just that it is propped up by five phenomenal stories. Each of these stories are unique and work well on their own; they also differ in tone, from the terrifying to the cheeky to a sucker punch to the soul. Sadly, what bookends these five tales is dull chitchat that is lacking in any of the substance found in the extended monologues.

But there is no denying the excellence in those five stories, nor is there any doubt in director Gaughan’s production being a worthy addition to the Lyceum’s rather impressive crop of recent productions.